Design Regrets or "Why did I do this to myself?"

[frgmnt]

These are references I made for two of my comic characters (they both appear very prominently in the early pages) in 2017, long before I actually started drawing the comic. I loved adding the little details of their outfits and showing their personality through them, honestly. (And there are more that are not shown here, but were shown in the comic, like their ear piercings or Karen's bag...)

But drawing the comic, I kept forgetting these details or getting them wrong (so they looked inconsistent from page to page). I could hardly keep up with anatomy, so how was I gonna also keep track of details on top of that, lmao... I learned the hard way that detailed design isn't always a good design. Or at least, it's not a design I can keep up with.
I'm gonna try to simplify these a little and find some ways to make them unique that don't rely on countless tiny details.

Another decision that I don't know if I regret, but wow, it sure was taking a lot of time, was the hatching style I used on most pages... I was satisfied with the results, but, never again orz.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

This is really simple, but:

...I don't think I anticipated how awkward that shirt would look in motion and from different angles. =/ And now that I've spent a few chapters drawing it, I understand. In most panels it doesn't even look good...like, it looks decent, but I don't enjoy drawing it like I do other things, like her shorts or her hat...

Fortunately, this is a world where the outfits can change at will, and as soon as I get an opportunity I'm gonna design a new one. >:T

[ninjashira]

Currently regretting my decision to set this entire scene in a library. These backgrounds will be the death of me!

[AmandaJ-art]

This jacket. I couldn't wait to change it in chapter 2 ^^'

[Kelheor]

Laughts in Eldritch tongue
This blue-yellow jacket will be the death of me Summer changes hairclips and earrings every few chapters. I sure love my characters making my life harder.

[MrTwennysebben]

Oh lordy do I occasionally regret the design choices for Bev, my "I'm making a webcomic following the outdated early 2000s format and therefor I am required to include a sassy robot made out of an uncommon item" character. Most of my characters are fairly simple and don't require much in the way of details or coloring, but Bev is a mess of small pieces I for some reason decided to color differently.

[brilliiant]

On the plus side that jacket is cute as hell and I wish it were real.

[Kelheor]

It is somewhat based on a jacket I saw on the net somewhere, but I believe original was black+brown or something like that =) Don't know the brand though, maybe it was really pricey ^^

[Pandastrophic]

I'm not sure if it fits your question but I've always regretted the apartment building I put my characters in, it just doesn't make sense architecturally considering where the doors are and where the windows are?? I didn't expect so much of the series would be in the apartments and specifically on the stupid ugly couch that I'm SOOO tired of coloring. I just wish I put more thought into making it a more interesting setting for the characters.
I recently switched to Clip studio which has a lot of 3D assets of apartments and I really wish I had that earlier bc they look so much better than the one I designed.

But with characters, I've managed to avoid this for the most part by making everything into a brush or really limiting certain things, like my characters change clothes daily and so I'd have certain colour pallets they like to wear, I make pattern brushes so it's easier for me to put patterns on their clothes. Not to mention brushes for the fences, books, shelves, etc. Now that I switched to Clip studio there are ready made brushes for anything so it really has made my life a lot easier and I'm able to make sure the art looks good without worrying about the smaller details.

If you can make something into a brush or streamline certain things then do it, even if it feels like it's too late because it'll be better for you in the long run.

[ocnony]

Oh, my! I did the same...

[alliascompany]

Having half my characters have tattoos on the right arm and the other half on the left. I'm still wondering if maybe I should change it.

[Ramonkey]

That's not happening to me.

I use capes. Hehe. And masks. So when lazy lazy I draw no body body. Hehe.

Oh. I do complex character design? Sorry character dead next panel.

[DukeOfOool]

That's 10000000% the outsider in ToTC his cape and hat bend reality around them so I don't have to draw anything other than a silouette.

[bear1]

Toning her hair instead of using solid black

I love the look but....it’s such a pain in the butt cutting out the shape. And since she’s the main character we have to cut out her hair a lot

Also, her Calico hair

I tried to keep her design simple and limited my color palette (and don’t have her change outfits every chapter xD)
But I couldn’t avoid giving her the tri-colored hair (because it’s kinda important for her character). It’s so annoying memorizing the pattern and coloring it in panel after panel. Luckily past me gave me a break and stuck only to Orange for her tail....

[Ramonkey]

Hahahah I really feel you.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

These.
I don't make comic but I recurrently draw some of the outfits here.

[azzy-m]

This lady's entire gown.

It doesn't even look that good? I don't know why I decided to hyperfixate on this one. I can come up with better alien gown designs, goddammit. Lmao. Now this is an old drawing, and from a comic that I'm still working on, so at least I can still change it.

[NickRowler]

I hate the layout of my MC's apartment. I have in recent chapters corrected some of the mistakes by adding windows but I hate trying to set up scenes around it.

[phoenixrenaissance]

Lol, reading through this thread and I just think we should do comics like early 3D gaming.
First chapter is your general info about the characters with your highly polished concept art. The remainder of your pages is block folk of questionable quality. XD
It's ok, the readers know what they're supposed to look like.

[Ardelvion]

I regret drawing every single hair strand on long hair. Spent a long time getting this one done and my eyes couldn't take it anymore. So since episode 4, I decided to change the way I draw long hair.