The Majesty of OOTS

[BlackJimmy]

It amazes me on a regular basis how a comic made of simple line drawings can be so well written, with a compelling plot and characters whose almost one dimensional appearance belies their three-dimensional personalities (with the exception of a certain homicidal halfling). Occasionally the author goes beyond even this to create a comic that is truly inspiring. The episode where Elan signs Oh Buddy Roy is one such episode. The latest, "Endurance Feat", is another. Thank you, Mr. Burlew.

[Callista]

Well, hey, if Shakespeare can do it with nothing but words--! :smallsmile:

[Trazoi]

Well, hey, if Shakespeare can do it with nothing but words--! :smallsmile:
It's true that good writing is orthogonal to the art style - you can pair up good or bad writing with good or bad artwork. One doesn't seem to affect the other.

I'm more impressed with how expressive the stick figure art work can be. It can convey emotions extremely clearly. I guess given the popularity of the smiley it should be obvious that sometimes a more abstract art style can be clearer in conveying emotion than something more detailed, but I feel it gives the storytelling a boost in OotS case.

[Callista]

Yep. You see more humanity in a stick figure than you do in a computer-generated "realistic" human face... because your mind picks out the little human details and fills in the rest. With the computer-generated (or realistically drawn) face, you pick out the little bits that aren't human, and the entire effect can actually get a little spooky. That's why it's so easy to empathize with cartoon drawings--a lot of the detail comes from your own mind, and it's very familiar as a result. What a cartoonist does is give you a framework around which to wrap your imagination...

[Remirach]

Yep. You see more humanity in a stick figure than you do in a computer-generated "realistic" human face... because your mind picks out the little human details and fills in the rest. With the computer-generated (or realistically drawn) face, you pick out the little bits that aren't human, and the entire effect can actually get a little spooky. That's why it's so easy to empathize with cartoon drawings--a lot of the detail comes from your own mind, and it's very familiar as a result. What a cartoonist does is give you a framework around which to wrap your imagination...

Lovely post. I have been thinking this is true and wanting to use this explanation to sway people over to reading the comic, but is there any kind of cite online you could link me to? I know about the Uncanny Valley, but is there a name for this sort-of-opposite effect?

[PlainSimplePhil]

Yep. You see more humanity in a stick figure than you do in a computer-generated "realistic" human face... because your mind picks out the little human details and fills in the rest....[snip] --a lot of the detail comes from your own mind, and it's very familiar as a result. What a cartoonist does is give you a framework around which to wrap your imagination...

I think there's some real truth to this, and I think that's why I think one of the most expressive "faces" in the strip is the MitD. It would be hard to describe to anyone who doesn't read the strip how two yellow ovals (and occasionally a yellow line) can convey so much emotion, but the last three panels of this strip (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0463.html) tell me an awful lot about a character we've never "seen."

[Callista]

I don't know that it has a name. I do know it's still part of the Uncanny Valley effect, the peak just before the valley... stylized humans; anthropomorphic animals like Mickey Mouse; that kind of thing.

[Prowl]

It amazes me on a regular basis how a comic made of simple line drawings can be so well written, ...

Actually, the comic is made up of a heck of a lot more than simple line drawings. I'd be surprised if most of it was actually drawn by hand at all. From what I see, there's more Photoshop work than illustration work involved in the production of the strips. It's only due to the skill of the artist that his likely-to-be-quite-complex production appears simple at all.

A lot of the strip is that way - things you can only pick up on if you have experience in or knowledge of a related field - such as the D&D rules or the use of tropes.

It's not so much a comic strip but a production meta-strip.

[Chazzie]

Anyone familiar with Illustrator knows how difficult the program really is. I can see that it takes a lot of work to make OOTS, even if it appears simple.

I wish The Giant would make screenshots of the production of the comic step by step. =P