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More from Marik_Azemus34
Why Your Sonic OC Sucks (Click DOWNLOAD)
This just felt like something I had to do.
Alt: http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images.....63/688/737.png
Alt: http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images.....63/688/737.png
Category All / Sonic
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 720 x 4392px
File Size 1.57 MB
The Tumblr Post version:
http://marikazemus34.tumblr.com/post/161600889880
http://marikazemus34.tumblr.com/post/161600889880
Hmm. Industrial, eh? There is always some black and yellow, true, but there are also lots of reds (safety equipment, for one) orange (a lot of robots that I've seen are bright orange to make them stand out so you notice them)
There is a rather dark blue used on welding screens (like here: http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server1.....ingcurtain.jpg Used so people can see what you are doing but not get blinded by the arc)
They also make them in red and a pale yellow (almost piss yellow, IMO. Not a fan of the yellow, as it doesn't really block most of the arc so you still get flashed as you are walking by, but not as bad if it wasn't there. still painful to look at, though.)
Mitsubishi uses aquamarine for their forklifts (http://www.mcfa.com/~/media/mcfa/si.....ip-950x600.png)
There is tan with wood pallets and boxes, lots of copper piping and aluminum ductwork, as well as gray steel.
There is a rather dark blue used on welding screens (like here: http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server1.....ingcurtain.jpg Used so people can see what you are doing but not get blinded by the arc)
They also make them in red and a pale yellow (almost piss yellow, IMO. Not a fan of the yellow, as it doesn't really block most of the arc so you still get flashed as you are walking by, but not as bad if it wasn't there. still painful to look at, though.)
Mitsubishi uses aquamarine for their forklifts (http://www.mcfa.com/~/media/mcfa/si.....ip-950x600.png)
There is tan with wood pallets and boxes, lots of copper piping and aluminum ductwork, as well as gray steel.
As this submission does explicitly mention & honor to some extent personal taste, and I generally appreciate that it's here, I'd like to respond to it in kind. (tl;dr 90+% agreement)
SECTION 1. TRIFORCE OF SUCK
Sonic has a couple good character designs (Blaze is my Sonic waifu), but especially in the games many others are not so good - especially characters they don't intend to reuse. I actually used to hate Blaze because the first image they showed of her, and which is on the box art (this one), looks really ugly compared to other images of basically the exact same design (like this one)). She's generally looked better as time has gone on.
I don't think that the "bar" of official designs for a series has a profound effect on the quality of fan art - if anything, better designs will produce better fan art as kids raised on more beautiful art are more likely to learn to recognize what makes good & bad art at an earlier age. The quality of official character designs more strongly affects the perception of fan art by comparison - it'll be just as bad either way, just if the official work is good its badness will be emphasized.
On both the general youth of Sonic fans and (closely related) the habit of older or better artists to move on to original work or just new fandoms, I agree completely
SECTION 2. CANON EXAMPLES
Since I don't really disagree on any of this you can skip this part if ya want, it's tangential.
I often distinguish between something that I think is good or well-made, and something that I like. Similarly, there's a difference between things that are bad or poorly-made and things that I don't like. For instance, Shadow the Hedgehog is not a very good game, but I liked playing it because it was entertaining, like a cheesy B-movie.
Sticks is a character I'm not fond of in terms of personality, but I recognize that she was not designed for me as an audience. Sonic Boom is aimed at a younger audience who are entertained by more shallow characters than I am, and for her intended purpose she is done well. Ergo, she is a good character that I don't like. She looks great, the only flaw being her strong similarity to Marine - who coincidentally(?) has an Aussie accent where Sticks has a boomerang - and subsequent disappointment when we were told she was a separate character.
I didn't know Sticks had official game-style art. She looks a lot better that way than in Boom rendering, I think.
Another smart thing in Blaze's design not readily apparent here: Her fluffy cuffs set on fire when she becomes Burning Blaze.
SECTION 3. BAD OC EXAMPLES
These are wonderfully bad OCs. I notice you've used a blinding red background which highlights the terrible color choices here. Intentional??
You've neglected to mention that the character names (especially "Kyle") are too plain - with a few glaring exceptions like Amy (who I think is only accepted as a "fitting" Sonic character due to how long she's been around + how hot she is), normal English human names often don't work as Sonic characters, or fantasy characters in general. Sonic characters are often named after their traits or abilities - Sonic goes fast, Tails has two tails, Knuckles punches stuff, Blaze spits fire, Sticks has a boomerang, etc. Kyle and Grace are just random names.
It's not merely the general hue of the colors that's an issue; many Bad Sonic OCs bear those bright and highly saturated "raw" colors that aren't convincing as real things being looked at. They need to be unified in tint, like the rosy velvet trim on Blaze's outfit (compared to the more clashing crimson of her jewelry) and how Sticks's few non-warm colors (bracelets, shoes, eyes) are paled to avoid standing out too much. This "ambient tint" effect better sells the design as a single unified piece.
Human hair can work, but is a feature more seen in cartoon or Archie Sonic rather than game Sonic (Sally, Lynx-Nicole). Amy, as stated earlier, is a more-human-than-normal exception to the rules of game Sonic design. Knuckles's spines resemble dreadlocks, etc.
SECTION 4. ADVICE FOR OCS
The issue with any bad art - whether it's drawn, written, or composed - is that it's superficial and not thought through very well. Unfortunately, a person has to be a goodish artist or art critic to see through this superficiality and mentally manage so much symbolism / detail, and young Sonic fans are neither.
I agree that game Sonic canon is usually ultimately lighthearted and very episodic, with the exception of Shadow who is dangerously close to OC territory - which is why so many OCs are a lot like Shadow. All good characters start from a simple base, and anything you add to them must support or counterpoint that base without major changes. The exception is if you have a story that relies on a character changing substantially as it goes, which again, is not a consistent trait of game Sonic and especially not a trait of a minor character (OC) as opposed to a main protagonist or heel-turn-face antagonist.
As a general rule of art, never ever use a truly neutral color. All greys should be slightly tinted to match their surrounding colors. Fully neutral greys are just as bad as the saturated green & bright blinding magenta in those bad OC examples.
SECTION 5. GOOD OC EXAMPLES
This is what I wanted to get to most of all, actually, since it's the largest point on which we differ.
First off, the abstract names all fit Sonic, unlike "Kyle".
The left strongly reminds me of Archie Sonic, which has a slew of Asian-themed characters (only some of which actually use Japanese animals I think.) He(?) would fit right in within that setting for sure. However, very similar ear piercings are used in Archie Sonic on characters from various backgrounds (Mina and Lynx-Nicole), so in context another form of adornment might be needed to stress elegance as compared to Mina's hipness or Nicole's whyever the hell she has them.
The middle one is a great design on its own, but partially due to the different art style, is a bit on the border for a recognizable Sonic design. Out of all Sonic games I can recall right now, I think its NiGHTS-like appearance best fits Sonic Shuffle (Lumina Flowlight et al.) I also had no idea it was a female until I read the name/description; while this is intended & suitable for the body, so far as I know all Sonic females have very long "I'm a girl!!" eyelashes and this one just has a hint in the corners.
The right one is a bit too abstract from Sonic principles for me to instantly connect - it's the combination of obscuring armor and not being a "typical" Sonic race like Another Damn Hedgehog. Again, the different art style affects this too. Importantly, it's still tolerable to look at, unlike Green the Hedgeugly up there.
SECTION 6. HAVE SOME DIGNITY
Agreed entirely. "Don't care about good LOL" is just an excuse for scrubs to get out of standards.
SECTION 1. TRIFORCE OF SUCK
Sonic has a couple good character designs (Blaze is my Sonic waifu), but especially in the games many others are not so good - especially characters they don't intend to reuse. I actually used to hate Blaze because the first image they showed of her, and which is on the box art (this one), looks really ugly compared to other images of basically the exact same design (like this one)). She's generally looked better as time has gone on.
I don't think that the "bar" of official designs for a series has a profound effect on the quality of fan art - if anything, better designs will produce better fan art as kids raised on more beautiful art are more likely to learn to recognize what makes good & bad art at an earlier age. The quality of official character designs more strongly affects the perception of fan art by comparison - it'll be just as bad either way, just if the official work is good its badness will be emphasized.
On both the general youth of Sonic fans and (closely related) the habit of older or better artists to move on to original work or just new fandoms, I agree completely
SECTION 2. CANON EXAMPLES
Since I don't really disagree on any of this you can skip this part if ya want, it's tangential.
I often distinguish between something that I think is good or well-made, and something that I like. Similarly, there's a difference between things that are bad or poorly-made and things that I don't like. For instance, Shadow the Hedgehog is not a very good game, but I liked playing it because it was entertaining, like a cheesy B-movie.
Sticks is a character I'm not fond of in terms of personality, but I recognize that she was not designed for me as an audience. Sonic Boom is aimed at a younger audience who are entertained by more shallow characters than I am, and for her intended purpose she is done well. Ergo, she is a good character that I don't like. She looks great, the only flaw being her strong similarity to Marine - who coincidentally(?) has an Aussie accent where Sticks has a boomerang - and subsequent disappointment when we were told she was a separate character.
I didn't know Sticks had official game-style art. She looks a lot better that way than in Boom rendering, I think.
Another smart thing in Blaze's design not readily apparent here: Her fluffy cuffs set on fire when she becomes Burning Blaze.
SECTION 3. BAD OC EXAMPLES
These are wonderfully bad OCs. I notice you've used a blinding red background which highlights the terrible color choices here. Intentional??
You've neglected to mention that the character names (especially "Kyle") are too plain - with a few glaring exceptions like Amy (who I think is only accepted as a "fitting" Sonic character due to how long she's been around + how hot she is), normal English human names often don't work as Sonic characters, or fantasy characters in general. Sonic characters are often named after their traits or abilities - Sonic goes fast, Tails has two tails, Knuckles punches stuff, Blaze spits fire, Sticks has a boomerang, etc. Kyle and Grace are just random names.
It's not merely the general hue of the colors that's an issue; many Bad Sonic OCs bear those bright and highly saturated "raw" colors that aren't convincing as real things being looked at. They need to be unified in tint, like the rosy velvet trim on Blaze's outfit (compared to the more clashing crimson of her jewelry) and how Sticks's few non-warm colors (bracelets, shoes, eyes) are paled to avoid standing out too much. This "ambient tint" effect better sells the design as a single unified piece.
Human hair can work, but is a feature more seen in cartoon or Archie Sonic rather than game Sonic (Sally, Lynx-Nicole). Amy, as stated earlier, is a more-human-than-normal exception to the rules of game Sonic design. Knuckles's spines resemble dreadlocks, etc.
SECTION 4. ADVICE FOR OCS
The issue with any bad art - whether it's drawn, written, or composed - is that it's superficial and not thought through very well. Unfortunately, a person has to be a goodish artist or art critic to see through this superficiality and mentally manage so much symbolism / detail, and young Sonic fans are neither.
I agree that game Sonic canon is usually ultimately lighthearted and very episodic, with the exception of Shadow who is dangerously close to OC territory - which is why so many OCs are a lot like Shadow. All good characters start from a simple base, and anything you add to them must support or counterpoint that base without major changes. The exception is if you have a story that relies on a character changing substantially as it goes, which again, is not a consistent trait of game Sonic and especially not a trait of a minor character (OC) as opposed to a main protagonist or heel-turn-face antagonist.
As a general rule of art, never ever use a truly neutral color. All greys should be slightly tinted to match their surrounding colors. Fully neutral greys are just as bad as the saturated green & bright blinding magenta in those bad OC examples.
SECTION 5. GOOD OC EXAMPLES
This is what I wanted to get to most of all, actually, since it's the largest point on which we differ.
First off, the abstract names all fit Sonic, unlike "Kyle".
The left strongly reminds me of Archie Sonic, which has a slew of Asian-themed characters (only some of which actually use Japanese animals I think.) He(?) would fit right in within that setting for sure. However, very similar ear piercings are used in Archie Sonic on characters from various backgrounds (Mina and Lynx-Nicole), so in context another form of adornment might be needed to stress elegance as compared to Mina's hipness or Nicole's whyever the hell she has them.
The middle one is a great design on its own, but partially due to the different art style, is a bit on the border for a recognizable Sonic design. Out of all Sonic games I can recall right now, I think its NiGHTS-like appearance best fits Sonic Shuffle (Lumina Flowlight et al.) I also had no idea it was a female until I read the name/description; while this is intended & suitable for the body, so far as I know all Sonic females have very long "I'm a girl!!" eyelashes and this one just has a hint in the corners.
The right one is a bit too abstract from Sonic principles for me to instantly connect - it's the combination of obscuring armor and not being a "typical" Sonic race like Another Damn Hedgehog. Again, the different art style affects this too. Importantly, it's still tolerable to look at, unlike Green the Hedgeugly up there.
SECTION 6. HAVE SOME DIGNITY
Agreed entirely. "Don't care about good LOL" is just an excuse for scrubs to get out of standards.
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