Blue or Gray? Feedback On My Comic Color Change!

[orangeh00dey]

Hi guys! I've been working on my comic, Bulletin Hoard, since June. I've always worked in blues since it's my favorite color. Plus, I'm not very good with colors in general. I've recently made the change from shades of blue to gray-scale. This is a lot less difficult for me and really speeds things up! I'd love to hear what you guys think about the change. Any other sort of feedback/critique is appreciated as well! I'm looking forward to hearing from everybody!

Thank you,

Nick

[UndefinableCreature]

Personally I find the blue to be alot more aesthetically pleasing as compared to the to the grey, but ultimately I think the story matters more.

[okellymx]

If it is less difficult for you than I see no problem with making it grey

[orangeh00dey]

I completely agree. Thanks for the feedback!

[mg78]

blue its a better choice because a dark gray can "dissolve" the black line, while a dark blue cant do the same on the black...

[orangeh00dey]

What do you mean by "dissolve the line"?

[mg78]

...a dark gray can cover the black, so if u look @ the picture, u loose the subject

[joannekwan]

I like the blue, you don't see it that often.

Couldn't you perhaps colorize the grayscale into blue? Colorizing takes like 1 minute to do if you're using photoshop.

[jmhenry]

I like the use of blue in your comic! Plus your art style seems to work better with it, imo.

[orangeh00dey]

Thank you! And how the heck do I do that?? I do use photoshop!

[joannekwan]

First, select the layer you want to colorize. Then open up the Hue/Saturation box (ctrl/cmd + u)
Select the colorize box!

Then slide the Hue bar until you get your desired blue shade!

[orangeh00dey]

Oh my word, thank you so much for this!! I'm definitely gonna try this out!!

[joannekwan]

For sure! I'm glad I could help!

[MrKyleRose]

I think the blue gives it an added layer of depth and separation. It's also more aesthetically pleasing that way.

Another thing you should consider is how color flows from one page to the next. I would keep it as consistent as possible and make any change in color mean something. For example if you want to show a scene change then shifting the color pallet will help visually indicate that. You can use gray scale for flashback sequences or dreams. Even if you want to just change it up, I'd wait until chapter breaks so it doesn't seem so jarring.

For example, on my strip The Working Stiff, every time I have a new arc I slightly shift the pallet and keep it consistent for all the gags that belong in that grouping. This way even though it's not obvious that certain strips belong together, visually your brain relates them.

[orangeh00dey]

Noted. Thanks for the feedback! Very insightful!