Should I start coloring my comic?

TheVoidchildProject 2016-07-26 17:59:15 UTC #1

Hi all, I'm having a quandary that I'm hoping that the minds of tapastic can help me out with.

First, a little bit about me and my comic:

I started drawing in february 2015. I hadn't done any drawing before that. I had done a bunch of writing though and had worked out a number of scripts for my comic Voidchild. One day I had a revelation (this is oversimplified for the sake of this post) wherein I decided that I should draw my own comic, experience and affinity be damned. So I came up with my little project which consists of two things.

Learning to draw so I can realize my comic.
Realizing my comic by learning how to draw.

As you'll notice, there's a bit of a "snake eating it's own tail"-situation. But the long and short of it is that I want to make my comic Voidchild and show it to others and learn to draw at the same time so I can make the comic look better.

So why was this relevant to my question?

Because I recently got a question through another site where I publish my comic where someone asked if I shouldn't start color my comic. So far, it's been drawn in shades of black & white, except for a few minor details (like my main characters eyes). I felt this gave a certain look and feel to the art, despite my limited experience and affinity for drawing.

The whole idea with my comic was to display constant levels of improvement. And I started thinking that maybe adding actual color is the next step? On the other hand, maybe I should focus more on pracicing the actual drawing. Every new page I make comes with a new scenario, perspective or challenge still. That's also what I enjoy about this learning process. I never wrote my scripts to fit with an artist of limited skill. They're written as I pictured the panels in my mind and with no concessions to help me constantly develop as an artist and creator.

Anyway...

I've put a link to my comic here. I'm not asking people to read through it in it's entirety. But maybe a quick glance to help me suss out whether I should try my hand at coloring, which will be a big shift for my comic. Maybe it shouldn't be in all color in the first place? Is it weird for a comic to suddently shift into color? What are the pro's and con's? I'm trying to gauge here.

Any thoughts would be helpful!

Link to my comic Voidchild

Latest (posted) page:

shatterjure 2016-07-26 18:00:48 UTC #2

I say go for it, because a comic solely black and white can become an eyesore imo.

nessiefynn 2016-07-26 18:11:08 UTC #3

Honestly, I think it would be fine if you stuck with black and white. There are some greyscale comics out there that look great, like Prague Race and Devil's Candy, and the lack of color seems to fit your comic's tone from the quick glance I took. Plus. color can be a tricky and time consuming beast to handle. It can add a lot to your comic if you use it well, but poor coloring can be distracting or even detrimental to the overall comic, as well as use up a lot of your time. I think you should try to do some color drawings, but leave your comic in greyscale for now. Once you feel you have a really good handle on how to use color, then I think you should try going all out with color!

alaingrey 2016-07-26 18:25:08 UTC #4

I think refining drawing should come first, but I would recommend trying to color chapter headers and covers for practice. You can always make bonus illustrations in color, and your readers might enjoy them.

As for the grayscale comic, I think adding a bit more contrast could go a long way toward making the comic shine. A lot of your pages have a sort of all-over-gray look. By working on the contrast and building up tone, you can hide drawing mistakes much easier, and it'll look real sharp.

shazzbaa 2016-07-26 18:35:28 UTC #5

The way you're taking on this comic and really striving to make it as close to your vision as you possibly can in order to learn how to overcome those challenges is awesome!! I wish you the absolute best!

As to colour, I second this --

Nothing says that your comic has to be the only practice you ever do! Absolutely try it out and see if you even like how it looks, but I don't think you need to shift your comic over to full colour in order to do that.

You seem to be coming at this from a "oh.... should I... am I supposed to try colour now?" which.... no, a colour comic is not the automatic next step up from a greyscale comic; saying "maybe it should be full colour" isn't that different from saying "maybe I should switch to a painterly style" or "maybe I should switch to a cartoony style," like..... go for it if it's what you really want for your comic, but if you're just wondering if this is a step you're "supposed" to take, I'd disagree with that!

Readers don't always know what's best for you or your work. If you like the look your comic has, then just focus on making that look as strong as you can! : )

demthorshie 2016-07-26 19:02:51 UTC #6

I personally like the way you do your black and white style in the comic already imho. It's not like your comic is just black and white line art or anything, it's got shades and filters and stuff! I think you pulled it off pretty well. It is true that generally, comics that contain color do tend to grab a first time reader's attention quickly. I would only recommend coloring your comic if that's something that you think you want to do. Yes, it is going to help you learn and improve in your art skills. As someone mentioned above, you shouldn't transition in to color all it once,, chapter covers would be a great start though if you're thinking of going the color route.

UzukiCheverie 2016-07-26 20:06:40 UTC #7

Color can be an eyesore too lol What makes a drawing an "eyesore" is whether or not the black and white or color is done well. There's a Zelda x Ganondorf fan comic I'm reading right now that does black and white in a painted style and it's definitely, DEFINITELY not an eyesore, I mean hell look at these panels:

(and that's not even the most well drawn panel, the panels range from well done to literally perfect depending on the content within it and the intensity of the scene, but all of the panels are gorgeous).

You can make any piece of art look like an eyesore if you don't know what you're doing :U

I would say go for color if you really want to put in the time and effort, of which it requires a lot more. Though it's nice to hear that your readers would enjoy reading color more, don't pick color based solely off that fact - if you can't see yourself tolerating working in color constantly, then either stick with black and white or find a happy medium that works for you and your comic (maybe a monochrome style or a shaded black and white style like the example above).

shatterjure 2016-07-26 20:10:52 UTC #8

i guess you're right, but personally i find colours alot more... pleasing to look at and less boring, again that's just me ^^

Heck 2016-07-26 20:31:54 UTC #9

I can definitely see your improvement the farther I get into your comic. Your greyscale shading is fucking superb and is a lot better than what I've seen in some other comics with the same style. So I don't think your comic needs colors in terms of improvement; I think it would look much better (and be much easier to do) in greys. However, I think it's important for your growth that you at least experiment with color and shading. You don't have to apply it to your comic though! If you want to try something simpler, how about using a single color as an accent (something like this) for a few panels? You can find monochromatic color schemes on the internet to use to get the right contrasts.

The easiest way I've found to learn how to color and shade is by digitally painting landscapes (like this, this, this, or this. They may be hard at first, but they teach you so much about how to tackle coloring and shading so you can gain enough experience to apply your skills to buildings and people (plenty of tutorials on just those too!). Don't be afraid to do copies of masterwork (but be sure to credit the artist if you choose to submit your work on the internet!), it's a very fast way to learn :>

TheVoidchildProject 2016-07-26 21:03:43 UTC #10

Thanks for all the replies. There are some excellent opinions that are food for thought for me in my process. =)

I do think of coloring as sort of a "next step" in mastering comic creation, though I'm also hearing that it's not a good idea to force it. Though to be honest, I've had to "force" quite a few things while trying to learn how to draw from the get-go. Which as mentioned before is sort of what the project is sort of all about. The way I understand it, coloring woud probably going to help me even if I decide to stick with B&W. With shading and such for instance.

This is sort of where I'm leaning towards at the moment. Perhaps an odd page here or there, like cover pages, for practice and the rest as in the style it is. Until when/if I decide to go for color.

I've got this before, and if possible it would be super herlpful if you could elaborate or exemplify? Because I'm grasping some of what you're saying but I think where I struggle is "at night"/dark scenes where the tone generally comes out more in the "greyish" design you describe. I'm always pleased to receive feedback like this though as anything critique helps me develop. ^_^

Thank you, I'm having loads of fun with it! ^_^

I'd be lying if I said this hadn't crossed my mind on occasion. =P But it seems like a poor reason for me to start coloring.

Aw shucks. ^_^

These look extremely helpful. I'm definetely going to try and sit down with them. Especially the step-by-step tutorial. ^_^

Greg_Dickson 2016-07-27 02:35:28 UTC #11

So I just got around to reading some of your comic, and while I did leave a comment, I wanted to chip in a few more things here. I think that your black and white style works just fine for the moment. I was pleasantly surprised to see the amount of pages that you had to read, and sometimes, having the speed to pump out more pages can be a large asset in itself. Your comic is so briskly paced, that I personally wouldn't want to see you slow down just for the sake of adding colour. I think your black and white style really compliments the snowy look of your town.

If you want to experiment with colour, I would recommend putting that effort into cover pages, since they are not as integral to the story, but can be a nice way to express and fully flesh out your art. I won't deny that colour is valuable though. At first, I was convinced that I was going to stay black and white, and moving to colour eventually felt like the right move for me, since I was finding shading in black and white to be a pain in the ass to do. Haha. However, even though you don't have that much shading, your black and white style somehow works in drawing me in with it's atmosphere. Your comic has a cold look to it, but it's a good cold look!

Still, it never hurts to practice colouring on the side. Heck, maybe even make a side-story to your comic (or a new short story) and experiment. It never hurts to change things up to get some experience. Regardless if you go with colour or not, I'm interested in checking out what's to come for you (and if you do go with colour, maybe compose most of your scenes with cold colours unless you really need to use a warm one for something integral. I just really love the chilly atmosphere of your town).

TheVoidchildProject 2016-07-28 14:01:57 UTC #12

Wow, thanks for the in-depth response. And you're making be blush here with all your comments about the pacing. I'm taking away things from what you and others have written herein that it's a good idea to start experimenting with color, but hold off a bit while I sharpen my drawing skills. I also feel that you're right that, in the scenes seen so far, I'd be more inclined to use colder type colors. Though there may be scenes in warmer climates coming soon. ^_^

Again, thanks for eveyone who replied, you've helped me a bunch with my decision making!