Boy Dont' Try to Front
Art - I'll split this up
Good: The normal PVP people are drawn very well and with good detail. I'm also very happy to see that Jade does not have bug eyes throughout the strip. Britney is drawn well (see below for negatives) and overall detail was good as Scott used a good set of reference photos/video for her. The one thing I really loved was Britney/Jade's hair in panel 4 when she turns to her right. The paintbrush (I'm guessing) technique was really good and gave the hair good flow.
I also didn't mind the lack of detail on the back-up dancers in panel 5 as you can tell it is just because Scott wanted the focus on the center of the frame(but I can understand why the complaints are occurring).
Bad - I understand Scott has really tried withthe grayscale shading, and it has worked well since he started, but I don't think anyone but the PVP people should have been shaded in this strip. The one thing that sticks out is Britney/Jade's left hip in panel 4 where the shading looks more like she wiped french fry grease on her shirt.
Also, I don't know why the lines on her skirt had to be so thick (if it's in the video, I didn't see the video) as it just is way too much and distracts throughout the whole strip. A set of thinner lines would have done a lot better to show body position.
Finally, minor nit-pick: Francis' Ipod loses it's "color"/shading in the final panel.
Story - Thanks to those who said this was a reference to a Britney Spears' video as I guess I'm officially out of that loop. Also, good to see the story bring it back to the office and show that they still work (like when Homer appears at the powerplant every so often. I think it was another good one-off as it does fit Francis' character well to daydream at work.
I would have liked it better if the Ipod wasn't held out in front and had him secretly listening to it at the meeting. (Btw Cole gives him crap for everything else but Francis can blatantly hold an Ipod out at a meeting?). Also, having Francis grin at the his daydream or having some drawing of the music coming out of the earphones would have been better because how does Jade know who Francis is listening to? His face really hasn't changed fron panel one until panel 6 to give an out appearance of what is going on.
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18 comments:
Very Funny. Would be a total blast if it could draw out SK to make to respond why he still hasn't updated DING!
I actually had a friend e-mail me today to tell me that Kurtz has given up entirely, and that today's PvP strip was essentially a rip off of a Britney Spear's music video.
I have never been more tempted to break my embargo on pvponline.com.
Can people confirm, deny?
@R.W.
I would hesitate to call it a rp off. he's clearly referencing it for the joke.
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if he was using it to try and further stretch his art.
it looks like he has traced video frames, no? Guess it works with dream sequences...
"Also, I wouldn't be surprised if he was using it to try and further stretch his art."
Looking at the remarkably freakish arms on the dancers (fifth frame, top left and bottom right), I'd say he's tried stretching... then got cramp.
(and where has the head of the dancer behind 'Britney' gone?)
I personally enjoyed the story "good by bad day, hello comics" that Scott posted. The comic was pretty meh to me today, but I can excuse that considering we've had a good, solid week of quality.
If SK could hire a group of models to act out frames of PVP for him so he could take pictures and trace them, PVP would be able to look this good consistently.
However, there isn't something that's BAD with the style that he DOES actually have. It just clashes pretty obviously next to traced artwork. The traced stuff just has far too much additional (And attention to) detail to be considered anything but better than his "real" style, though. It isn't even that all of that additional detail is getting traced (Although maybe it is) -- I think he may add so much more detail just because the evidence for it being there is right in front of his face with a photograph. You can't ignore it as easily, and easily shift back down to a lower gear of "cartoony" to stylize those details.
That said, the joke here is that Francis listens to Britney Spears (And too loudly. And in a meeting). It is pretty awful.
I personally don't have a problem with the clashing styles. It kinda reminds me of Al Capp, a mix of cartoony and realistic. Although, this is probably a bit more exaggerated than what Capp tended towards.
Bottom left panel: AUGH, NO. It's just... no good. It especially stands out because, in my opinion, the rest of it is QUITE good. I'm amused by the concept and Britney dancing on her own looks great.
This is one of those times when been blissfully unaware of pop culture makes me very happy. I have no idea who the fat chick dancing around is supposed to be or what any of it would have to do with Brittany Spears.. isn't she dead ... hopefully.
To the comment about the two styles clashing, I take it you're not a fan of "Bone"?
I think of Alex Ross taking pictures of people in poses and drawing that in a very detailed way.
But that is Alex Ross, he draws only in one way though
Does Bone draw cartoon humans standing next to realistic humans, too?
I don't think Francis should be grooving along - I think it works that he doesn't have an expression. He's just quietly off in his own world. It feels like it would be out of character for him to be doing a little boogy...
Uhg.. Britney looks like she weighs about twice as much as Jade. This mish-mash of more realistic vs. traditional PvP style is bizarre.
It's like if they made another live-action Scooby Doo movie but the whole Scooby gang was still animated while all the other humans where live actors.
I understand this need to improve and evolve one's art, but more realistic does not equal better. Exaggeration is one of the major things that makes cartooning interesting.
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