Paz on 5/5/2006 at 11:17
Quote Posted by ignatios
I would like nothing better to give YOUR books to MY kids.
And I'll have kids specially - just so I'm not that creepy guy hanging around the children's books section for no reason.
In any event, please don't give your book an embarrassing title that makes it awkward for people to ask for it. You know, like, "HI, DO YOU HAVE 'THOM DOES A WEE WEE AND IT SMELLS AND HE SITS IN HIS OWN WEE AND THEN HE GOES SHOPPING' PLEASE?"
Such a thing would not be becoming of your art!
Seconding noid's hope that you'll make your books secretly DEEP AND MEANINGFUL, but I'm sure you were going to do that anyway.
OnionBob on 5/5/2006 at 13:04
Quote Posted by Para?noid
cooking up some marvellous shit to get your mouth waterin'
Congrats, mang. I just handed in a 10,000 word essay and two films - my last written work of the year. It feels good. Using Thom for a children's story is a seriously good idea- he's a great character and you can draw him to a standard that would please any publisher. I don't know what age group you're aiming at but I hope you're thinking to do some !"grander scheme" kind of stuff like Krazy Kat or Dr. Seuss where a simple story or problem can be construed as an ethical or emotional one- I can't quite explain what I mean but you know those cartoons and stories you revisit when you're older and you realise that there was quite a powerful, adult message behind them. It's the kind of work that is timeless.
Oh man there is no better feeling than handing in all your shit, walking out onto the back green in the gorgeous sunshine, and one of your kru handing you an ice cold can of the good stuff. It is one of those awesome moments in life. It is so rad.
I am totally intending for these stories to have some kind of allegory or uplifting message of some kind, although initially i'm all about the pure aesthetics of making thom as cute as possible.
ig thanks for the <3 mang, and yeah I am totally working on it.
paz i'm not going to make it horrid like that :(
Anyway thanks everyone :cool: I am very tired right now. On campus, had a couple beers, feeling chillax and just can't quite be bothered to get back on the tube for another 90 minutes to get home. But I must, because I need to get a nap before the CELEBRATION BEGINS FOR REAL tonight d---:cheeky:
ENGARDE...
I'LL LET YOU TRY MY WU-TANG STYLE.
Wyclef on 5/5/2006 at 14:44
I like the message on Thom's sweater.
Tatum on 5/5/2006 at 14:51
I like the earscarf.:D
Inline Image:
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/5889/earscarf1ha.jpgYour drawings are very good. Thom has personality! I showed Thom to my 12year old daughter and she wants him on a keyring. I'm certain Thom will be making many children smile.
Random_Taffer on 5/5/2006 at 15:00
I sincerely agree. Your drawings are of great quality.
I wouldn't doubt that they could be published.
I'd buy them for my daughter.
Hell, I'd buy them for me.
Very nice work! :thumb:
Stitch on 5/5/2006 at 15:24
Pretty good, except for the third pic where Thom looks like a child molester. Thom's ears also have varying mass in the third pic which is kind of jarring because you normally have a good sense of shape and form; Thom typically looks like he exists in three dimensions.
"Thom" is a pretty cloying and inappropriate name for the guy, though.
Nice coloring on all but the Mr.-Rogers-without-pants pic. The globe could also use a bit more work.
Awesome overall, though.
Also: I predict Thom will eventually grow a bit of a snout, deviating from the perfect sphere that currently makes up his noggin. You can't deny evolution.
OnionBob on 5/5/2006 at 15:49
Quote Posted by Stitch
Pretty good, except for the third pic where Thom looks like a child molester. Thom's ears also have varying mass in the third pic which is kind of jarring because you normally have a good sense of shape and form; Thom typically looks like he exists in three dimensions.
"Thom" is a pretty cloying and inappropriate name for the guy, though.
Nice coloring on all but the Mr.-Rogers-without-pants pic. The globe could also use a bit more work.
Awesome overall, though.
Also: I predict Thom will eventually grow a bit of a snout, deviating from the perfect sphere that currently makes up his noggin. You can't deny evolution.
There's something really wrong with that third pic, i can only agree. Also you got me on the inconsistency in ear size, although that's more of an intermittent problem. The thing with changing his name is that he's been Thom for like 8 or 9 years in various forms, I couldn't really think of him as anything else... If I got some publishing deal or something (shyeah) and the name stood in the way, I might consider changing it, but I can't really conceive of it differently right now. :)
Also, I disagree on giving him more of a muzzle - I've been stripping down his design as much as possible to simple shapes, partly to make him quicker and more formulaic to draw, and partly to smooth his overall outline - when i had my (shitty) comic still going, he (albeit as effectively a completely different character) he had more of a muzzle, but there was always something off. Giving him a sphere head has solved a lot of problems - but there's no fighting evolution, as you said, and I'm still experimenting with proportions and shapes. Anyway thanks :cool:
LesserFollies on 5/5/2006 at 16:11
Those are nice, Bob. Something about Thom always cheers me up. I still have Major Thom as my desktop.... And I draw the sun JUST LIKE THAT! Then compulsively add more and more rays until it's quite like a byzantine mosaic.
piln on 5/5/2006 at 16:24
I can't really see anything wrong with the Earth painting, I think it works pretty well as it is. I also disagree re: the proposed snout, I do think the current face shape looks just right,
but it also looks a little too familiar, like it's too similar to exisiting character(s). Might help if I could give an example, but I can't bring it to mind. Am I thinking of Calvin & Hobbes, maybe? I dunno, my memory fails me.
And I shall disagree a third time over the name, "Tom" (for it is spake thusly) is normal-sounding enough, and "Thom" will stealthily tattoo one small but useful language lesson onto young brains. But I'd go along with the other criticisms. :D
Lovely stuff O-Bob, and consistent too, which is great. The ears in the "ear scarf" pic are clearly problematic, not an easy thing to get looking right - for me, the problem is that his right ear appears to sprout from his neck and not from his ear'ole. But if it
didn't, it would look less like a scarf. :erm: Erm...
Sorry for violating your pup, OnionBob, but may I suggest:
<img src="http://img10.picsplace.to/5/scarfear.jpg" alt="Image Hosting by PicsPlace.to" >
yay for Artrage tracing images
Stitch on 5/5/2006 at 16:32
Quote Posted by OnionBob
The thing with changing his name is that he's been Thom for like 8 or 9 years in various forms, I couldn't really think of him as anything else
Yeah, I know completely what you mean. Changing long-held names feels so incomprehesibly wrong, but sometimes it's necessary.
Quote Posted by OnionBob
Also, I disagree on giving him more of a muzzle
The only problem I see with current Thom is he might look awkward in profile. But I've seen your drawings of Thom throughout the years and I do agree you're on to something now--his current design is simple and striking. Great shape and form, I can easily see him animated.
As few comments on the Thom in Space pic: to add on to what I said before, the globe looks a bit sketchy. This may be a choice in style, but I think the picture would be far more evocative with a slightly more developed globe. When drawing things like that I'll often create a reference pic by finding a photo and then running it through some Photoshop filters to turn it into a close approximation. It won't create the background for you but it can at least grant some insight in how to translate the visual freehand. I used a similar tactic for the woodgrain in (
http://squappity.com/cubeofpower/htmlzachary.html) a portrait of my nephew. Not the best example as you're going for a far softer style than I was, but you get the point.
But like I said, nice work. I especially like the "Thom Wants Socks" series.
