I like colouring when there's time to experiment and figure things out. Or if there's already a very clear direction that the page needs to look. Inking though... shakes fist and screams into the sky
Black and white is great but I find it simultaneously harder and easier to figure out than colours. Grayscale is easier but nowhere as beautiful as the other 2 options--in my personal experience of my own work at least.
I actually like coloring despite the fact that I do my webcomic in grayscale. It's fun to study color and light theories. I don't mind coloring comics as paid work. The reason why I don't do it on my own webcomic on the other hand, is because I like to save for the printing cost (since it's mass production) plus it takes me longer to do and I don't have that kind of patience. I DO like doing colored illustrations and digital paintings and since my webcomics are grayscale, my illustration has an extra weight of special into them.
Same for me. I hate colouring. It's the biggest thing that slows me down and I had no idea what I was doing when I started so it's been a serious uphill struggle.
I was also a total idiot and chose a village on fire AT NIGHT as my second plot location. Whyyyy.
I hate doing the flatting (it's so slow and a real chore) but once that's out of the way I find the rest of the colouring process pretty fun! Working with a colourist can be nice though, it's a real pleasure just steaming through pages of inks without having to worry about going back to them afterwards.
I do hate flatting and I did contemplate doing a B&W/grayscale comic, but colour is crucial for me. I like playing around with the lighting and mood in my pages, and since I don't do many black shadows in my inking, all of it falls onto colouring. I change my colour pallettes pretty much every time a scene changes to keep myself from getting bored 
Very much agree. Sin City pops into my mind straight away. The stark black and white can create very powerful imagery.
@vincentprendick That is a good idea. I like the Mom Jokes one (don't see a lot of pink in comics).
@kurapikasuki Well, damn. That sucks. I have slight joint pain too in my wrist and elbow at times from a stupid self-inflicted injury. I find the LINE is a site with people that are a lot more critical without the helpful feedback.
@Shanny8 I will admit that it's quite fun messing around with different brushes.
@christinaeliz Ha! You've gotta put that idea forward. 'Make This Pretty' button would be amazing. Your black and white/screentone work very well with the style of your comic (great art btw).
@elixiadragmire Holy shit you went full on with the colour didn't you? Not THAT is the stuff I love yet find so difficult to do.
@VermillionWorks VERY accurate.
@Hot_Coffee I agree. If it's 80's I personally feel that the bright pastel/neon colours are very important.
@Bloomer I feel your pain. The comics are great but DAMN expensive. I agree. One comic of bombastic colour could be needed whilst another slightly bleak feel would be better. Gotta say, your comic colours has an 80'sish vibe too it. Very nice.
@carloswebcomic Damn those shallow reader.
SOMETIMES I almost find myself rewriting a scene because I think about the colours involved.
I think it all depends on the amount of time you have to commit to colouring, or how experienced and fast you are at it. I personally value consistent updates more than being stuck on a page for weeks, making sure the colouring is just right. Since I'm new to colouring, I took the time to do it for my first cover page, and it took me every spare moment of my week, as I just barely finished it before my posting day. I'm exceptionally slow at it to begin with. I'm sure with enough experience and time, I could figure out some shortcuts or become naturally faster at it, but I would just find it too stressful to give that type of time commitment every single week. While it's true colour comics are generally more appealing, I think we have to invest in the means to complete our comics that make us the most comfortable. If you're spending 20 extra hours a week colouring one page while working another job, maybe it's not worth partaking in at the moment.
All my comics so far have been in B&W, but I'm switching to coloring for my next, long story for several reasons.
First off, people, especially on the web, like colors: printed comics can get away with B&W, but let's face it, you likely turn off a large number of potential readers online if you don't have catchy colors.
Second, it's a challenge: I want to learn how to color, because I want my art to shine as much as possible in my eyes as well as my readers' eyes. Perfecting yourself means constantly pushing your boundaries and breaking through your limits!
Finally, I am now at a point where I am kind of satisfied with my line art, and I believe that coloring will not cover its defects, but bring out its quality. I really dislike comics with shiny colors that just cover up line art flaws. I don't want mine to end up like that!
So, yes, coloring adds to production time, but I think it's really worth it most of the time! Just pace yourself
I actually do LOVE sketching! Though I only like sketching single art, what I don't like is the layout part of the comic and especially paneling because I'm not sure of what I'm doing yet and what angle I should draw my characters in so they don't look repetitive T_T but that is true haha! Personally as much as I enjoy coloring, I would love if I can find a helping hand in someone who can do the flatcoloring process for me, it usually takes up the most time in my process haha
Hi. I think most "western" comic and "webcomic" I found is usually coloured. Perhaps this "trend" (if it is a trend) made some of us think that if we don't use colour it will be "lifeless" or "lack of something".
Do you read Japanese comics (manga)? Most of them are black and white with grays or screentones. I think these black and white mangas could speak louder and bolder even without colours. I even would not have it any other way.
Regarding me, if I need to do colour, I just do it (it's nor least favourite or most favourite). This might be a subjective preference but I do really enjoy doing black and white and trying my best to "speak" with only with them. And my upcoming comic will mostly be in black and white.
It ultimately depends on what you want to tell. If you think adding colours is only making it a tedium, then don't.
It's certainly time-consuming - I spent ages today shading tiled roofs and drawing intricate designs on people's armour - but my comic gets a lot of its atmosphere from the colours, so I find it necessary.
It's also kind of relaxing, in a way? I put on an episode of a podcast (or two or three, depending on length of episode and how much I'm colouring) and kinda zone out while I paint.
I think my least favourite part is convincing my clean sketches to cooperate with the rules of perspective, and inking very repetitive things - like bamboo forests and the aforementioned tiled roofs. If I don't pay attention, that kind of thing wears on my wrist.
Actually given the art style, I could dig black & white webcomics as well. The only thing I notice is that when some webcomic artists use color they pull back on the amount of linework/line quality they put on a page. I'm a little guilty of this myself, but for the most part I try to continue to keep my linework in sync with the color.
I think it's great that you want to get better at coloring. I have to admit, I HATED it at first, but after a couple of months I started noticing that I was getting the effect that I wanted, so I kept at it. Coloring is never really something I dread anymore coz I've now gotten into a zone where I have a pattern of how I do the work. The only area I wanna get better at is producing better pages due to understanding color/theory(which is where my color weakness is).
This is not always a bad thing. You don't want to add anything (including colors) to a picture that's already complete and does not need anything else to it. You want to add colors to a picture waiting to be colored.
Now, this doesn't mean more detailed = less suitable for colors. The amount of detail is just one factor. It's just worth asking: would this picture actually benefit from coloring?
I wouldnt say it's bad either...I usually follow the credo that I'm using the colors to make the lineart stand out, and sometimes vice versa. Now in certain areas like some backgrounds, yeah I will pull back on the amount of detail/lines(depending on certain factors).
The point I was making is when some artists pull back on the amount of linework and try to use the color to compensate for it. Depending on the style and the skill level, it doesnt always work.
I completely agree with you. I often see pretty colors on top of a rather sketchy line art and that kinda kills it for me. I guess my point is, splashing line art with colors seems kinda sloppy to me. I believe that readers notice sloppiness in all their forms, so it seems counterproductive to me. I love shortcuts that work, by the way: it's just... this is not a shortcut I personally feel comfortable with, and it turns me off both as a creator and as a reader.
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