Nothing Better Ch16 Pages 1-5


Here's the beginning of chapter 16! In case you hadn't noticed, it looks a lot different. Why? Because.
I finished five pages of art for this chapter that matched the previous style and I just felt very 'meh' about it. I really felt like I was going through the motions.

Then I was looking through some old sketches and ran across a few drawings of the NB characters in this style. I'd considered making this switch before when I started doodling them in this style for fun. But I felt like it would have been too abrupt of a change right in the middle of what is supposed to be one continuous book. Then I just figured "what the heck." Why not, right?

I want to keep working on Nothing Better and I needed a way to re-engage myself. In addition to changing the art style I've changed the 'page' sizes slightly so they a) fit better on a screen and b) are smaller and faster to draw and finish. I've been squeezing in a page here and there when I've got 20 minutes and hope to build up a little buffer while I don't have any freelance projects going on.

So I see it as a win-win. Hopefully you do too.

I'd love to hear what you think!

11 comments:

Alex said...

Great to wake up and see fresh Nothing Better!
The new style is a change, but if you feel like it is needed, go ahead!
Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Long wait to see new NB! Small changes to the art will not deter me one bit, just interested and excited to see where the story goes.

Chris W. said...

Oh, cool. I thought chapter 15 was the end because there was no "Next" link. Good thing I noticed that the Archive listed a chapter 16. 8-)

I started reading this last year, and just got completely caught up. I'm glad to see you're hoping to continue; I was very disappointed when I realized chapter 15 had been posted in 2011.

Thanks for all your hard work on this comic. The characters feel REAL to me, which is rare. I do have some trouble keeping track of all the different characters, but that's partly my own fault as it's sometimes a month or more before I come back to read some more chapters, so my memories are vague. Another archive reread should help refresh my memory.

Unknown said...

If the new style means you can post more comics, then I'm all for it! The teeth remind me a bit of Matt Groening's characters.

diana green said...

I think that a looser style does allow you to work faster and more comfortably. It seems to suit the characters and the story. In my own work, I find that working smaller is freeing but I tend to leave out more detail.
Glad to see you're back at this story!

Jean-Luc Ancey said...

I like this new style but I'm a little afraid about the new shape of the girls that seemed absolutely cute with the old one... I still want to be in love with them, don't forget that! :-)

Sarah said...

When I google searched I noticed that there are two more pages posted in this chapter, but for some reason you can't get to them from this page! There is not a next link at the top...you might want to fix that :)

Nordic said...

Hi there!
First, let me say how happy I am that NB is finally resuming! The new style is a big turn off, though I understand the reasons behind the change. It's simply too point (and toothy) for my taste, and, to me, makes the characters look all the same. However, as I love the characters and really like the story, I'll go on reading, but with less satisfaction, as I really enjoyed the shading, roundness, and facial expressions of the previous styles.
In any case, thank you for your work and talent!

Unknown said...

I rather like the new art style, its looser and reminds me of Doug from Nickelodeon a bit. Plus, I'm just happy Nothing Better is updating again!

However there is one small criticism, and that's how everyone has an overbite. Everyone's teeth are showing at all times, unless they have a full beard. It's the one small thing that rubs me the wrong way.

Unknown said...

I'm so glad to see this updating again. I've literally been reading it for years now--it's kind of grown up with me and my college experience!

The new style is different, and although I liked the polished, smoother style of the older comics, this one is totally fine with me as long as we get comics.

Thanks so much for sticking with "Nothing Better"--it's a comic worth waiting for, dude.

Luli V. said...

Please update!!! :)