Looking for second opinions

[Rai_Muffin]

I'm in the middle of remaking my comic, and wanted some second opinions on a few things that I'm unsure on.

• Paler colours.
  I wanted to try muting the colours to see if it looks better, and I'm kinda sold on it.
  But not sure, since in the past the bright colours are been something people liked.
  What do you think?

• Is consistancy worth going back to edit?
  As I went on a I changed a few colours to different shades, mostly Keanu (pictured below) having a different colour red for his headband. I like the colours to be consistant, but would it matter to the reader? Is it worth going back and changing in past pages for something that will only matter to me?

• On the same topic I've fiddled with the hair shine of certain characters, and finally got it a way I like.
  Is going back and changing those worth it, or would you as a reader not care.

Bare in mind these are all drafts from pages that I haven't released yet,
so I'll be going back and doing editing anyway.

Is there anything you're not sure of in your own work?

[justincarbunkle]

1. I like really bright colors, and think they fit well with the cartoony designs. Muting does make them easier on the eyes, and helps unify them. Your preference. I’d personally lessen the muting so it doesn’t look as gray.

2. I can barely tell the difference between the two headband colors. Unless it’s a radical change, or matters to the story, leave it alone.

3. If you’re already going to edit them, and it’d only take a minute or two, sure. The zig zag highlights do look better, but it is pretty minute/I wouldn’t care if you didn’t change the earlier pages.

[binahwrites]

º I like the bright colors personally.

º for the head band, I think that as long as is in the general red color palette, readers won't mind, unless is like a big radical change

º I think if you find how you like to do it, you can change it, but when I read a web comic or webtoon, I sometimes like to see the changes in style that an artist goes through time

[wolflu66]

1.I prefer the less vibrant version (the second one). When the entire image is in a highly saturated state, it tends to cause visual fatigue. Reducing the overall saturation makes it more comfortable to read. High-saturated colors should only be used at the true focal points.

2.Regarding the consistency you mentioned, I think the vast majority of readers won't care about it—they won't even notice those changes. But as an artist myself, I can really understand your feelings and why you'd be concerned about this. However, if it's not a major issue, I think you can set it aside for now. There's no need to go back and correct all the old images, otherwise you'll spend too much time on something that's actually not important to readers.

3.If it doesn't take too much time, the hair color might be worth going back to change, since there's an obvious difference between the two versions.

[IndigoShirtProd]

Paler colours.

If you do end up settling on less saturated colors, be mindful of how you color the skin of characters with darker tones. Right now your example reference makes the character look sickly and ashy. When you want to desaturate darker skin, they should still look alive.

Otherwise, I don't think paler colors is a solution as much as an overhaul of the overall color palette is.

Is consistancy worth going back to edit?

If you are not planning to also rewrite the chapters and/or are getting these pages printed into a graphic novels, then it's not worth it to go back and recolor these pages. That's my disclaimer. But for the sake of consistency? It may raise a few eyebrows, but couldn't tell how much the average reader would care.

On the same topic I've fiddled with the hair shine of certain characters, and finally got it a way I like.Is going back and changing those worth it, or would you as a reader not care.

If it's like less than ten panels, sure. Otherwise, no. Don't do that.

Is there anything you're not sure of in your own work?

Right now? Uhh... No? Other than when I'm finally gonna finish these pages for the new chapter.

[jwabeasley]

I don't recommend changing the art you've already done in a webcomic. It's too easy to get bogged down improving the beginning bit while getting lost on continuing the story.

The paler color works better mostly because the increased contrast between that and the linework helps the linework be more legible. You might consider doing some test pages where you color pick from a 2-d animated show you like whose colors you'd like to emulate and see how that plays. Having read your pages, I think more care to atmospheric perspective for backgrounds and being deliberate about which colors are stronger could go a long way in your work.

[samconnely]

Go with the paler colors if you like them.
Consistency helps your comic look professional, so fix shade changes. Update hair shine if it improves your style. Since you’re editing anyway, better to fix now than later.