Art Evolution: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:Garfield art evolution 8232.jpg|link=Garfield (Comic Strip)|frame|On the left: 1978. On the right: today. Notice the difference?]]

{{quote|'''Elan:''' But at least you got some snazzy new boots, and I got this clasp for my cloak!

May cause [[Early Installment Weirdness]]. Also see [[Vocal Evolution]].

{{examples}}

* This [http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/08/21/extreme-manga-style-changes/ site] has a compilation of vids that show art evolution from different manga authors. Some are really drastic. (The site itself is [[NSFW]].)

* The artwork for the original ''[[Slayers]]'' novels shifted rather oddly. The first few novels featured characters with very delicately detailed clothing, a trait that fades away in the later novels. Another notable change is the faces of the characters: the female characters have very rounded eyes and cheeks, and the males actually have masculine jaw lines; [[Idiot Hero|Gourry]] the swordsman and [[Villain with Good Publicity|Rezo]] the priest looked far different originally. By the eighth novel, all of the characters had generic pointed chins and faces, and the anime adaptation followed suit with these designs.

*** An even better example would be ''[[One Pound Gospel]]'', on which she worked from 1988 to 2007. The first 2 volumes look like ''Urusei Yatsura''/''Maison Ikkoku'', the 3rd one like ''[[Ranma ½]]'' and the 4th like ''[[Inuyasha]]''.

** Ranma's ''braid'' seemed to do a reverse evolution, however, going from much more realistic-looking in the earlier volumes to something that looks like three balls and the end of a paintbrush.

* ''[[Hunter X Hunter]]'', on the other hand, did not fare as well. Recent chapters of the manga were drawn while the author was ill, and have been noticeably decreasing in art quality, some of them looking like literal scribbles. The author wisely chose to take a break and focus on recovering from his illness, and the latest chapters he released after the end of his hiatus are of fairly good quality. Thankfully, he also revises the art for the tankoban collections, so it looks much better.

** To compare, [http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/298/hxhjump.jpg here] is chapter 252 when it was released in Shonen Jump. Yes, the entire chapter (previous ones as well) looked that bad. [http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/2530/hxhtankoban.png Here] is the version released in the tankoban.

* Early volumes of ''[[Death Note]]'' are done in the fairly typical [[Shonen]] style, with frequent [[Face Fault]]s, [[Visible Sigh]]s and [[The Sweat Drop|Sweat Drops]]. As the series gets darker though, all these effects disappear and the artwork becomes sharper and more realistic. A flashback to the first chapter uses this for effect as an [[Art Shift]]. When Light {{spoiler|gives up his memories and reverts to his mostly-innocent personality from the beginning}}, his face changes dramatically. His eyes open much wider than normal, stress lines disappear and he seems younger and less evil. The artist of the series admitted that it was hard to unlearn everything he'd innovated and go back to the original sketches.

* The change from the beginning of the ''[[Hikaru no Go]]'' to the end (5 years) is remarkable. At the start, the art was [https://web.archive.org/web/20090203202556/http://www.onemanga.com/Hikaru_no_Go/2/15/ relatively cartoony], while the series wrapped up with art that was far more [https://web.archive.org/web/20090204070318/http://www.onemanga.com/Hikaru_no_Go/188/15/ realistic and subdued], like the artist's later works of ''[[Death Note]]'' and ''[[Bakuman｡]]''.

* Pikachu has undergone quite the style change as the ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' anime went on, as has Meowth. The quality of drawing is noticeably better, they're actually using CG in scenes now, and the art gets even better during important battles or when the animators just want to show off. The same applies to the games. The same thing can be said for the human characters as well, particularly concerning the eyes. Originally everyone had skinny eyes (except [[Eyes Always Shut|Brock)]], but as the series progressed the majority of the characters got more rounded eyes. Compare [http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab170/Leh_Car92/Pokemon/PMAsh24.jpg Ash in early Kanto] to [http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab170/Leh_Car92/Pokemon/PMBWAsh07.jpg Ash in Unova].

* ''[[Bleach]]'' has evolved significantly over its run. The first few volumes have a distinctive rough, square-jawed style carried over from Kubo's first series, ''[[Zombie Powder]]''. By the time the Soul Society arc begins, the art style has become smoother and more detailed. That move towards more graceful lines seems to have continued, although slowly and subtly enough that it is not usually apparent, up to the current Hueco Mundo arc. However, it WAS noticeable when Uryuu turned up again for the first time after an absence of dozens of chapters, compared to his previous appearances. [[media:quincy.png|Exhibit A: Uryuu.]] [[media:berry.png|Exhibit B: Ichigo.]]

* James Howard got his start working on ''[[The Astounding Wolf Man]]'' and his growth as an artist is '''very''' evident. In the early issues his art was cartoony and character anatomy was a little odd. Yet he improved so that by the last issue he was using much more shadow and his designs were significantly more intricate and detailed.

* Naturally, every [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] character has gone through this. For example, [[Superman]]'s emblem wasn't quite the shape we know today when he first came out. Also, [[Batman]]'s costume was modified a lot in the first few stories and, appropriately enough, it wasn't until Robin debuted that Bob Kane had come up with all the main elements of the design.

* ''[[Archie Comics]]'' has gone through some serious redesigns over the past 50+ years. The art was simplified sometime within the 60s or 70s and occasionally Archie tries out a new design - to which they always return to the "classic" one in the end.

* ''[[Mortadelo Y Filemon]]'' looked [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DBGRwBG2dbk/T2Gk4GhEfrI/AAAAAAAABW4/p9ewIdezEKk/s1600/mortadelo+y+filem%C3%B3n.gif like this]{{Dead link}} in 1956. And [http://www.oconowocc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/OLE-N-%C2%A6191-Mortadelo-Filemon.jpg this is the cover] for one of their latest books.

* Steve Moncuse's art in ''[[Fish Police (comics)|Fish Police]]'' took a more "shiny" appearance when the comic changed from black-and-white to color upon moving to Comico. Interestingly, he kept the color-friendly style even when it moved to Apple Comics and reverted to black-and-white.

* In ''[[Septimus Heap]]'', illustrator Mark Zug's images of the characters have become progressively more mature over the series, following [[Character Development]].

* Since the ''[[Dorrie the Witch]]'' books were written from 1962 to 1992, the art in them evolved considerably.

* An interesting in-setting example is shown in the novel ''[[My Name Is Red]]'', in which the traditional Ottoman/Persian style of art is being influenced by European and Chinese styles. The reaction to these changes are a major impetus for the novel's plot.

== Live Action TV ==

* ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'', being a prequel series, ran into the problem that it was being produced over 30 years after ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'', but was supposed to be chronologically set 100 years ''before'' it. The set design and costume departments have a lot to say about their struggles to make it look like a logical evolutionary step between a modern-day NASA space shuttle and Kirk's Enterprise from the Original Series...even though 1960s designs look very backward now.

* In an unusual example, the sitcom ''[[Reba]]''. Earlier episodes used standard establishing video shots of the characters' house. Around Season 2 these were replaced with warm-filtered, soft-focus zooms on stills of various set details.

== Newspaper Comics ==

* ''[[Garfield]]'' famously went from a [http://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1978/06/19/ thick-bodied, beady-eyed creature] to the more symmetrical, [[Sphere Eyes|goggle-eyed]] form seen [[wikipedia:File:Garfield the Cat.svg|here.]] Ironically, even though he's a cat, the original design of him looked more catlike than his refined design. Also evolved was the style - the strip originally looked slightly more realistic in its designs of people and animals. By 1983, the style became more cartoony.

** And Jim Davis' other comic, ''[[U.S. Acres]]'', went from a cutesy, round style similar to early-80s ''Garfield'' to a loose, cartoony, frenetic style.

* Compared to ''Peanuts'' and ''Garfield'', the change of ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''' actual character designs was relatively small. However, as Bill Watterson's art improved by leaps and bounds and the strip was granted a larger Sunday format, lineart became crisper and less sketchy, dinosaurs became more realistic and anatomically correct, and the backgrounds became more detailed.

* ''[[For Better or For Worse]]'' changed artwork styles wildly over its run. From a rough looking beginning (no background, slightly odd-looking but serviceable character design) the characters and background became slowly much more detailed and realistic to the point where the attention to detail and shading seemed extremely obsessive and a little intrusive. but interestingly, the artist is now reversing the art evolution and simplifying her artwork for health reasons.

* ''[[FoxTrot]]'' was a lot looser and more detailed in its first couple years, with more realistic backgrounds. Throughout most of the 1990s, it gradually became more flat and cartoony (most notably, there was more of a "gemoetric" feel — eyes became straight circles, the strands of hair over Jason's glasses became evenly spaced, etc.). In the last few years before the strip switched to Sunday-only, Bill Amend also began putting less detail in the background.

* ''[[Luann]]''. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the 25th anniversary Sunday strip, which had Luann, Bernice, and Delta commenting on the "twerpy little freshmen" who look exactly like them when the strip started.