FLIGHT

hey everyone - i'm new here. so hello !

i'm currently working on a graphic novel that i started about six months ago. i have finished writing the basic story and have completed the linework for ch.1. i have been researching coloring as the next step and it was last night that i finished coloring my first panel ! (crazy, i know, to have taken that long but alot of experimentation went into developing a consistent method- im sure you guys know how that is)

well anyway, with this one panel completed i was wondering if i could get some of your thoughts. this is my first time coloring/digital painting so i am curious to know if my techniques are working well/if anything looks funny.

the linework was drawn with black and white charcoal on craft paper (grocery store bags) and scanned and colored in adobe photoshop.

Throw the image into grayscale mode and take a look at it. What you will probably is that a lot of it is running together. Maybe help the character in front stand out more by adding more highlights to him. Also, something that can help this is placing shadows next to highlights to push and pull the focus of the image. Thats my overall thought is that everything feel too close in value. Even though its night time, you can play with that stuff.

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I think it's a matter of contrast. In general, objects that are closer will tend to have lower value than those farther away (Darker or higher contrast reads as closer, and lighter or lower contrast reads as farther away). Also, the strongest contrast in a composition should be between the object closest to and the object or element farthest from the viewer's perspective. So the standing character should have mazimum contrast with the night horizon. Likewise, the night sky should be lightest at the horizon and darkest at the zenith (the top of the page). You already have most of these elements, and it's mainly a matter of pushing them a little farther, I think.

--M

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Yeah, agreed, maybe by adding some blues and purple into some of the shadows in the front would help in separating foreground and background. The further back the less croma needed. Nice work too, keep it up!

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http://gilmoreart.com

the grayscale suggestion is a good one.....too often we like various "bits" of our drawings and forget to see the whole thing / step back from your monitor about 8 feet.....if you can't see the composition you need to be fixing something

Think graphically as well as solidly

Think light over dark.....vs .....dark over light ( is it working well both ways )

be aware you can't put a spotlight on everything.....is the character meant to be in silhouette?...you might have to darken his hair and collar completely and lighten most of what's beyond him for it to work that way....if you want him lit from the foreground you may keep the brightness of those items but it will be difficult to balance what lies beyond. in that situation you would need to have better light on him fully and the distance darker

Remember 2 things fade in distance....saturation and detail ( a black item set 200 yards back may look grey...perhaps even lighter than a white item in the foreground .....depending on overall lighting)

Good luck