Yeahduff wrote:
Crispness is nice, but too often it translates into overkill and obviousness in unskilled hands. Digital color especially tends to look really garrish in webcomics.
Could you give an example. I favour sketching by hand, and inking by hand most of the time (but not always), but I think it would be an experiment for me to colour not on the computer. I don't recall seeing a colour job by hand that looked good online.
Robert
Here's a great example of traditional art on the web: Code Name: Hunter
A lot of the pages are colored with marker and/or colored pencil. Go to the archive page and check out that talent!
Yeahduff wrote:Crispness is nice, but too often it translates into overkill and obviousness in unskilled hands. Digital color especially tends to look really garrish in webcomics.
Could you give an example. I favour sketching by hand, and inking by hand most of the time (but not always), but I think it would be an experiment for me to colour not on the computer. I don't recall seeing a colour job by hand that looked good online.
Robert
How about this? It's not a webcomic, but it's coloured by hand and it looks good online.
Yeahduff wrote: Digital color especially tends to look really garrish in webcomics.
Honestly, if something looked garish in a comic, I'd fault the colourist, not the colour
Colour is colour, whether digital or physical. The only difference IMHO is that while in the real world the number of colours is limited by the physical paint on the palette, when it comes to digital, people have an unlimited range of colours to pick from. A lot of people have bad judgement when it comes to this, and pick overly bright tones when they should be picking muted ones.
The Jaded - Action. Adventure. Danger. For Hire. Lonely Panel - Explore. Travel. Comics.
That's all I mean to say. Hand coloring can still look terrible, but it has a limit on its terribleness. But in the end, it's who's coloring that is to be blamed.
It's that, but there's another thing too: try making a line with tradition watercolour, tempera or what have you, without any proper training - it looks like any other baby step. Try making a line with digital colouring tool - ooh, it looks decent. As a consequence, people who colour digital often conclude that they don't need any training anyway.
When it comes to inking, there's no two ways about it, I'll always go for traditional ink be it pens or brushes, and often a combination of the two. The same thing goes for gray tones. There's a certain flatness about digital grays that just doesn't appeal to the eye the way hand applied grays do. Though I admit I'm always working to perfect traditional toning as well. Typically I like to use ink brushes but there are occasions where I go to pencil when I need something softer and more easily blended.
With color it's really a question of what I'm doing. I do use digital color for many stand alone works, and even a bit of airbrushing in the comic when I like to have a splash of color to stand out against the grays, usually when that color is a light source.
But when it comes to the color of an object I'll often use a big bold stroke of a primary color ink, ost often red as I know I fall into that cliche of the Noir style, and dammit I like that cliche.
I've been experimenting with doing full color in ink lately, and while it's challenging (and expensive) it can be pretty rewarding too. Though sometimes I entirely screw up and utterly butcher the piece beyond recognition. Ink is far from forgiving in that nature.
For anyone who wants to improve as an artist I advise learning the traditional media first. Technology can be a tool to improve your skills and eliminate redundancy once you have a proper grasp of the fundamentals, but if you're relying on technology then it becomes a crutch that ultimately is holding you back.
Been said a few times, but it depends on the comic. Both can look really good with a competent artist at the helm. But ultimately, I prefer the old hand-drawn, pen and ink on Bristol board comics. For the most, I admit, is because I'm better at those types of comics than digital.
Moder wrote:I wish I could draw non-digital. Tired of looking at this glowing box.
Just out of curiosity, why can't you draw non-digital?
he ran out of paper.
-D. M. Jeftinija Pharm.D., Ph.D. -- Yes, I've got two doctorates and I'm arrogant about it, what have *you* done with *your* life?
"People who don't care about anything will never understand the people who do." "yeah.. but we won't care."
"Legostar's on the first page of the guide. His opinion is worth more than both of yours."--Yeahduff
Moder wrote:I wish I could draw non-digital. Tired of looking at this glowing box.
Just out of curiosity, why can't you draw non-digital?
he ran out of paper.
Hahaha.. I do have lots of paper and I do draw in them a lot actually.. But the resultisn't as good (no undoing, no zooming, none of the tools im more used to..) and not nearly as fast (considering the whole process - drawing, scanning, coloring...) as when i do it digitally. Especially considering I have a short attention span - so I can't afford dedicating so much time to 1 idea.
But I plan to change this eventually, overcome my limitations and try to do more stuff on paper.
I guess I rely on technology to compensate my limited drawing skills and lack of discipline.
Moder wrote:
I guess I rely on technology to compensate my limited drawing skills and lack of discipline.
I agree with ^ statement, and unashamedly.
I don't know about the rest of you, but as a pre-med student, I never had the TIME to learn traditional media after high school. I really like the feel of pencil and/or charcoal so much more than the digital tablet, but digital drawing is faster, easier to learn, and faster (IMHO) to improve upon. It would have been nice to fit an art class in there, but traditional work takes often weeks to finish, and hours a day. I had that already, with traditional chem/bio labs. ><
I am amazed that younger people could actually be better with a tablet than with paper. Makes me feel old, really. I feel like I'm drawing with boxing gloves on with the tablet.
I can't draw digital. Partly because I don't completely understand the tools, partly because I suck at using the mouse and my laptop's trackboard is even worse, and I can't afford a tablet.
In fact, I'm generally terrible at using the computer for any sort of image editing.
bleagh.
Caduceus wrote:I am amazed that younger people could actually be better with a tablet than with paper. Makes me feel old, really. I feel like I'm drawing with boxing gloves on with the tablet.
Just imagine how much time they spent in front of the computer till they learned.
Well, I'm not that old! I'm 29. How old are you guys?
More or less on the subject: one big annoyance with the tablet Is when It starts to get all buggy.
Actually I did a lot of "unplanned series" on that theme in my comic (which proves my few readers are very patient).
You end up exploring other styles, like In this printer love series.
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