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FablePaint — BBA Concepts 23
Published: 2010-04-18 10:52:42 +0000 UTC; Views: 11047; Favourites: 135; Downloads: 147
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some unrelated wolf art and more Spearheart. Also Girl Talk!Why the commentary? Cuz I don't give a damn how someone draws their imaginary characters. Both extremes are stupid, fun AND valid given different circumstances (it's all in how you set up your universe, folks). And I find it surprising that a LOT of people on DA get weird comments about drawing a "correct" wolf, or drawing any stylized (or not) wolves at all. I don't see the same rabid fascination with LITERAL accuracy or ZOMG crazy MLP-style with bats or pangolins or wee little dachshunds.
Is this in response to comments on my own work? Of course it is, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't. But I dare any viewer to say this isn't a common source of angst all over DA. And what needless angst it is. I find the whole debate more lol-worthy than anything. And that's not sarcasm, I really do love the strange things people come up with and think whatever way artists are expressing themselves, it's a treat to look at what they've accomplished.
Also that weirdo wolf is so much goddamn fun to draw. And realistic wolfy there is just so Winnie the Pooh adorable.
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Comments: 81
Personally, I find your way of drawing refreshing. Although I myself strive for some degree of realism most times, it's nice to see works of art like yours that are very stylized expressive. Realism can't always do that.
Although I'm glad BBA will be started up again maybe some have been wondering whether the change in art style means a change in tone for the comic. Will the story start further back this time around?
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ROFLS. If I could fave this 5000 times I would. You should make a comic and everyone will prop it up for DD.
But yea I've seen that so, so much. I've seen the "because this is not anatomically correct it's bad art" argument. The, "you're using a style as an excuse" nag. The "cartoons are more expressive and therefore are BETTER than boring realism" mumbo jumbo.
We all have our own preferred method of drawing but honestly one way isn't correct. There are pros and cons, and in the end we choose one over the other out of personal preference or personal ability. Art is always subjective and there is no right nor wrong way to draw anything after you've achieved a good foundation.
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Truism. The more I try to define art, the more I realize just how many exceptions there are to that definition. Then trying to place values on different kinds of art becomes and even more slippery task.
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I agree! I don't even draw wolves that often... actually cause I've seen these types of comments. I try to ignore them but ovbiously they get to me XD so I guess i'm trying to avoid conflict >.> anyway I think all your drawings are cute in this image!
maybe this is why people are so "angsty" about wolves:
[link]
it's a video about high school kids if you're interested. Kind of made me laugh.
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It's like furry vampires, not werewolves.
If you're gonna be in a werewolf clique, ya'll better be burly, badass and into rough-housing. Not that effeminate...what is that? Psuedo-Twilight?
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i know right!? my thoughts exactly hahaha I was like "I don't care that they dress like 'wolves' but they're doing it wrong" at least someone shares the same thoughts
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i dunno, your doggies are reminding me of Vannikin's newer work
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I don't like the sparkle dogs personally, but whatevs, to each his own! People would be so much happier if that's how they thought.
Hey thank you for sharing all these sketches. I might have said it before, but I love works in progress. It's really neat to see how an artist's mind work and what progression of thought and study goes into the art before the final product. If you ever have an art stream or group sketch party please let me know. I'd love to watch you work.
It's kind of like, playing and building with legos is more fun than just having the final product. Watching how you progress into a piece of art really helps me understand what steps I should take when developing my own. Thanks again Erin!
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I can't make promises, but after graduation I'm going to be working full-out on the script to hammer down the details we've already shaped out. I'm aiming for a new page a month from now.
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Just from looking through all the different BBA sketches 1 to now, your style has developed BEAUTIFULLY and it all looks so fantastic. The rough outlines of the wolves look so wonderful, I can only imagine what they'll look like in the comic. I'm excited! All your hard work in most definitely not in vain. I have such confidence in the way it will turn out 
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i dont think i could agree more. this whole sparkledog thing needs to back up the ass it came out of, along with the broom that it was shacking up with.
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It's more than that, it's the hostility towards everything surrounding characterization of canine characters. Both extremes are silly and people keep forgetting they're imaginary canines. It's all about context.
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sure? but if your product can be reconised and someone rips off that style, it detracts from the orginal person.
plus "omg my style i copyrighted it i go die now" is what sparkledogs and fantasy wolves are all about.
all I'd need is to become popular, good and cool, emulate someone else's style then everyone will go "that's hers"
(even if I draw eyes like Naoko Takeuch's Sailor Moon characters)
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Millions of people have ripped off Star Wars through and through. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy the original trilogy anymore.
Plus this statement
"plus "omg my style i copyrighted it i go die now" is what sparkledogs and fantasy wolves are all about."
Indicates a serious misunderstanding regarding why some people might draw things like that in the first place. The point of the image is "lighten up people, who gives a shit?" There's no law against this stuff, and if you really care so much, go rant on anti-sparkledog like everyone else. Why shoot down some 12 year old for drawing what every 12 year old draws at that age? Why get so upset over "copying styles" when this is precisely how art evolves and people learn? You get your panties in a knot over something that means remarkably little in the actual professional world and among actual professional artists who would look at it, go "well, that's certainly strange", and continue doing their business as always. How do I know this? Because I've spoken with those same artists, artists who've been in the industry these kids copy from, and it's not affecting them in the way a lot of people on DA and elsewhere seem to think.
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nah I think some of them "are for serious"
or just kids with pipe dreams (I don't believe a single 14 year old can make an animated movie that looks like Disney stuff)
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i've never noticed anyone complaining about canines being drawn realistically.
i know some like their vanilla kitsune and others their goldenwolfen, but the general negativity, in my experience, is directed towards the more cartoony side of the spectrum.
"thin, neon dogs? in MY DEVIANTART? 
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goldenwolf is older and has work on t-shirts
VK is hopefully going to at least do somehting and break out of the fruufruu big haired 'foxes' and 'dogs'
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it probably wasn't the best comparison but i dont know who the big names are anymore.
i don't think that she needs to try and change anything just because some people don't like it. people don't like it they don't have to look at it... i think that's pretty simple.
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You, dude, really have no idea what Vani does outside of the few pieces she puts on DA. I've seen the things she's done that aren't just commissions or for-fun pieces she's done on her own. They're frackin' awesome. The "froo-froo" stuff incorporates a lot of the stuff she learned in school so it goes beyond the typical "candy-pooch" and becomes something that displays real knowledge on design principles for cartooning and anatomy.
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I seen some of it now, but her old stuff didn't have that. I guess that is what school is for.
otherwise all you need to do is slap colors and big hair on an animal.
why dosen't she show the stuff?
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I love how in the internet world, everything has to be perfect, especially concerning wolves. Perfect anatomy, perfect this, perfect that, perfect everything. And yet, you don't hear those same people griping about the professional cartoonists/animators they love who distort the crap out of what is "real".
There are those who say people are using "style" as an excuse for "poor" anatomy--while that may be true in some cases, not everyone is. Style is a legitimate thing, so I don't understand why everyone gets all up in arms over it. =\
These concept pages are really neat to see, by the way. ^^ I love the different extremes on this one especially.
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but then how can you tell it is a xyz? if I drew a cat that looks like a cheetah but called it a "sexy jaguar" then what? i sure hope people like you can come and bail me out. more so if I traced over a cheetah photo
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Tracing is another issue entirely and not something that I support. And what I find sticking out with your cheetah-being-a-jaguar scenario is that cheetahs and jaguars have different spots, so something like that I would probably point out to an artist if they're using cheetah spots and calling it a jaguar. 
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or what about fluffy husky tailed greyhounds with big hair being called wolves? how do you know it is a wolf? some of the DA wolves that are drawn don't fit the typical cartoon wolf look
i can't get them down good because i'm not paying attention
but i'll admit if i fail at a canine and go "NOOO my coyote looks like a demented pitbull-lion-fox-squirrel thing what went wrong!"
and on mechanical fail, do you know of paw tutroials? i can't find a visual aid/mnemonic(ok bad choice of words but I forget what goes where and my pets don't like their footsies and hands being touched)
on how to draw animal toes right
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Just because it doesn't fit a "typical" look doesn't mean it is any less valid.
Hmm, I don't know of any paw tutorials, sorry. I go based off photos that I find over dA and the internet to help me with anatomy; tutorials aren't really helpful to me, so I don't really look them up. I suggest looking at some photos or just search for paw tutorials.
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lol i mean "something it isn't"
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I think the issue with style is that it's paraded around as something it is. Style is merely a method within which you work, it's not something that defines you (especially if your a young artist). I'm more about versatility than style; if you look in my gallery, the style jumps dramatically between one piece and the next. One reason for the glut of conceptual art is just trying to find a repeatable method to my madness so the characters don't look different each time I draw them (and to allow them to evolve naturally to a point I feel comfortable before I start drawing...otherwise I'd have to go back and redo everyone the same as when we did our revisions to issue 1).
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The need to poo wolf makes me lol. Looks like one of the chars from that Wolf animation thing.
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They're definitely going for a more realistic angle on that movie. did the original designs, they had a LOT of character in each sketch.
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I find this funny because I sort of have a mix of both realism and a more stylized and cartoon style. One thing that irks me most though with my cartoon/stylized or whatever you want to call it is that with that stuff I have had people complain to me that I have 'copied' and even traced other artists works when clearly I have not. It may only appear I have because I have sort of used an artist I admire greatly in the early stages (back when I could barely draw anything and I was only about 11 I am 16 now) as my 'training wheels' of sorts and I got better at drawing from tracing there art over and over until I could draw my own stuff from memory(I don't do this anymore) and I even remember reading somewhere that someone said it was ok to do this and so I did. It just bugs me when they say this when honestly the style is embedded within me and as much as I do try I can't change it I suppose it would be like saying you need to change your name because it's copying mine. This and I just think it is others who have nothing else to do and just feel like bashing and hating on others art. I don't really care anymore though It's my art I will draw however I want and people really should just learn to get over crap and leave people alone. After all there is tons of things that have been copied from one another why does it seem like art is the only thing people get picky about and bitch over?
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Oi, to expand.
There was one wolf comic that showed realistic people, and a realistic earth thousands of years ago. But the wolves were glowing in the dark, had gothic arm garments, and were as thin as twigs and fluffy like Pomeranian but could take down cave bears.
Lol wut?
I understand that when it comes to visual works and animation, there can be moments of suspended disbelief but to put a carton spin on such a realistic element and expect it to be taken seriously is 90% perposterous in most cases.
Good visual example of this would be these visual abominations They wouldn't be so bad in certain cases, but here, they expect the audience to believe that this is somehow functional in a real world scenario.
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Yep! And again, things like that have everything to do with context. I'm not about to rip into some 12 year old who makes a wolf comic and is struggling just to draw the darn thing, let alone has the knowledge to put together something more stylistically cohesive. That takes experience and any attempt to start on that path (even if it does seem outwardly lame, like diving into fanfiction but later moving into original fiction) is a plus in my view.
But DA's reaction to the glut of these comics, and depictions of wolves in general, is just so damn angsty and drawn out. There was something similar with celebrity-lions and TLK a while back. A lot of kids couldn't draw humans very well and so would draw their favorite celebrities as a lion king lion. Then that became popular. Then everyone started backlashing against it because it was popular. Then you saw a lot of back and forth about "my style isn't lion king!" "so what if it's lion king?" "everyone who draws lion king is lame!"
Looking back on it, the whole affair was really quite silly and superficial. And a lot of people who were embroiled in the whole stupid thing have since gone into college and become amazingly competent and creative professionals. As an outsider looking in, I thought "why is this such a big deal? It's just fanart and messing with cartoon styles". It's not as if anyone will have found themselves artistically before they're 20 anyway.
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i have a collection of page 1 of every other animal comic here. OMG there are so many, and 60% of them seem to be trying to use "BSW style" or Kay's.
what about people who draw "TLK style" but say "this is mine, nobody dare draw like this every I made it my style"
some do that. I don't care I'll make fun of them.
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I'm picky on wolf art today because a majority of people draw wolves that don't fit the mood or seriousness of a story.
At first, the very first issue from waaaaaay back, of BBA... did just that.
But by the time you did the redux of the comic (the current one) The style grew to match the more serious tone of the comic without loosing aspects in the character's design that could also make scenes humorous if they need to be.
My main issue isn't wolves or how they're drawn, personally. But I see tons of comics that shout one genre but obviously gank a hybrid style of your wolves or Vanillakitsune's. Which wouldn't be bad, if it weren't for the fact that it negates the comics verbal branding and also shows lack of creativity.
This doesn't go for everyone, and there's some unique wolf works out there I enjoy. But I do tire of people presenting something that they state is new or has no relation to your work or previous works (in terms of style and story) when it's obviously there. *coughAVATARcough*
I understand it takes time for a style to evolve and for one's understanding of creating a unique piece of work to evolve along with it. However I still think people copy certain aspects of existing styles or themes that just don't work with their proposed vision at all.
What makes it even sadder is that most people are preventing themselves for having an interesting visual and verbal voice in something that could be really cool!
Hope this kind of makes sense, lol. Not bashing you personally, just expanding and offering my point of view based off yours.
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"I'm picky on wolf art today because a majority of people draw wolves that don't fit the mood or seriousness of a story.
At first, the very first issue from waaaaaay back, of BBA... did just that."
On the latter half of this quote, it's because BBA wasn't that serious at first. It was just a fun little experiment by Kay and only later did she decide to make it something printable.
On the first half of that, I think being picky is a wasted exercise when you're talking about young kids especially. It really isn't worth attacking teenagers over drawing animals like I've seen a lot of people do, and both Kay and I have been rather baffled at a lot of the community's need to either "defend" our comic's style from 12 year old girls who just graduated from my little ponies to big impressive books like "The Sight" and "Harry Potter". And I can sympathize with a lot of those kids who feel hurt at suddenly having their work attacked by a bunch of egoist douchebags who think copy-catting when you're a kid is some grave sin. And then that comes to bite us (and everyone else on dA) in the ass later when some of those kids (especially the ones with mental problems or thin skins) grow up with a chip on their shoulder about criticism and anything related to the teasing they suffered. Almost all the crazies we had to deal with went through that sort of experience and it's just sad. No part of that is cool and there's been 3 or 5 years of this nonsense now just feeding into this big, black circle of angsty ranting.
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so we should just ass pat them till their huge ego does them in when they try to impress teachers with candy pooches that look like a Hasbro toy reject?
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Who said anything about ass-patting? I'm wondering why it's such a big freakin' deal to people just because some kid on their corner of the internet drew a Lisa Frank-inspired Barbie dog.
And I'm sure their teachers are perfectly capable of saying something because it's their job.
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I vaguely remember the comic form back then. And I wont judge it based on standards of what it is now, and what it's becoming. I believe it when you said it was a fun project, very few young people I know at that age (me included) have the mindset and understanding to do a comic in a way that's based off industry standards on specific genres. Plus there weren't many resources back then (Netscape lol) in which one could quickly find references on the comic industry.
I'm not basing these things on most young kids. However, I'm basing it on people who are in mid to late teens, around (16-20). Who don't take critiques or advice. Not the trolling kind, but well written responses that provide ways to improve instead of pointing out shortcomings and faults.
When I critique work, I try and talk the language of that person. Since we're older, I'm sure you'd read this and find no malice in it, much like when I read your reply. Just a discussion. But if a young teen were reading this I'm sure they'd think one of us were being too critical. So when I critique kids who ask, I always point out a good aspect to equal out a flaw so they're not hurt to bad or think I'm being mean. And I add in more emotes to make the message feel less cold.
I've never been picked (trolled) on art wise, but I've been picked on, literally beaten, and ridiculed at school. I think those can be two different extremes. But not when you're young, trying to find yourself, and highly defensive, in some cases, for good reason.
I think there should be a better balance when critiquing kids and young adults, and mentioning that you do it because you think they have the potential to be better, which is the reason why I normally do it. Which is why I said it's a shame to see talent, but see it wasted in copying someone else, not taking well worded advice, and presuming someone's being a mean person, when there are some out there that aren't.
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I don't really care whether or not it looks realistic (wolf or not) as long as it looks like what it's intended it doesn't matter to me.
winnie wolf makes me D'awwww D:
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Winnie wolf is a sweetheart who needs hugs (and prune juice)
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That real wolf looks as though it hates its existence. xD
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Nah, he just had one too many Chipotle's.
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I thought it was a Chow-Chow, myself.
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Drew it
Although this is before the gut bursting info it's about to experience.
I'm quite tempted to add that sketch to this one.
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