Selective Color

[Kaxen]

I hope this doesn't count too much as a Picture Post. >_>' Picture Post ignores me...

Well, selective color pertaining to comics. Opinions? Names of comics that do it well? Kaxen needs to stop thinking she gets how to do anything?

I was thinking about making a future chapter of Boy Aurus with selective color, because it just felt weird to write characters yelling at each other over the colors of their clothes in a comic with no colors.

Though looking at the experimenting, the background needs more contrast to the grayscale faces of Aurus and some more futzing with curves and my scanner's settings because the rightmost Aurus' suit is actually hot pink, but came out super faded for some reason. And I had a derpy moment and inked under the watercolor instead of on top of it. And the valet's suit looks too abstract in the middle and maybe the left because the lapels and buttons and lines are barely visible. >_<'

Characters in color/background in gray, Aurus in color/valet and background in gray, only clothes and eyes in color.



Also, my mortal enemy is back-run/kick-back/those-damned-algae-bloom-looking-things. >_> I've been beating my head against watercolor paper for the past week. Despite the comic having run intermittently for one and a half years, I haven't taken a proper watercolor class until this semester... or bought a book on how to watercolor (for no apparent reason).

I kind of like leaving the faces grayscale because mixing skintone paint makes me angry, but the fact Aurus wears high-saturation colors makes the face look a little too downplayed, like those creepy mannequins at the store... minus Old Navy's mannequins that have that creepy-a** smarmy smile.

Though depending on what I go with, I assume that will change the comic's composition tons since color on gray jumps out a lot.

Still need to do more color studies and decide what colors everyone will wear through the whole chapter and stuff.

Or maybe I should just go on recklessly like usual and just do full color instead of barely selective color. I've been attempting to draw up this chapter while finishing the current chapter and maybe writing another chapter to work on while working on this one... or something. I'll make time somehow between making comics, acquiescing to my parents telling me to get a real job, my compulsive sewing habit, and my squirrel-like attention span.

[-2o]

Now you're going to have to forgive me because i'm about to be absolutely useless at explaining myself, but I prefer 1 and the body of the valet looks better in #3. Actually on second thought, I like 1 and 3 about the same but think the grey is too dark in number two which makes Aurus and the valet look like zombies. If you decide on either number two or three you need to thicken the lines of the valet's face because it looks really faint.

[Gearfish]

I think this would be more effective if you went a little more selective than that. Say, pick one or two articles of Aurus (the kid?)'s clothing and color that (I'd suggest the jacket and his eyes), then leave the rest black and white. Of all of these, though, I think the first looks the best.

As for watercolor "blooms", I think your problem is that you're putting too much water on the page.

[eclectic rhapsody]

The colors in these seem a bit too localized to me. So I can't help but feel that some kind of wash would help to bring everything together.

I like the first one the best.

[Kaxen]

-2o

Now you're going to have to forgive me because i'm about to be absolutely useless at explaining myself, but I prefer 1 and the body of the valet looks better in #3. Actually on second thought, I like 1 and 3 about the same but think the grey is too dark in number two which makes Aurus and the valet look like zombies. If you decide on either number two or three you need to thicken the lines of the valet's face because it looks really faint.

You're coherent enough. Thanks for the input. I do agree that valet's suit looks best in 3.

Gearfish

I think this would be more effective if you went a little more selective than that. Say, pick one or two articles of Aurus (the kid?)'s clothing and color that (I'd suggest the jacket and his eyes), then leave the rest black and white. Of all of these, though, I think the first looks the best.

As for watercolor "blooms", I think your problem is that you're putting too much water on the page.

I'll try some more experimenting cutting back the color some more.

Yeah. I'm still a really bad judge of the water content, especially when it looks okay wet, but then dries all weird.

eclectic rhapsody

The colors in these seem a bit too localized to me. So I can't help but feel that some kind of wash would help to bring everything together.

I like the first one the best.

I'll try putting a tint over it or maybe using my natural white paper that skews more yellow than my bright white paper.

[Tenko72]

I think the one on the left looks best, but I think you just color the things that matter, so if they're arguing about the colors of everything, then that works. If not, then just color in what they're talking about.

I'm glad you're doing this, because it always bugged me when colors were referred to in black and white comics. Like I know I read two where the one asks about a blue haired boy and the other a red head and I'm like, "Which one? I don't see what you see."

[Kaxen]

Tenko72

I'm glad you're doing this, because it always bugged me when colors were referred to in black and white comics. Like I know I read two where the one asks about a blue haired boy and the other a red head and I'm like, "Which one? I don't see what you see."

Wow... I would never identify someone by color in a black and white comic. x_x



I tried just going all out in full color. It takes a longer, but I think my speed will increase over time. And doing one 15"x22" painting in a week-ish (well, it takes a few nights to flatten the painting like the teacher wants) for class turned out to not be as time consuming as I thought it would be, so I think it's do-able... maybe... OPTIMISM!

I dunno if I should go all out or not. The only point of irritation is any situation that takes masking fluid means an extra hour of just waiting for it to dry, not counting painting masking fluid in the first place and swearing while I try to un-ruin a brush. My teacher taught me a "foolproof" method... it isn't. gonk



Tried tweaking the same image for variations, but then it became really obvious that there is not a lot of contrast outside of the colors in this particular image. ((and good God, that's one lopsided tree)) sweatdrop

Tinted the background slightly



Tried tinting the whole page.




I am currently leaning on gray background, full-color characters or just full-color everything.

Going more selective, it was hard to cut too much, since in this strip, he's talking about the suit and tie so I couldn't gray more. And graying the faces feels like it de-emphasizes them too much even with leaving their eyes in color. Their faces feel like they get a little lost unless every background is darker than their faces' skintones, but the story isn't night-scenes and dark rooms only or some set-up that would lend itself to that.

[-2o]

I like all three, but I would say that if you are not trying to communicate nighttime or evening, I would hold off on doing the third one. Because it looks like evening there. I think, in terms of contrast and conveying the information you want to convey with the colors, number two is the best.