Sunday 17 April 2011

Comic finishes tests colour




Apart from sending countless hours on creating Gustave Dore etchings for my Cheltenham submission and developing and refining my early RVJ experiments.
I have been using my time as well to explore my colour theory as others have always considered a lot of my colouring too be confusing or flat.

So to prove these individuals wrong I tried out a Photoshop tablet colour test today.


I used a really quick rough 2-page spread depicting a scene of tension for this test. 

i hope that this helps me discover what sort of atmosphere I want to show through the use of three or five colours.

Here are the results



Test 1
Test 2




I looked at Juanjos Guarnido colour work in Juan Diaz Canales BLACKSAD for inspiration and guidance he had shades of certain colours that would show up in certain panels in the 2nd volume i really adored.









What worked?

  • ·      I feel both colour tests were varied in success with panels. (examples)
  • ·      Guy getting out of car on test 1
  • ·      Girl with the head phones panel on test 2


  • ·      Number 1 I feel is very momcrome and raw with its use of greies and dull browns but I felt it worked well with the shop interior.
  • ·      Number 2 seems more dramatic and filmic with the direction of the sunlight and does the job a little more passionately


What did not?

  • ·      Possibly it’s the quality of mark making on both it feels rushed and the sketchy lines can effect the colours purpose as it was all done with pen without any pencil. 


  • I think I should try this technique again out on a finished standard spread.
  • Could give more depth and understanding of how effective my style will be in future story telling.


In terms of story I am sticking with my initial idea of children’s rhythms and tales and crating my alternative version on them.   








1 comment:

Chiu said...

good to see you post both your colour test and the comparative analysis - in this way we can see how you are playing with warm and cool tonal hues to create contrast - we can also see that your comparative uses a wider range of contrasting tones + the characters themselves have shadows that help create both form and contrast, something missing in your test :)