How do you draw a serious comic with a simple artstyle?

DokiDokiTsuna 2021-12-04 18:21:03 UTC #1

For reference, this is the kind of simple I'm talking about:

Most of the characters are basically silhouettes, and I like them that way, but as I was writing potential scripts it slowly dawned on me that the story doesn't lend itself to having characters with this kind of design.

Action poses look good, because the limbs spread out and you can see them...but this isn't really an action comic. It's very intimate; a lot of the important scenes revolve around conversations, and the intricate, subtle gestures that usually go with that kind of writing would just get lost in these monochromatic figures. I imagined a scene I like where one character is holding another one in his arms...and quickly realized that you just wouldn't be able to see it. =/

Also, the backgrounds are a similar kind of simple...

...And I worry that the characters won't stand out enough from them, especially on the dark terrain.

It will hurt, but I'll probably have to rework the designs to have actual outlines, or at least some kind of more detailed form definition...but I'm a little out of my depth even on that front. Like...I'm not really sure what my options are. ^^;

So I'd like to ask anyone who does this kind of work, or studies it, or is just familiar with it, what they might try to do in this position. I just...don't know of any comics that are like this, so even just getting some reference material to look at would probably help a lot.

DiegoPalacios 2021-12-04 19:05:25 UTC #2

Maybe you can use a white outline when they go into black or really dark backgrounds.....

or embrace them not standing up on black backgrounds for the sake of optical tricks, like it's done in this fight in Samurai Jack

nathanKmcwilliams 2021-12-04 19:21:39 UTC #3

I work in silhouette a lot, so mainly the thing you want to watch for on poses where characters interact with each other is make sure to use white to draw where their limbs and bodies intersect. You can keep the silhouette, while also creating volume.
Like so:

Maybe look at video games that are in silhouette. Limbo comes to mind.

BLTX 2021-12-04 19:24:58 UTC #4

Looking at Samurai Jack was going to be my idea as well.

DokiDokiTsuna 2021-12-04 19:50:24 UTC #5

I knew someone was gonna bring up Samurai Jack...it does have a similar ambiance to what I'm trying to create.
The problem is that it's not the same kind of story...I haven't seen much of the show, but from what I remember it's not very dialogue-heavy-- and as an animated series, they don't even have to deal with finding space for speech bubbles in all those scenic shots.
Besides that, it's much more colorful...I don't think that there's anything I could learn from it that I couldn't learn from anything directed by Genndy, or similar-looking works from the same era...and if that's what I wanted, I'd just go there. ^^;

I wish I could do that...that's what I planned on at first. >_< But it looks really gross on these characters in particular, since they're so tiny and their limbs are so spindly...the line width starts to compete with the width of their actual body parts. And the more intricate the gesture is, the more lines you have in there, and eventually you ruin the 'silhouette' effect too.

I might try the technique with non-white lines-- I recently learned that you can use them to create the illusion of distance and 'thinness' to make white linework look more natural. But I'm not too optimistic. =/

darthmongoose 2021-12-04 20:08:31 UTC #6

Ruby Quest and Homestuck are things to look at in regards to this, at least in my opinion. While both often have an irreverent tone and jokes, they are also both very capable of drama that legitimately captured peoples attention. I think the main rules would be not to make the art too cute and to use an appropriately bold and even stark colour palette. There are also things like Maus, Persepolis and Bone that are worth a read in classic graphic novels. Sometimes a simple style makes the characters more relatable to a wider range of people, and allows for depiction of things that would become unpleasantly explicit in a detailed style.

Silhouettes seem like a sound choice to me. The art is stark enough to support a serious story, and really the only thing to look out for is that like Ruby Quest, without detailed faces, you'll be leaning more on the working of the dialogue or narration and on the body language, tone of a scene's backgrounds etc. to get across emotion. I think it should work pretty well!

sorible 2021-12-04 20:44:14 UTC #7

I don't know any comics but the style reminded me of a game called Night in the Woods. The characters are very flat and simple with a similar background, but the storytelling is amazing.

Most of the scenes that were intense came from the dialogue, music, lighting, etc. For a really simple art style I think you have to write it really well.

Here's a bunch of different scenes

ar-ninetysix 2021-12-04 20:58:55 UTC #8

I saw the title and instantly thought of Hollow Knight. Seeing the art you presented, the Hollow Knight thoughts intensified.. It's a game, but I think it accomplishes the vibes of what you're talking about. Like, even if you were to play the game without any text being displayed I think it'd still present the serious atmosphere of the world. The characters aren't monochrome silhouettes, but their designs are still relatively simple. Mayyyybe it's worth studying?

DokiDokiTsuna 2021-12-04 22:01:01 UTC #9

OH YES, I thought of Hollow Knight too, as soon as I thought about giving them lines. ^^ Its aesthetic is ridiculously close to what I'm trying to do...so close that, if I try to emulate it, I fear I'll end up with something that just looks like an HK knockoff. And then I'd feel icky...

But idk, maybe it's worth the risk. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Art styles work for a reason, and those reasons don't become off-limits just because someone else happened to figure them out first. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time I co-opted a well-known art style...

DesiredUsernameTaken 2021-12-04 22:34:30 UTC #10

What about thin gray lines? You could also possibly outline the outline. For example, let's say a character's outline is 2 pixels wide and it's part of their frame. Start on pixel 3 and 4, "expanding" the outline in a way to compensate for the style? Maybe the characters could all be different monochrome colors, like one is all dark-gray, another is dark blue, etc?

Another option is to settle for different body language. Hugging isn't visually readable without outlines, or lighting (but I think one or two hugging "poses" could work, strictly from the side? Depends on which characters as they all have different shapes), but hand-holding is very readable.

With styles like these, I've noticed they get the emotional, intimate scenes across by being very atmospheric. As you've noted, there are limitations to certain styles, especially when it comes to body language, but the atmosphere can help do a lot of the work, just like music.

The main character of Jeff Smith's Bone comic has a simple style, albeit it's much easier to see what's going on because of the style, and he hands hands,.

Adorable art, by the way!

mountainwolves 2021-12-05 03:52:48 UTC #11

I think the style is amazing and only needs slight changes to fit a serious story. I would:
1. Make heads smaller. Not by much because they are readable, but try to make them a little less chibi, without going all the way to realistic proportions.
2. Don't make "cute" expressions (I see many anime "cutesy" expressions in your examples)

Aside from those changes, I think your style and the backgrounds would perfectly fit a serious plot, just try to shoot for a Hollow Knight approach.

allenT 2021-12-05 04:09:28 UTC #12

Adding black 'noise' effect over the shadow areas can make the comic looked more serious and gritty. Same goes to your characters.

system 2022-01-04 04:09:36 UTC #13

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