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Aragon


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Jul
5th
2021

I Do What I Want · 6:10pm Jul 5th, 2021

Comments ( 45 )

I do actually dislike the word "bitch" and gently ask my friends not to use it in front of me if they don't mind it. The greatest joke of this comic is that it is incredibly fucking accurate.

This is an early birthday gift to Mousse, who designed both my character and her own! And what you can see of MrNumbers', too. Here's to many more years!

Also, not to be extra scummy, but consider tipping me on Ko-Fi if you can spare it; financially speaking, I'm in the absolute dumps but I didn't want to charge my Patreons for this comic.

Next big one will be in August or so. See ya!

Love these comics

RBDash47
Site Blogger
RBDash47 #3 · Jul 5th, 2021 · · 2 ·

CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS POLITICAL PROTESTORS! SMASH THE STATE!

Also I want to see mousse's avatar for you

Goddammit

The transition between panels fifteen and sixteen remain my favourite part of this comic. It's so well done.

I also can't stop laughing at how detailed the hands are on a character that is literally a picture of a man's face with stick limbs.

Tired, rumpled pegasus... yeah, that works very well as a pony avatar for you, to say nothing of the name. And yes, focusing on the best parts of a work of art to praise is a great method. All told, great stuff here.

guys quit horsing around

God how the fuck are you this good.

Estee #9 · Jul 5th, 2021 · · 1 ·

Too wordy.

Private running gag. Move along.

Genuine question— if your advice is to focus on one part of a piece and praise that, does it seem like 'overkill' to praise multiple parts of it if you find it appropriate? Say, an artist puts incredibly accurate detail into their background, while at the same time, have a mastery of contrasting colors that helps make the piece pop. Is it then inappropriate to praise both?
I feel like the other exception to this would be when an artist is working on a commission and asks their commissioner for feedback on a WIP— the 'misher could praise x and y and z based on the details they asked for, but say a and b aren't quite what they envisioned.
Right?

I was going to ask why you listed me as a polymath before I remembered that I actually do make art. Specifically, fractal art. And man, feedback for that one is fun because the only people who really spend time consuming fractal art are also the type whose feedback consists of terms like "GPU acceleration," "package dependencies," and "stable non-linear affine transforms." One of these days I'm going ask a fractal forum about how to improve my art, and the replies are gonna require me to get another doctorate to understand.

This was hysterical and also amazing. Chaos is perfect. 10/10

Panels 29 and 30, introducing Mr. Numbers, are my absolute favorites, I love them. RBDash too, just the attention to detail to draw his cartoon hands interacting with the photograph face.

So here's a tip!
Find a single detail that you like in the picture, and praise that.
It'll feel more genuine and helpful.

I really like the numbers conveniently placed at the bottom right corner of each panel! They help me keep track of which ones are my favourites! :trollestia:

Yeah, there are reasons I don't showcase visual artwork anymore. If you think people get mad over simple text they don't understand or connect with, yikes.

5549636
This is a toughie for me. As a female wolf, I identify with what I am, but I realize for most women it's a horrendous insult. So I try not to use it and sometimes slip up.

I actually agonized over whether it was okay in my recent story to have trans Trixie say she was sorry for sounding "bitchy". I ended up deciding that since she's saying it about her own behavior it might be okay-ish, but it still kinda labels female behavior bitchy... however, I want her to sound imperfect with respect to her gender awareness (that's one of the main points of the story). Still, I worried somepony might misread it as coming from my voice specifically if I didn't lampshade it (which could interrupt the flow of the narrative), but then I remembered I'm going to be trolled heavily in the comments regardless so none of this shit matters :derpytongue2:

5549657

As your sometimes collaborator without even a bachelor's to his name; Ha ha ha, Adobe Lightroom goes brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

It takes a certain kind of man to name his own self-insert Laughingstock.

I find the lack of Sunset, even as an Avatar for someone else, disturbing. Needs more Bacon Horse :rainbowwild:

5549657
I'm sure they meant polymath literally, as in you know more than one kind of math.

Dostoevsky as an anarchist? Strange. He is actually against it in his Crime and Punishment. And do not like liberals.

Credit where its due, you really never know what to expect when one of these pops up.

It's entitled, but is it self-entitled? :duck:

Your arts has improved a lot, Ara. I'm really impressed.

iisaw #24 · Jul 5th, 2021 · · 1 ·

See, there's a thing that you do with the comics that's incredibly difficult to convey well in writing: The Significant Pause.

I swear, I've laughed harder at some of the panels with "nothing" going on (e.g., panel 36) than at many of the truly witty and funny lines. Maybe that says more about me... I dunno.

I disagree slightly with MrNumbers when he says that art is taken in all at once. That's true for the initial viewing/impression, and true for the panel-by-panel vertical arrangement that you're using here, but for more complex works the observer's eyes scan the image in a path that can be controlled by the composition of elements... and I'm being way too pedantic here, aren't I? Never mind.

But I'm in complete agreement with RBDash47. Criticism is pointless unless it is in the form of concrete and practical advice on how to improve the work. (But I'd say that mostly goes for writing as well.)

That said, I'd recommend Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud as a book that might do you a world of good. You seem to be employing several of the techniques discussed therein already... possibly by instinct? Anyway, if you have an Amazon wish list or there's some other way I can get a copy to you, I'd be happy to do that. PM me if you'd like.

The countdown to the comic featuring 100% clip-art avatars of famous personalities begins...

Find one detail and comment on that... hmmm...

I really like the clipart you chose for Dostoevsky! It's a very emotional, moody image. However, for accuracy Mr. Numbers should have been shown inverted.

5549754
I cannot stress this enough that the first time I, or 47, saw or had any input on this was after it had been finished, and I was, in fact, given no warning I would even be in it.

Which, I don't say to throw Aragon under the bus. I just realize that you knowing that makes this way funnier.

As to your point, I'm not just a photographer, I'm a cinematographer, and I fully understand where you're coming from because what you're describing becomes way more obvious when the images have a fourth dimension that you have to lead an audience through. I think my dialogue is correct enough for the point Aragon wants to get across here, but I want to make a video this week on the cinematography of Fritz Lang, and I promise I'll do you justice there. The script's already finalized, I just need to find recording time.

RBDash47
Site Blogger

5549775
5549754

I cannot stress this enough that the first time ... 47 ... saw or had any input on this was after it had been finished

This is 100% true.

That being said, as someone who spends their free time doing line-by-line, nitpicky, technical copyedits of his friends' work,

Criticism is pointless unless it is in the form of concrete and practical advice on how to improve the work.

perfectly captures me!

Also "you don't debate fascism, you destroy it"

5549775

...knowing that makes this way funnier.

OMFG, yes! :rainbowlaugh::rainbowlaugh::rainbowlaugh:

I want to make a video this week on the cinematography of Fritz Lang...

Oh damn! I'm sure I will enjoy the heck out of that!

Comment posted by MrNumbers deleted Jul 5th, 2021

Free Britney :rainbowkiss:

5549783
With purchase of one Britney at same or greater price.

"Have a wonderful Summer." Thank you and don't tell me what to do.

Che? Best thing he ever did was take a bullet.

5549754

Not to also be pedantic, but as an artist I do not give a shit about art LMFAO. You take in the pic all at once and then. You’re done. It takes way too much mental effort to internalize just how much time was spent on a *single piece.* If I did it for my own art, I’m not sure I wouldn’t cry.

Although the artist makes the picture pleasing for your eyes, you only really notice a piece if it’s done particularly well or particularly bad- it’s up to you to choose which one you want to make!!

5549874
Yeah, everybody has a different attitude toward art. For me, art is a lot of work and I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it. (Or get paid for it.) Some art I love and can stare at for hours, some slides right off.

5549883
Ditto writing

Godspeed

The lines under Laughingstock's eyes really sell his unrelenting exhaustion for me.

Also, thanks for telling us how to provide feedback for different artforms. I have a friend who does photography that I wasn't really sure how to interact with on the subject before.

My name is in an Aragon comic, this has made my day ♥

At first glance, I had to take a double take when Meadowsweet was introduced, only to wonder what I had double taked at in the first place when I looked closer. i.imgur.com/6uWMsN8.png

It finally clicked that it was because it's a mere 5° chin tilt, eye widening, and mouth curve away from i.imgur.com/veJPEux.png and that you've got that boisterous, "I'm ready to take on the world and oh dear Celestia you might want to get out of the way" pose and face down pat. AJ's actually got it too, right before the transformation.

I've seen shit-eating grins before, but Laughingstock lands an entire impressive shit-eating face when Mr. Numbers enters the scene.
i.imgur.com/CMpr2IB.jpg
The notion of, "I am the god of this comic strip, and this is what I have done with my limitless power" combined with that face sent me wheezing.

Also, the eye triangles are really solid here? I'm not even sure if there's a word for the space on the sides of eyes, but how they're shaped differently on each character, and even whether or not they're included helps to characterize them does a lot. It's a minute detail in the span of things, but you've opened my eyes to how that space actually matters and can be used for better expressions.

Really wonder if there's a word for "the outer edge of the eye, and its demense of nearby, non-eyed but still lightly concaved face area."

My fucking sides. This is so informative and hilarious.

ROBCakeran53
Moderator

What the fuck did I just read?

Okay... I just re-read this, and I had an epiphany. The fact that RBDash47 does cross-stitch means he has the patience and determination to stab something thousands of times. :twilightoops:

Respect.

RBDash47
Site Blogger
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