Tips on digitally colouring comics?

[PhoebeRena]

I'm thinking of starting a comic as a long term project to improve my art, but I'm still not great with the whole digital art side of things. I'm using FireAlpaca on my laptop, and my art always turns out kind of lumpy and amateurish. For example:

^^ This was me messing around with colours and styles, but as an amateur artist any digital art tips would be amazing. My main problem is shading/highlights, as you can probably tell!

[VeloursRose]

You've got a good thing going actually. I think what you're lacking is confidence! We all start somewhere and calling yourself an amateur isn't going to help you make your comic. You ARE an artist, all you've got to do is get started. It's alright to stumble and make mistakes as you go along. Don't beat yourself too much about it and learn from it. No first comic starts perfect. Anyways, just keep at it you learn by doing!

[jonjo]

Yeah, I agree, looks damn fine. Better than some others that I've seen.

[obachuka2]

If you're looking for some tips on quicker coloring, I found Anthony Clark's coloring method pretty helpful: http://nedroid.com/2009/05/color-me-surprised/

In terms of color choice, when you're choosing colors for shadows/highlights, I find that picking a different hue really makes things pop. You sort of have that going on with your coffee there (brown-orange coffee, yellow highlight?), and depending on your tastes, you can choose to push it further to really make it stand out.
Here's an example from my own stuff:

where I have yellow highlights on a red-orange visor.

That might not be the clearest example; gigi d.g. explains it better here: http://gigidigi.tumblr.com/post/73680846613/hi-gigi-i-wanted-to-ask-you-a-question-about

Note that as you work more with digital, you'll find that you'll start developing your own coloring style and little color combos/techniques that you grow fond of. e.g. i use a ton of gradients. So I guess my best advice would be to draw a ton of digital art? Experiment with colors, see what you like!

[obachuka2]

this is also helpful if you're looking for more harmonized palletes: http://ncrossanimation.tumblr.com/post/108123550352/heres-a-background-tutorial-that-was-intended-to

[UzukiCheverie]

and my art always turns out kind of lumpy and amateurish

turns out kind of lumpy and amateurish

lumpy and amateurish

seriously dude it looks great. Considering you seem to be just starting off in digital art, this is a -great- start. Even my comics don't look that good and I've been doing them for years now (all in digital art with Photoshop and SAI). I mean, everyone's stuff has room for improvement and it's never perfect, but this is already looking pretty sweet. You've got a cell-shaded look going on, which gives it a very crisp and visually satisfying look. It's bold and pleasing to the eye.

However, maybe cell-shading isn't the way you wanna go? I'm not familiar with the Fire Alpaca program but if it has a blur or smudge tool, which it should if it thinks it can call itself a drawing program, then try to familiarize yourself with those tools because then you can blend your colors and get a much softer feel. But for something like this, cel-shading works

So don't call yourself "amateurish". Everyone improves every day with their work and no one is perfect, right off the bat (if ever). Just keep practicing and you'll see improvement in no time (:

[PhoebeRena]

Thanks- this made me feel a lot better about my art! I'm gonna keep practicing and hopefully my comic will be up soon-ish x

[PhoebeRena]

I love the look of comics with contrasting colours, which is what I was trying to do with the coffee as you said! This was actually really helpful- thank you! (plus your art is awesome)

[SpavVy]

All I can say is have confidence and don't be afraid to experiment! With digital you get to play with it a lot more without needing to worry about messing up your work thanks to layers and the undo button. Between that and some tutorials on youtube you should be fine!

[minzinger]

I do agree with "confidence" part. It appears many creators are negative with their own arts while readers are not. haha...

Other than that, from my discussion with so many successful creators, "paneling" should be last or not even be a part of "webcomics." Let you story flow however you like. If I look at the second row, I see one panel covering 2/3 and another panel covering 1/3. Why?

Traditional process has been: create => show editors => receive feedback => fix until perfect => publish in print.
Digital process advantage is: create => publish fast to show world => receive feedback from fans/mentors/editors => fix later for digital or even for print

Digital allows creators to push content faster to readers for immediate feedback. Don't think about making it "perfect." Have fun playing around and experimenting. You will also have time to fix / improve in the future.

[Viscera]

All I can say is that what I see so far is great. You have a good understanding of colors and have given it that vivid touch to really bring out the graphics. I wouldn't need to worry too much. Enjoy and have fun as you keep drawing, and improving along the way without thinking too much on it!

[PhoebeRena]

Thank you everyone here- your advice was brilliant and I feel a lot more confident in my colouring! I've actually finished the page now...

... and I'm having more fun doing it now that I'm not stressing about the style so much. Thanks again! x