Now for something serious...

[secondlina]

Another day, another page. Namesake updated this morning. Recently, me and dqbunny  noticed that we got two reviews for Namesake on the internet, here and here. Generally good/encouraging reviews. One of the main recurring elements in reviews such as these and in many, many, many comments by friends is the fact that the art is gorgeous, but the sporadic coloring is annoying and distracting. Basically, for those of you who don't know, the comic goes from color to black and white more-or-less randomly because I don't have the free time needed to color. Also, i'm not much of a colorist to start off with. Though I myself like this type of coloring, it seems most people don't.

With chapter 4 coming in, we need to take a decision on what to do next. Among our options, we can :

• Make the webcomic full color. This will however require us to either purchase a time machine, make the update schedule more sporadic or outsource the coloring. The problem with this idea is that i'm not Doctor Who, I don't want to make the updates more spaced out (3 times a week already doesn't seem like enough!) and hired help usually likes getting paid.
• Make the webcomic fully in black and white. The problem with this issue is the fact that color is often important to the story.

So what then?

The best compromise I found was not to eliminate the color, but to regularize it. I mean, what's annoying for Namesake readers is not the color itself, but rather how random it is. So from now on (aka, starting chapter 4), I was thinking doing things like this :

• The chapter page and the first 2 to 3 pages of each chapter are in color.
• The rest of the chapter is in black and white, with small details or isolated characters in color, as seen on these two page :

I think it's the best idea to keep the comic regularly updated, have me survive the process and keep things pretty. What do you guys think? Any and all suggestions are appreciated!

- Isa

p.s. Have some sketches of Emma. I love drawing her so much it's crazy. Mostly it's her nose and hair. I can't wait to get to put her hair up.

Comments

[yukinoomoni.livejournal.com]

I think... I think... When it comes to important parts of the comic, parts you want to stand out and have the readers find memorable, colour would definitely do the trick. Randomly-coloured panels might throw a reader off unless it's significant to the story and something they should remember later.

I think full-coloured pages all the time is a lot of work ;.;. I don't mind black and white!

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

(Suki in the icon is perfect, I feel like i'm hearing her voice sharing wisdom)

The black and white can work. I was thinking of using the random colored panels just for important stuff (like in these two cases, underlinging the characters powers) but there would not be colored panels everywhere. That's for sure...

If it's jsut to underline important stuff, is the random panel efficient?

[yukinoomoni.livejournal.com]

Yesyesyes. I totally think that's an excellent idea. That way, you can play with colour, while not having to commit to it and break your hand. I firmly support non-breaking of hands =3.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this hand makes comics! :D

Well, the whole black and white with important panels or objects colored does have an advantage. You can really play with things. Heck, I wanted to draw a panel where Emma puts on the green goggles to enter the emerald city. Just the goggles would be green, and then, once they are on, the grayscale would go to greenscale, like in the Ozma flashback... You can basically have a ton of fun.

Gah, I wish I figured out how to regularize this BEFORE starting.

[yukinoomoni.livejournal.com]

Don't take it too hard, hon. This is your first major webcomic - the best you can do is keep moving and keep working. The thing about the current criticism is that above all, it's still positive - the only thing you can do with it is continue to grow from it.

The comic is so young - newborn, almost. It continues to grow on and one from here.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Come to think of it, having important colored details is what i'm doing with Psychopompes and i'm much more confortable with it. :D

[yukinoomoni.livejournal.com]

There we go! So then, you already know how to do it.

What is Psychopompes?

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

It's the printed comic i'm working on. You cans ee the first 2 pages here (warning for gore) :

http://secondlina.livejournal.com/175775.html

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

The random colouring didn't bother me, but that's my opinion.

regularizing the colour might not be a bad idea. I got to say, I love the panel of colour suddenly appearing when she lights the cigarette. It gives it a really cool effect.

(With that said, I'm annoyed the first reviewer instantly jumped to the 'theory' of Carroll being a pedophile. I haven't finished reading The Mystery of Lewis Carroll, but even I felt I got a better understanding of him halfway through. I wish more people would read it. -_-; )

[yukinoomoni.livejournal.com]

I'm reading it, and I'm like, "Stop wasting time about Carroll. I thought this was about the comic?"

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I though that was weird too, but for a lot of people, Carroll is like the ultimate pedophile... So it's impossible to talk about him without mentionning that.

[paynesgrey.livejournal.com]

That's really cool you guys are pulling in some reviews already. And I agree with the first commenter about significantly colored panels. I hope your new system works with that! Good luck.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm glad there's people agreeing that this would rock. It gives me perspective.

[amelia-seyroon.livejournal.com]

I just know you'll do a good job with it, either way! =D

[piratecore.livejournal.com]

The random colouring never really bothered me! So I have no advice really, but it's a great comic and I'm really enjoying it so far!

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

Let color accent your comic. Considering this isn't your full-time job, I don't think it's worth killing yourself by coloring every page, either. It's one thing if you have the time and the want. I've actually been reading a comic that is literally drawn as storyboard sketches, colored pages being far and few between, and I actually am completely fine with that.

Save all-color pages when you print the thing...if you want to make it expensive, anyway. XP

[ickaimp.livejournal.com]

... So essentially, colour would be used to denote the appearance of magic?

[chameleon9999.livejournal.com]

I didn't really mind the coloring. I don't know really know how to do layouts that well, but I don't think coloring the important parts is distracting. :)

[kuridee.livejournal.com]

The random coloring doesn't bother me at all, but I really like what you did with Warrick's page today. So uh, yeah. I think that's a good idea, using it as an accent. :3

[elirrina.livejournal.com]

I have no problem with random color. The panels you put up are pretty neat looking in themselves though, we get to see the important colors, I guess.

I already love Warrick and his attitude. Especially as it's expressed in the colored panel above. Are you going to explain what his little gumdrop friend is? I haven't read the Oz books for such a long time. We've got my grandmother's old Oz board game at home - it's looks like this and the internet tells me it's c. 1921.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

SWEET JUMPING JESUS O_O

That board game is part of the very rare oz merchandise that need to be treasured. I myself would love to own one of them. I tried to find one on the internet, but you know... expensive. I hope you treasure that board game! :D

I'm so completely jealous right now.

The "gumdrop minion" Chiseri is going to get a full backstory pretty soon. He's quite the secretive character. But, and I can say this without spoiling anything really, he's Warrick and Selva's magic teacher. He's not from the Oz books, he's a "new" character for Namesake.

[elirrina.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I just now found that out when I was looking for a picture... O_O indeed. Oh we love it, my mom has it set up for decoration. :D

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Was Chiseri named after Chistery from Wicked?

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

It's a nod to it. Also a nod to the word "Chicory" and other plot-related things I can't mention.

[engelen.livejournal.com]

if you're going to go with b&w with details of colors, you should go with flat inks, and solid colors. Kind of like with Sin City.

[akogarezephyr.livejournal.com]

If you're using colour to bring out the important details then it's definitely a route to take. There are other options like the first [few] page[s] of a chapter can be in colour like you see some comics do. Or when the page enters an important scene, usually full page spreads, you can use that time to bring out the colours as well.

I don't know how long you plan on making this web-comic but there is always the option that you can return to previous pages to finish colouring them or if you plan on specific panels to have colour you can return to previous pages to apply that to them as well so that it's all consistent. Basically all I'm saying as this isn't permanent. You can even take the approach that you leave them like this but if you plan to sell them in book format you can change things around to your desire so that it's all consistent in publication.

I hope you're not discouraged by the critiques provided to you by the two reviewers. They have solid advice, which will only help you to grow as you continue to work on this project of yours.

All the best on this. c;

[novabat.livejournal.com]

I always thought that the color was kind of like a special, surprise treat, but I can see how some people might find the inconsistency a distraction. I definitely like the "regulated color" idea as a compromise, especially if color is (sometimes) important to the story. I would much rather see the comic three days a week with regulated color than I would one or two times a week with full color. =)

[bonemarch.livejournal.com]

From what I've heard webcomic readers are a fickle lot so if you don't have something up regularly you'll lose a lot of people. When it comes to coloring I really like how you made the one panel with the fire colored and the rest was black and white. It seemed to give more purpose and power to the color aspect.

[pip25.livejournal.com]

I think the coloring issue is not as serious as it made out to be by the reviewers, but that's just me. Using colors to highlight specific events or characters can be a powerful tool, however, if used right, so it might worth employing regardless of whether the current situation is a real problem or not.

[brendala.livejournal.com]

The sporadic coloring never bothered me. It didn't feel "random" to me because it was always either there for story-related reasons or as a special treat to the reader.

If regularizing the color will make things easier on you then go for it. But please don't change your methods just because of a few bad reviews.

Speaking of reviews, this statement from the first link confused me a bit:
Unfortunately, however, the drawings are too often undone by the coloring. Now some of you are probably aware of my stance on color (I’m a staunch advocate of black-and-white), but for once I am not advocating an elimination of color.

How could somebody be against color!? I can understand preferring nice ink work or being annoyed with people who ruin good art with shoddy coloring jobs. But being against color all together is just...bizarre. O_o

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

I myself like your suggestion of having the first few pages in color and the rest in black and white save for the character isolation.

I personally have never had an issue with the way the coloring has been so far.

[looniewolf.livejournal.com]

As one of the two reviewers in question (Tangents), I feel I should pipe up here. It's your comic. Do what you want. If you enjoy the random color, then use random color. What I or any other critic says on this doesn't honestly matter.

That said, I think that the use of spot color on scenes or panels where there is a specific impact for said color, then that would prove quite effective. Your use of the shades-of-green with the Ozma flashback was superbly done in this regard.

Take care. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. :)

Rob H., Tangents Reviews

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Thank you for taking the time to answer this! :D

Mostly, my only concern about the color is that I really don't know what i'm doing and it shows. Most of my work has been done in black and white. But color seemed important for Namesake due to the content. So, I want to learn to do the colors better, I really do. I'm going to still color as I wish, but i'm still going to push to make the color more relevant and a bit less random.

Thanks for reviewing us, by the way. we really appreciate your support!

[spankingfemme.livejournal.com]

I like your idea to randomize the color although honestly, I'm cool with the way it has been going. You can always go back and full color it when the story is finished :)