Slackbot draws stuff

[Slackbot]

Nuts. I thought I could just edit my last post to include this one, but I guess my time expired. Oh well.

When All Else Fails, Look Cute: a followup to Fraggle Fu. This doesn't actually happen in the story, but it was fun to draw. Hours after drawing it I realized that I had Poncle pulling a shtick that my niece does: using cuteness as a weapon. Or, in this case, a defense. Can't swat an annoying anklebiter if she's pulling that smile on you.

Next drawing I do will not be cutesy, I promise. I don't want people sending me their dental bills.

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

Both drawings look great. I have a sister like Poncle so I know the type. Il ike the expressions that Wembley and Janken give each other. Wembley's hair looks fine actually. But there's something about him that looks off. I'm not sure what it is though. Maybe his eyes? I guess it's he looks really grown up, did you mean to draw him like that?

 

[Slackbot]

If Wembley looks odd because he appears grown up, then good. Well, him appearing older, not appearing odd. These stories are set many years after FR, and in fact Janken is Wembley's son. Wembley always seemed to be the baby of the bunch, and looked like he had some more growing to do, so in my pics he's a bit taller.

 

[Slackbot]

Wembley's hair looks fine actually. But there's something about him that looks off. I'm not sure what it is though. Maybe his eyes?

I just looked at the picture again, and realized what was weird about Wembley. I colored in the ink outlines to give the drawing a softer feel, but left the lines around the eyes black. With Janken and Poncle that wasn't a problem, as there are other colors around Poncle's face, and Janken is dark, but against Wembley's pale skin and hair that was too much contrast.

This is the kind of thing that sometimes trips me up: I can get so fixated on details--fur and hair texture, facial expressions, foot shapes--that sometimes I miss issues like this. Thanks for pointing it out. I've softened the outline around Wembley's eyes so he hopefully no longer looks demon possessed.

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

I actually didn't notice that. The reason I thought he looked different was because to me he looks like he's ready to go off to college (age wise). But you said you wanted to look a little older in this one.

 

[Slackbot]

Mad as a Wet Fraggle: Because I really wanted to draw the scene in which Boober cusses Red out in Red Versus Blue. I was experimenting a bit with this picture. One, I was playing with cel shading rather than my usual airbrushy approach. Verdict: cel shading is no flippin' easier, and in fact is more difficult for me. Two: I wanted to see if I could draw Boober like this and still have him look like himself. I'll leave that up to the jury.

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

I dunno if I like Boober's eyes in this one. The earlier one was cute because
it was a little different and it added to the sort of puppy dog look he had. I think he looks really wierd in this one though with the eyes.

What's cel shading?

 

[Slackbot]

Heh, he's supposed to look weird in that pic. That's why (in my stories) he covers his eyes; he doesn't like people staring at him like "What happened to you?"

Cel shading is the flat style of shading I used in that pic, as opposed to the more rounded technique I normally use.

 

[TogetherAgain]

I think the main thing that makes Boober look weird in this picture isn't the eyes, but the angle--we're sort of looking up into his mouth. So with the angle AND the eyes, that's two ways we're not used to seeing Boober. (And he STILL looks better than when I try to draw him! )

But I really love Red's expression in this picture. I feel so bad for her! She was just trying to have some fun and didn't mean to make Boober angry...

In other news, I have to say that I prefer your usual shading technique. Maybe it's because you're more comfortable with it, but it looks more natural. Or at least, that's my opinion. Either way, it's better than any shading I can do!

 

[Slackbot]

Heh, Red has a way of getting on people's nerves every so often, and since she and Boober are such opposites... but by the time of this story it's been going on that it's taken as normal. Squabbles get forgiven and forgotten very quickly. Plus, I think that even Red would think it worth the indignity to get Boober to loosen up enough to plot such a prank on her. "Well played, you magnificent Fraggle."

I looked at the mouth again, and realized that, besides the strange camera angle--who ever sees Boober from below? He's so small and slouchy--the flat black of the mouth wasn't working for me. It merged the outlines with his mouth, making him looking like he was screaming instead of snarling. I went back and tweaked his mouth color, and also eliminated the outlines on the ripples around Red because they looked too busy.