Do you care if a character's look is inconsistent over the course of a story?

[migxmeg]

First-time webtoon artist here! Jumped right into production with no character sheets (I know ). Today I went back through the first six episodes and pulled every shot of our main character's face to review my progress/see if I can pick out elements I like to carry forward.

I guess I'm wondering how much consistency matters to readers... I don't think it's ever crossed my mind while reading a webtoon but it's constantly on my mind now that I'm drawing one!

[CommanderMarty]

Depends if the inconsistency is over art improvement or not.

[byelacey]

As another creator I certainly don’t care! Webcomics can be very long term projects and because of that they can be constantly in flux. Creators should be comfortable making changes. And sometimes, you just improve in your drawing skills and that’s enough to make characters look different!

[TAMAnnoying]

Consistency due to art development really dosnt matter- and I’ve read some comics that will change in style completely half way through.

Your really never gonna find a completely consistent art style unless your dealing with professionals that work for publishers, and even then having a consistent art style can be tiring because your not really allowed to “try new things” because the publishers expect a very particular look.

https://www.empoweredcomic.com/comic/volume-1-page-1

This is one of the creators that I know has to deal with this kind of dilemma.

Overall best advice I can give you is just have fun. If you feel the need to ever do a DRASTIC redesign I recommend waiting for the next chapter if you can and giving your audience a heads up. Otherwise you developing as an artist isn’t gonna upset anyone and will just help them know that you are actually taking the time to improve

[Legendofgenii]

Honestly I read comics so fast, as long as it's clearly that character it's absolutely fine!

You know it's her in every image as she has the same, hair, colours, headband etc.

Don't forget - we never look the same in every photograph either.

[Jenny-Toons]

And sometimes, you just improve in your drawing skills and that’s enough to make characters look different!

I was just about to comment this! I definitely have a lot of inconsistent details in my characters. But that's also because I'm experimenting with details and trying to make my designs look exactly as they do in my head.

And as a reader, when I see people do this, it doesn't entirely throw me off. Sometimes, people have inconsistent because of guest artists, sometimes it's a scene change, and sometimes it happens naturally. In fact, I barely notice how inconsistent something is unless I'm actively going back and pointing that out.

People don't always look consistent -- we look different photos vs mirror vs real life. Long as we can at least recognize the character, it's all good.

[migxmeg]

I'll admit I was freaking out a bit this morning

This helps a lot, thank you.

[Coati]

For me, as long I can recognize the character without breaking the immersion, I don't mind.

Just for fun, I take prints from the first appearance vs the last one from my protagonists and...

[migxmeg]

Wow - the atmosphere you achieved with shadows and the backgrounds looks just great!

[BlunderingAlbatross]

For me it depends on the level of inconsistency. Sometimes it can be due to art improvement and sometimes it can be just how a character's look develops overtime (both fine!). People rarely look exactly the same IRL so it makes sense characters wouldn't either, so long as they're still recognisable

[migxmeg]

Sometimes I forget that at the end of the day it should ultimately be fun . I think I started worrying too much about meeting a standard I had in my mind. Thanks for the reminder!

[Iris-Grimoire]

You'll get consistent as you work, it's fine! And usually only the artist notices since you're the one looking at reference or watching that page for hours. If you follow your character design mostly correctly (colors, placement of acessories, a unique feature, etc), it's good to go and the reader won't be confused.

[Inspector_Spinda]

I think I've bene fairly consistent though my line weight has changed a bit. I mean my style is so that all the characters look extremely different, so I don't think it's really possible to ever confuse them ever if I was somewhat inconsistent.

[Mallory]

All of those are still 100% recognizable as the same character because you kept the key details the same, so IMO there is no inconsistency.

It only starts to bother me if the character literally isn't recognizable because the key details keep getting changed.

Think of it this way: American comics shed their artist/writer teams every few years, sometimes even every few chapters. If the readers can still recognize the character despite different artists' approaches, you're fine.