Ashling should be a little more grateful…but channelling my inner teenager I feel that I would be a least a little resentful for getting “Double School”…even if that other school involves messing about with magic 😀
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Haha, poor Ashling. I take it she’s not the most studious person. What would she be doing otherwise, though? She doesn’t strike me as a party girl.
I *love* Fiona’s look in the last panel. ^_^
@Kessy: Extra camogie practice with Capt. Sharon, of course. “Drop and give me 50, Connolly! Then give me 10 laps around the campus!” 😈
“If you can block a wrench, you can block a camogie ball.” 😛
Also: Indeed, I like Fiona’s “Braid crown” as well.
@Kessy: No, Ashling really isn’t. For me, it has been important that Ashling would appear as a normal teenager as much as possible. I don’t remember being particularly industrious or studious at her age and considered general indifference to school-life to be the norm. School was something you had to do, but it was never something you ever really loved 😀
Glad you all like Fiona’s updated look. That panel was bugging me for weeks before I got her to appear somewhat OK 🙂
@Azreal: You pretty much nailed what Sharon would do. I’m actually pondering on the idea of her being ex-military, but I’m wondering if that is a little too on-the-nose 😀
I’d see your 50 push-ups, and probably raise you to 350, and 10 laps around the campus to 10 laps around the entire coast of Ireland.
As for the wrench…maybe a brick?
@Azrael: Well yeah, but somehow I don’t think Sharon would accept Witch School as a legitimate excuse to get out of practice. 😉
@Rawr: I kind of like the idea of Sharon being ex-military. Here’s a thought: maybe she either wasn’t able to enlist because of some kind of medical condition that’s minor in everyday life? Or she might have enlisted but was later given a medical discharge when the condition came to light. My Grandpop Fisher was a Philadelphia fireman, and Poppop wanted to follow in his footsteps but wasn’t able to because he had a heart murmur. He wasn’t able to serve in WWII for the same reason. At least I think it was a heart murmur, but it was something like that. Although I’m not sure if that sort of thing is as much an issue now with how far medical science has come.
I do have one suggestion for Fiona. For more distant shots like the first panel, you might want to reduce the vertical lines in her hair above her braids. Either use fewer or maybe not draw them all the way down to the braid. I think it would look better with more emphasis on the braid.
I feel Ashling’s pain. She’s enrolled in an institution with a faculty of one, and a student body of….one. She does have an interpreter, and a kibitz…, ah, that is, a cheerleader, but the rest of it is all on her. Perhaps once she gets into it she may come around, but right now–not so much.
@Rawr: I don’t know what standard of excellence you are using to judge your work, but you’re flogging yourself like a rented mule. I think you’re doing great. 🙂
@Kessy: Thanks for the feedback, I might just figure a way to make her ex-military then 🙂 Although I have some of her past chalked up (with a fun chapter idea for the future), I haven’t really covered her adult life, beyond her unfulfilled desire to lead a camogie team to at least one victory 😀
Good idea with Fiona too. I wasn’t too sure with the final design when I did the distance shots of Fiona. I’m also trying to temper my inking a bit, which is still alas a bit sloppy, resulting in line-work like you see with Fiona 😀
@Delta: I had actually to look up “kibitz”, but yes that does describe what Aoife is doing here 🙂
Thank you, as usual you are very kind with your comments. One of the weird things about me and drawing is that no matter how well I draw a thing I will always find something that I could have done better. It’s a bit maddening, but it does drive me forward in trying to improve. Bata Neart itself is almost like a time-capsule from the past 15 years of drawing the series and improving in this way. The fact that you folks enjoy the comic makes it worth it in the end 🙂