Am I expecting too much from an artist?

[Chroma]

I've been writing a comic that I plan on hiring an artist for. One thing that particularly defines the world is that it is presented in shades of gray, except in the presence of particular beings that embody the various colors out there. When they enter a room, their particular color is added to the picture. So when the one who embodies Red stands in a room, everything that should be red becomes so.

I'm aware that color can be used to influence the mood of a comic. However, I wonder if it might be asking too much of an artist to color based upon the presence of particular characters and I should instead scrap that aspect, as it doesn't largely influence the story other than allowing people, potentially enemies, to be aware of their presence. Should I scrap the concept?

[BubooSenchan]

Nothing is too much if it's money involved xD
But, the more difficult it is, the more money you have to pay T-T

[joannekwan]

I think that's an excellent concept and really shouldn't be too much for an artist (especially one for hire) to do.

[Shanny8]

I'll agree with @margottoro- in order to get exactly what you want visually, you have to find an artist that A) can do it skill wise and B) that you can afford to do what it is that you want to accomplish.

[shazzbaa]

I don't think it's too much! I do think it would be best to include that information in the script rather than expecting the artist to just remember which colours were associated with which characters. So your script could say things like "Page 4 - Red Monster enters the room (all red things become coloured red)" or "Page 5 (red items still coloured red until Red Monster leaves the room)"

If you really want to look out for your artist, you can think ahead -- if your characters walk into the kitchen, and you know that several pages later the Red Monster will enter, you could say so in your description of the room, e.g., "Characters walk into the KITCHEN, small and cheerful room with a stove and some spices, make sure something in this room can turn RED when the Red Monster walks in later" if you want to make sure that it's very apparent in the environment when certain characters appear.

[Chroma]

That makes sense! Thank you. I'll be sure to include that information while I'm writing the script.

[TrustyShamrock]

i think that sounds rad and like itd be a fun thing to draw! AND ya could set it up for mood too if ya want. like have the red peeps be the really angry characters and the green ones the spooky or lively ones so the mood changes when they show up. or just keep doing what yer doing. either way is chill
but make sure the artist knows what theyre gettin into first

[that1person]

In my opinion, I think the concept of the environments' colors being changed by people who embody color is interesting and dramatic(does this represent aura?). To me, it would be great in a horror and/or a suspenseful story.

Now, my response to the question is: it really depends on the artist him/herself. Specifically, it depends how much they know about color theory, basically their knowledge and experience about art and color. And obviously, their art skills. You wouldn't be asking much to an artist who knows what their doing and how they spend their time.

[perfectboy]

might not be something you could afford, or your artist might take offence, but I think having a separate artists who would focus specifically on the color might not be a bad option. Since if you were to do it, you'd have to be incredibly consistent with it, day in and day out. this could end up being a problem if your artist is also tackling everything else about the art side of things, they might not have enough energy or focus to also add such a big demanding task to their to do list (though no artist would ever admit it, it sounds like a fantastic though ambitious idea). If you had a colorist, however, their sole task would to be to ensure such a feature was in fact consistent and you would (hypothetically) not have to deal with a dip in quality for that aspect.

[hushicho]

It doesn't sound unreasonable, but the more a writer asks of an artist, the more said writer should be willing to pay the artist in question. As @perfectboy noted, it might be a good idea to have a colorist.

Regardless, I recommend not micro-managing art too much if you're the writer. Giving your visual artist partners in creation the ability to do their jobs and realize the work as they do best will almost always lead to a better final work.

[ogawaburukku]

It sounds like a perfectly reasonable request to me. In fact, if your artist can't work with that, and it's important to the story, you should consider working with someone else.

This is assuming you are paying the artist, haha. If it's a joint thing, you might discuss with the artist what their vision is. I know if I was paid to do a comic I would follow through with the requests the author made, even if I disagreed with them.

[tayo_rafferty]

When they enter a room, their particular color is added to the picture. So when the one who embodies Red stands in a room, everything that should be red becomes so.

Really visually interesting, I would have said to go for it until I read this:

it doesn't largely influence the story

I'd say it's better to prioritise things that influence the story. Remove anything that doesn't contribute to the story being told. For example if this style you are suggesting communicates something about the setting or allegory or important character information then keep it. If it's just there to "look interesting" then scrap it. Make the things that are important to your story look interesting rather than adding/including something that looks interesting.

[bsienk90]

That's a pretty interesting concept! Keep it! But it really comes down to "if you got the money honey I got the time" kinda of situation. Lol

[echosrift]

As others have said, it sounds like a really interesting concept! I would encourage you to find an artist who is REALLY good at color/color theory and light, if you can, because someone who really knows what they are doing will be able to use ambient light to manipulate the local color of objects. So if your red entity walked into a room, but you wanted the mood to be somber, a good artist might fill the room with a very cool gray, almost blue ambient light, so that the red objects would also be cool and muted, becoming more of dusty red-purple in comparison to the rest of the cool grays. The reader would still know the objects are red, and the mood would be much more atmospheric.