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I'm a comic drawer and i have been told that that my characters appear stiff and have no flow, or at least look like they have poles in their pant legs and sleaves. Any idea on the best way to make them "flow" ( comics as of yet are on pencil and paper ).

Markus P. Landsin

ps sorry for leaching off of other post

Hi Landsin!

The reason your characters may appear so stiff could be from a lack of knowledge/discomfort in working with the human form. When you're uncertain about something, whether it be playing an instrument, acting on stage, playing a sport--your result will always feel stiff or strained. As you grow more comfortable with the practice, things start to flow a lot more smoothly.

This is true for art as well. You're uncomfortable with the human form, so your characters come out stiff and inanimate.
I'd suggest studying the real human form. Just sketch from life, hands, feet, torsos, legs, etc etc. Studying will help you become more familiar and you'll start feeling much more comfortable when drawing them. Your figures with start to feel less stiff.

Pick up some 'realistic' anatomy books--and study from life how the figure works. And sketch, sketch sketch!
It won't happen over night, but gradually with the help of these studies and practices, your hand will start to loosen up--and your figures will start to feel more free.

Mana always explains this sort of stuff so nicely XD.

I agree with what Mana said, the more you practice the human form, the more expressive and...uh...flow-y your work becomes. Another helpful hint is to, when comicking, think of the scene in your head as a movie. When you find the 'screenshot' you want, draw that frame. Think about how the actions would start and how they would complete. This will help with making your action/movement panels seem less stiff. Also, exaggerate motions. People talk with their hands, yes? Let your characters talk with their hands, but make their motions larger than life. This is something that onstage actors do in order to make their actions and emotions clear. A person should be able to look at the panel and know 'Oh, that guy's really angry' or 'She looks really upset' without reading a single speech bubble. Exaggerate what your characters are doing in order to make it all the more clear what it is that they are doing or what they are talking about. (Though, don't make it so expressive that if people were to really talk like that, they'd hit each other in the face ) Practice at it. Watch a few movies or onstage performances of plays and see how people convey feeling to even the back row. Read a few books to see how writers describe the progression of action. The one thing you really don't want to do is look at other comics. (Your work will begin to look too much like someone else's and even professionals can be accused of the 'stiff' problem) Learn how to do it without the aid of comics. And practice, a lot.

Thanks, Landsin, for opening a new thread.

Thanks, i'll try that out. Your welcome..lol

Also, (If you have access to a scanner or camera) try posting your art here. I will help you more, believe me.

How so?

if you post your art up, we can see what exactly your areas of weaknesses are--and offer a more refined idea of what you can do to improve your work.
Without being able to see it, we can only guess what your work looks like, and what you really need help with.

Kinda like how going to see the doctor to show him what's wrong is way more effective than telling the doctor what's wrong ;]
Less guessing.

Understandable........there is one posting already it's a page in my comic, under How do I..... but i'll post some more

yes, make sure to post stuff in your own threads. It's very rude to post off-topic things or images in other people's threads :]