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53 – Smile When You Say That
Posted on November 24, 2010 by Dawn
First off! Happy Thanksgiving! Well, atleast to those living in the USA and maybe Canada. I've had a habit of being a little quiet for the last couple of blogs, I like to listen and a little shy I guess. But for the holidays, I figured I would write a blog and have a goal to write more. So you better be thankful...or happily eating pie...I'm not very picky. Though now I want pie. But I figured that since this comic has two completely different character personalities standing next to each other (Rosa's explosion of personality and Frank's subtle expressions) that I would talk a bit about drawing these expressions. What's more than drawing characters for me? Their personalities! My goal with drawing this comic first was attempting to draw characters with emotion/characteristic quirks. Some are subtle and repressive like Suzie or Frank - who I like to think feel that actions speak louder than words and have experienced enough in their lives to not be easily surprised. Then there's characters like Uncle Chuck and Rosa that tend to be more expressive (Okay a whole lot expressive). The hardest out of these two extremes is drawing someone with subtle to no expression for me. Trying to draw Frank with his "poker face" can be a trial. If I'm not careful, Frank could end up seeming like a cookie cutter character, just someone that I could copy and past on every panel. Uncle Chuck and Rosa are my favorite personalities to draw so far. Uncle Chuck is so laid back and tends to always have a smile/grin on his face. I try to make him seem cheerful and nostalgic for the "good old days" before the Zombie attack. Rosa's expressions are fun to draw with her "I don't care what you think of me" cheerful attitude. I also wanted to draw Rosa a little different from the others. I didn't want to draw her as a thin attractive woman, but with a little bit of chunk to her weight. Which wasn't an easy decision to make because it's not the attractive norm in many comic books. Sure there's Francine from Strangers in Paradise, they kept saying she was overweight throughout the comic's story, but I never saw her as being fat really (truthfully she seemed normal). Plus there's a lack of chunky artist reference models out there. But for Rosa's personality I feel that maybe she was raised by big brothers and didn't get so much of the "a proper lady eats healthy and has manners" that many young ladies hear from their moms/aunts/etc. So her expressions are a little more towards being a big tomboy, with a whole lot of street smarts, and a dash of cunning. Which showing her awkwardly flirting with Frank is a lot of fun. Rosa...confident in everything but attracting the opposite sex.

12 thoughts on “53 – Smile When You Say That”

  1. Marrock

    I was always of he opinion that real women have curves and that someone who found a woman that looked like a 12-year old boy with peach pits in his shirt pockets to be attractive needed either therapy or a good solid thump to the cranium.

    1. Dawn

      I’m one of those women that want the small chest and lack of certain curves, but this was back when I practiced martial arts (hopefully again soon). And let me tell you, having a D-cup chest size and trying to do a proper outside/inside block is not an easy feat!

      But I know you’re talking about the super models or women that starve themselves to be “attractive”. Or the weird popularity of models that look like 12-year old boys. Which I always found weird. I mean when I draw or am asked to draw women, it’s usually big boobs, tiny waist, big butt, and long legs (more and more now it’s also women with a bit of muscle tone). But the super model look is the opposite of that and makes me wonder why they don’t just have it geared up so that a pole just goes out on the runway wearing the dress. I have a friend who’s working on being a fashion major…I should ask her about this.

      I remember reading an article once where a restaurant decided that they were going to offer free meals to these super skinny super models because they felt the models were too skinny and to show their fight against promoting eating disorders. Apparently this had become a popular idea and more restaurants that have a lot of celebrity and model customers went to also offer the free food to super skinny women.

  2. SteelRaven

    I think I have the same sense of humor as Frank…

    1. Dawn

      Heh.

  3. Ramsus

    Heh, I think my Frank approval ratings have gone up.

  4. chumash99

    I’m with Ramsus. 😉

  5. Magravan

    Canada has their Thanksgiving in October 🙂

    And I think that restaurants should give it to all skinny people, not just girls! I could use some free meals 😀

    1. Dawn

      Thanks Magravan. I did a brief search on the internet and they just said “Canada celebrates Thanksgiving” but never said when.

      And I couldn’t agree with you more. As a college student, I understand it at a whole different level now. 😛

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  7. Bob

    I’m re-reading from the beginning while waiting for some long processes to run, and this is one of my favorites. The dialog between Rosa and Frank is great. Rosa is open and cheerful, Frank is droll and laconic. “Mostly joking”.

  8. Clint

    I’m always happy to hear it’s not just me who reads back through all of this over and over 😀

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