Tadashi over the years

Hawk on Sept. 14, 2011

I like to think I've improved over the years, and sometimes I feel like I haven't improved fast enough. College and my job have helped me to a certain extent. At least when you look at a side-by-side comparison you can see where my focus has gone and the types of improvements I've made.
1. I'm slowly escaping anime.
2. There is an increasing focus on shape design.
3. I've really grown to love straight lines and angles.
One of the most interesting things to me is that never in that whole range of skill does Tadashi have a realistic torso. But at least at the very end his torso abnormalities are intentional and based on design decisions.

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Marscaleb at 9:31AM, Sept. 20, 2011

To be completely honest, I like the 2009 one the best. It's a little more grounded in reality than your recent version, and I think a lot of the emotion of your comic is better portrayed with that level of reality. People tend to accept/refute outlandishness according to the artistic style. And while a more abstracted style can make it easier to get away with sillyness and unrealistic expectations, it also denies the ability to make connections with the characters. And if you want the audience to feel tense about their tense situations, they need to be sufficiently grounded in reality.