For the final four frames of such a bloody action-packed adventure, these are admittedly somewhat sedentary. But I wanted to have the room within the frames to 'show off' the disintegration of Generaloberst Fedor Von Bock and his cronies. In addition I didn't really want anything to distract from the concluding exposition contained within the dialogue.
I was very taken with the character of Mister Gotch, which is probably why he is one of the few supporting cast members throughout all of my "Ermin Meonstoke" stories to survive. I would however later pay something of a return visit to his character, and briefly touch upon the impact that this tale had upon his sanity.
I was very taken with the character of Mister Gotch, which is probably why he is one of the few supporting cast members throughout all of my "Ermin Meonstoke" stories to survive. I would however later pay something of a return visit to his character, and briefly touch upon the impact that this tale had upon his sanity.
Next time "The Rambler" returns to discover that there's something more sinister than heavily-fanged abominable snowmen inhabiting the Himalayas in 1960, in "The Yeti Hunters"...
I have finally caught up with all of your "Mooretoons" posts, Simon. I really enjoyed reading them. You have a very distinctive style of drawing, which, overall, I like.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest criticism of your artwork is that we only ever see heads and upper bodies of your characters and almost never more than four characters per panel. I'd like to see a lot more variety in poses, positioning and number of characters. If you're going to do a crowd scene then please show more than four people! Your fight scenes should be more dramatic. Show the whole body if someone is kicking an opponent.
What I enjoyed the most about your posts was reading your thought processes into why you did what you did and what you wished you had changed. More often than not I agreed with all of your comments. I know hindsight is wonderful and it is a pain to have to go back and make changes, but if you did, you'd really raise the bar for your strips.
I have read all of your posts in chronological order, which seemed the most logical way of reading them and I certainly enjoyed your recent story, "Ermin Meonstoke: Sacrifice Upon the Waves" the most. Hey, it has hordes of zombies in it, so of course, I'm going to love it the most!
I hope you find my criticisms constructive as I like your story telling style and most of your artwork. I shall certainly be following your posts far more regularly from now on.
Many thanks indeed Bryan. Very much appreciated I assure you. I totally agree with your criticisms of the "Mooretoons" style, which tbh stems from the use of a computer to draw the figures rather than back when they were hand-drawn. Indeed figures of my characters clambering about, falling and leaping etc were quite common place, as were scaled shots of them (which meant you could see all of them and more of them!). Hopefully you've seen some of this in the b&w "Doctor Who" musings I post from time to time. Obviously there's not a lot I can do about my past stories but the future is encouraging in that I now own a digital pad/pen with which to tinker with my drawings and am trying to break the computer-enforced mould of six panels per page; something you hopefully spotted with "Virus Of The Panda".
DeleteAs to the future well I have started drawing again after an eighteen month sabbatical and breaking some of the constraints you mention is my goal this year. In fact the latest "Cosmic Custodians" six-parter I'm drawing looks quite a bit different in some respects Ref panels and guttering. What I will do though is probably draw a few more distance poses and get them digitised etc to break the head/upper body monotony you mention. Although that is undoubtedly the distinctive "Mooretoons" look and you won't be seeing anyone looking straight ahead.
"Ermin Meonstoke" does seem especially popular, and will undoubtedly be back as I have loads of stories drawn for him and Miss Priscilla; including a number of hand-drawn efforts. I look forward to any future comments you have, and once finished will see about posting up my latest stuff for you (and Roger) to critique.