I was wondering how you decided on flat shading, Mr. Griffin. Have you tried doing more complex shading and just preferred this way, is the other way too much work, what?

EDIT: I apologize for the fact that this is kind of hard to understand, but I can't really figure out how to word it better. Made it less confusing (hopefully).

I always figured it was because his Housepets style is, more or less, a watered down version of his regular art style. He uses flat colors, so flat shading matches.

Also, if you had a thrice-a-week comic, you'd prolly want the strips done pretty quick

It's also cartoonier this way. I can't speak for Rick but I think that's probably what he's going for.

I work on this comic three to five hours three times a week. Yes more complex shading would be great, but unless this comic was my job I couldn't do that.

I think it looks great the way it is, Rick. But if I'm not mistaken, you did change the ink thickness in your drawings. At least, that's what I thought you said in a recent post on the "Not All Dogs" comic.

Actually, I prefer flat shading and flat colors in a cartoony thing. Makes it fit the theme better. Now if this was serious, then smooth would be nice.

Stop stealing my thoughts.

What is Rick's job anyway?

Drawing

on the topic onf art style I really liked it when they had huge fore arms. It was such a cute little trait.

ah, the Popeye years.

Except how the dogs and cats looked the same.

They still kinda do, it's just less exaggerated, see look at Fiddler and Keys

I always imagined if they got in a fight it would just take one punch to the face and its over.

Also does anyone else thinks fox looks ridiculously young now. That and also has a sorta chibi anime thing going on.

What do you mean? xo

Never mind maybe its just me.

Fiddler: Strength lies in having a bow, which means he could poke and injure his opponent's eyes instantly. Weakness lies in the violin's affect upon impact. Due to its its material being low in mass, its total mass is still very low. The instrument (both the bow and sound box) will not cause that much damage upon impact if used like a battering ram. A little side note would be if the opponent has sensitive ears, apply heavy pressure and move the bow perpendicular to the series of strings behind the bridge. This will result in some nasty noises, like a cat dying.

Keys: Strength lies in its heavier mass. A heavier mass means a heavier force upon impact (applying Newton's 2nd law in physics). Therefore the opponent is more like to fall unconscious or experience serious injury from blunt force trauma. Weakness lies in its heavy mass. Unless Keys is well trained, his muscles will experience high stress and could weaken his strength when lift the keyboard up for an attack. A little side note would be the amount of chips inside the keyboard. By tearing open the plastic case, chips can be obtained and due to the material that is used for making chips, it has very low friction when sliding on the floor. If placed transistor side up, a clumsy opponent could slip and fall on its back. Thus giving Keys more time on making his next move. If the opponent has thin skin, the transistors on the chip could tear open his flesh

Back in the archives there was a time were he was doing some new shading/lightning scenery stuff.

Starting here: (http://www.housepetscomic.com/2010/08/2 ... nevermind/)

I was really excited to see this new lighting and I thought it was permanent. Sadly, it wasn't. But who can blame him? It's probably not an easy task.

I thought it looked cool, but the flatter color scheme seems more appropriate in my opinion.

Don't mind the lighting when things get wet. because then it's even funnier i find. But i'm assuming if Rick were to draw every wet moment in Housepets like that, he would have a field day.

Splash pages i assume would be a good example. Or maybe one pecticular comic per arc.

This might be a bit of a long post but here goes nothing.

As you all know, the art style has definitely been evolving in such a short time-frame. There is the obvious change from black and white to color and then there is the much more subtle change of altering the line thickness. The most beneficial change I saw was the change from black and white to color. There was much more life to the artwork. Looking at the black and white strips the art didn't look as refined as it was in the colored strips. Now, that might just be the wonder that is color or the background art changed. Yes, there was an improvement in the art but the lines still looked unnaturally soft.

The first problem is minute erratic changes in the line thickness which adds a wobbly quality to the line as opposed to an intentional change in line thickness which greatly enhances the illusion of depth. This can be seen in the first panel of "One day At The Office" if you look at Earl's desk.

The second problem is the slight chicken scratch line. This can also be seen by looking at Earl's desk in the same panel ( to be fair, the perspective in the panel has a sufficient amount of depth) What happened was that a line was drawn but it wasn't long enough so another line was drawn right before the end of the first line. That hardly ever works.

The third problem is the tendency for textures such as hair, fur, and feathers to appear as if they were rendered with modeling clay (unless that is the intended effect which is cool if it is) A good example can be found on the elbow fur of Mr. Itsuki Kitamura, Notice how there is a curve instead of a point to the tapering of the fur. Being a left-handed artist, I don't know if the hand coordination techniques I use can apply to a right-handed artist. Be sure not to use the death grip on your pen, pencil, and stylus lest you want to suffer the vengeance of a cramped wrist and mediocre line art which adds insult to injury. I know from experience.

The real problem is that there isn't really much of a construction or foundation to the drawings. The way I see it, the awesome electric guitar solos are there but someone neglected the bassist who not only provides the rhythmic foundation but also the harmonic foundation, too. Yes, this web-comic is indeed great (especially this most recent year) and rightfully so but I seem to see a lot of hidden potential to greater than you could imagine. The talent is there but are the 10,000 hours there?

I sure hope this is in any matter helpful and not hurtful. I do not like to be the bad guy and I'll be glad to clarify any confusing matter.

Note: This should be easier to read though still unnecessary for me to mention.

Dude, paragraphs and line breaks.

Also, I don't really see a point or a need to be offering crits to a three time a week comic. I think Rick is well aware of his strong and weak points.

There's nothing wrong with a little criticism. Rick is more mature than to be offended by it, and if he doesn't need it, he just won't read it. No harm done.

That does make a lot of sense, Sleet. I do admit I am a bit nit-picky and not so easily satisfied with anything. As for the art style, it is the work of a professional artist. I should just enjoy the comic's great art style and its colorful cast of characters.