I you saw a webcomic page that looked like this, would you consider this good art and coloring?

[secondlina]

So i,ve been using HTTYD fanart and comics to practice sketching with the blue pencil, inking and coloring in the style I want to use for my webcomic Namesake.

Why "How to train your dragon" fanart? Because it's easier to focus on the technique if you don't think too hard on the character designs. Also, it's fun to draw.

The drawing above is a pretty good example of the inking, drawing and coloring style I want to use for Namesake. I find this to be decent looking while still being really fast. I started this drawing around 7h30pm last night. Finished around 1ham. So that's about... 4 and a half hours. That's pretty fast! At this speed, I could garantee three updates every week without it taking over my life or without it preventing me from working on my contracts, published comic pages, commissions or LJ posts.

What do you guys think? Would this count as good art? Good webcomic art? Should I change stuff? Would you read something drawn like this?

Thank you all for your opinion!

-Isa

EDIT : if you're all interested - it's an "How to train your dragon" fanart that focused on Hiccup, Astrid and Toothless' scars, and kinda showed how Toothless was a big kitty that likes to crawl in bed. Hiccup is the proud owner of the biggest bed in all of Berk.

Comments

[inverce.livejournal.com]

This looks really good!
How did you do the shading on the dragon? Its the only thing that feels a tiny bit off like maybe the color of the shadow is a touch warm against his gray.
But overall its clear, well drawn, and uses a unified pallet. I would def read a web comic that looked like this! :)

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I slightly screwed up Toothless. I'm still learning (usually do my coloring by hand). Thank you for the tip!

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

That's really good, although I do agree with inverce that the shading on Toothless looks slightly off, but other than that it's fine (and I'm nitpicky here). Your inking style goes well with your colouring and I can easily see this style for being a good webcomic.

Conclusion, I would read a webcomic with this kind of colouring. ^_~ I approve!

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

I think what's cool with the coloring is the simplicity. Because I put so much work in the inking itself, it would suck to have a coloring that "takes over". This one kinda just separates the elements and allows you to see the individual details poured in the design of all the characters!

Yay! Isa did good!

[yukinoomoni.livejournal.com]

fklshfklhfs

What are you doing to me? zsdglkhsdlg!

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

MWAAHAHAHAHA JOIN ME ON MY SHIP! WE SAIL THE SEAS OF LOVE.

[putri-nih.livejournal.com]

I like this style.

OT but, if those two need some one on one time I hope they kick Toothless out. What are Astrid's scars from?

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I,m glad the style seems pleasing to everyone whew. I can use it!

I'm sure toothless leaves when he feels he's not wanted. He might toss a few objects around to show his discontent though.

This image is, to me, about 2 years after the film. So her scars would be from riding (and falling off) dragons, training dragons, fighting vikings, training with vikings, etc.

[spankingfemme.livejournal.com]

Oh this is too adorable! =D I like the art and the inking and coloring look aces babe! ;)

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm glad to style pleases so many people!

[paynesgrey.livejournal.com]

This is lovely! I really enjoy your lineart. Great work.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[lunaoh.livejournal.com]

Honestly? Umm...I'll try to put this gently. Please don't be mad...

I think that yeah, it looks absolutely fantastic. I like the smooth lines and how detailed everything is.

(Sorry, I just felt like playing a little prank. XD; I really do think it looks great.)

_{Dammit, all this fanart makes me want to draw vikings, and I haven't even seen the film XD;;)}

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Aaah, you're terrible! *pokes you in the belly*

You should check it out. It 's still in theatres and it is quite fun. For me (aside from Toy Story 3) this is the movie of my year. It's a little predictable, but once you get in the story, you stop caring about that XD Also, the animation is insanely beautiful.

[dqbunny.livejournal.com]

Hmmm....

Hmmmmmmmmm....

Survey says ... This rocks! I can easily see Namesake being done in this and it fits the overall tone of the illustrations of the works we reference. Thumbs up!

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Yaaay!

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

I don't see anything wrong with the shading for Toothless. He's scaly, after all, scales have a habit of catching light and shadow differently than skin or fur. (The only thing that drives me crazy is that he's missing the two 'lobes' between his ears. You seem to always omit them. That and the fins below his wings.. I should have never made the plush, now I'm anal about proper anatomy for a Night Fury.)

I read comics whether they're in black and white or color, to be honest. There is a certain charm to black and white... This looks good though, so if you don't think it'll kill you, go for it.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

....yeah, i'm awful about his head-thingies. I don't have very good references. I'm still waiting for the art book XD

Diane, you're anal about everything! JUST KIDDING! *laughs*

I don't think this will kill me because it takes so little time. And colored webcomics have a tendency to attract me people, give or take. So why not!

I miss talking to you. We have to stop playing Messenger tag.

[brendala.livejournal.com]

What do you guys think? Would this count as good art?

I think it's great and the art is fantastic.


Good webcomic art?

By webcomic standards, it's DaVinci (remember, most webcomics aren't exactly Girl Genius caliber >_<).


Should I change stuff?

I can't think of anything I would change


Would you read something drawn like this?

Totally. Your art really stands out and catches the eye. That alone should attract a lot of new readers to Namesake

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks! You're very kind!

I read a lot of higher caliber webcomics, so my standards are actually quite high (example : Dreamless). The only problem is that the people who do those are usually doing that full time. Hence me trying to find ways to create something similar without destroying all my health points.

[comicaddict.livejournal.com]

This would work nicely. This would be a great style to use for a webcomic. :)

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Good to know!

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Yes!

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Woo! I am Spikeaprooved!

[kuridee.livejournal.com]

I love it! I would definitely read a webcomic if the art looked like that. :3

And what is this webcomic? :o /noob

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

I,m preparing with a friend a webcomic programmed to be launched on september 2010. There's a few posts that talk about it if you go thru the backlog, but here is the main post explaining the characters and story in general.

http://secondlina.livejournal.com/129712.html

More sketches and snippets about the webcomic will appear gradually as we work our way to september.

It is going to be EPIC.

[rosalarian.livejournal.com]

I must admit, I enjoy the inking primarily. Enough that it makes it harder to see coloring flaws. :P

I think perhaps it would be better if you had more of a limited color palate. The colors are nice, but they don't tie together in any way. I liked the last one you did that was very much in the cool/blue color range, while this one is warm and cold in different spots.

That being said, I have different standards for cover colors than I do for "internal" colors. By internal standards, this is fantastic! But I think cover work best when their colors have a bit more pop to them.

But going back to what I first said, I love the inking enough that I'd read your work just for that. In fact, I think that's what led me here in the first place. :D

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

*Laughs* Considering you're a webcomic artist I adore, reading this really makes my day (it's like getting chord advice from Santana or something).

I have a lot of trouble with matching color palettes and dealing with cold and warm colors. I think I should probably buy a color wheel. It would help a lot.

The inking is definitely going to be very worked at. I'm glad you like my inking! The coloring serves more the purpose of add a bit more of ambiance and separating the blobs of lines. I,m not good enough at it yet to make the it the center of the piece. But it's high on internet stadards, it's already a good step forward.

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

it looks awesome! So cute and I love the coloring!

I think your webcomic would look fabulous colored this way!

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[queenofthecute.livejournal.com]

Ok, haha, FIRST OF ALL, I need to say HOW EXCITED I am to read this webcomic! Displaced girls in magical worlds have always, ALWAYS been my favorite type of stories and I am pretty much salivating at the thought of a webcomic (with your art) centered around that idea! =D

In regards to the artwork, I think it's really great! Your style is lovely and the inks are fantastic. Do you use Microns or something else? I love the way that Hiccup and Astrid are cuddled together. The details on the bed are wonderful and I am eye-hearting all over at that rumpled sheet! ♥_♥

The thing I might suggest is that the colors are not as, hmm, unique? Or eye-catching as the inks? I mean, haha, how to explain... The colors are TOTALLY correct technically, but they don't have the same pizazz or flare that you can see in the line art.

Color theory in general has been a personal stumbling block forever, but what I've seen of your work tells me that you have a much better handle on it than I do, haha! So, maybe try a few more different styles out on the computer? Are you using Photoshop?

If you are, and depending on how your layers are set up, you might try using a selective color layer on top of everything to give colors a pop when using black lines. the_sun_is_up has a tutorial on selective coloring here. It is for coloring icons, but she does a great job of explaining what is going on with the tool at each step.

Another idea would be to use the hue/saturation bar in the image > adjustments tab to give your line art layer a bit more color than basic black. (I could see maybe a dark brown working really well for a story dealing with fairy tales.)

I know that laying down flat colors is a process that is hard to speed up, so if you're looking to save time, probably a good place to speed things up is with shading. You could try blocking in purple (or any dark color, really) on another layer and then setting the layer style to overlay, to immediately give everything vivid shadows. You could also forgo shading and use textures to give the panels a sense of depth, like Gunnerkrigg Court does. (An easy tutorial can be found here.)

Also, if you're using Photoshop, I found the program a lot easier to work in after downloading these brushes. Maybe you'll like them too, idk?

Anyway! Haha, this got kinda long! Basically, I love your art and think you're really talented, and I can't wait to see this webcomic! It's probably going to make me cry from the pretty. AND I WILL LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

PS: OH MAN, SCARS ARE MY FAVORITE THING EVER ASTRID WHY SO HOT? HNNNNNNNGGGG!

PPS: Awww, Toothless! You are the most adorable ever! <3333

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I love fairy tales and "traveling" girls, hence why I chose the subject. The idea first came when I did this 37-page Oz joke. (viewable under the "oziad" tab). A lot of people told me some of the material was salvageable. so I got rid of the silly parts, expanded the universe, added more characters, some drama, some loving and poof, it became a story. The launch is set for september 2010. :D I do hope you'll read and give me plenty of suggestions to make the art more exciting!

The colors do lack pizzaz. Thank you for all the nifty tutorials and the brushes! This will come in handy. I,m still kinda new with photoshop so I really appreciate the help. You seem to know your way around it more then me. I usually use paint (not the program, the liquid) to color.

Ooooh. Me love Gunnerkrigg court!

I know. I can't draw Astrid not hot! She born to be hawt.

p.s.3 - so many artists I love are commenting with nice encouraging comments. I'm blushing so hard!!!!!!!

[angelchan-2004.livejournal.com]

I love the line and angle and pose of this as a whole. It does a good job at focusing on what needs to be focused on.

I do like the simple shading, and if you're coloring multiple pages, it isn't a bad way to go and it does stick out as good art. I happen to love the shades you chose~

I am not the best with photoshop, so I can't tell you too much; there are quick ways to color, like selecting the areas you want shaded and paintbucket-ing it. Another way is to do a really dark contrast sloppily and then using the gaussian blur, which can really add to shading in a hurry. Sorry I'm not more help. ;.;

[kitesareevil.livejournal.com]

I'll leave my normal fangirl puddle here!

[azardarkstar.livejournal.com]

This is so incredibly cute. I really like the details to the bed and to Astrid's scars. The coloring is fine overall, but Toothless seems twinge off. Can't really say how though.

Zari

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

A few peopole seem to think he's off. Maybe it's because I used off-blue-gray rather then black?