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So I'm torn on how to proceed with Geek Life. I'm really only just begun development, and I now have some fresh technology available. This leads to the question - Do I stick with my strength and go black and white, or do I dive into the unknown with some color?

Have a comparison: the first panel of the first comic.





This vote will have impact. I've decided to let this poll decide how I continue. So please vote!

No grue option?

Nah. This is just too serious for me to get Grued.

do things you're uncomfortable with and get comfortable with them. being more versatile as an artist is always good

I chose B&W only because it's easier to stay on schedule that way. You can then do "special" episodes that are colorized.

That's something I had considered. I wanted to add in those mini-comics, and make them distinct, and color felt like a way to accomplish that.

I chose the same, for the same reason as Dave.

If you feel confident enough to do all your comics in colour and still be on time, feel free to experiment (though I don't think colour is necessarily better, just like B&W photography isn't by definition more "arty" than colour - it all depends on what you do with it).
It also depends: is this one a learning case study thing, where you're drawing to learn and not especially for a following, or are you intent on making this "your comic" you want people to look at? That has an impact on how much experimenting you might want to do and how much you can try and abandon, be late with art, etc etc.

Well, the actual drawings themselves are pretty similar to my pen and ink work. It does feel like my stuff even though I'm still getting the feel for doing it digitally. The coloring doesn't take that long, really, and it's easier to do it this way than on Photoshop. (The process is pretty similar, though.) So, really, I could do this either way, and it shouldn't be too much to handle.

I agree with Dave. You need to get to the point where your color comics don't take much longer and that will take some practice. Maybe do 1 color a week? Or the special strip in color idea works too. Your black and white stuff is great so no worries about quality.

Voted B&W, like Dave says it's easier to stay on schedule.

Plus have you ever looked at 2 otherwise identical drawings where the only difference is that 1 is in colour & 1 is in B&W? I've noticed that I'll often see little details in the B&W 1 that I'll miss in the colour. They're there but..."drowned out" I guess by the colour.

Annnnnnd we're tied. Well, I suppose that should the tie persist until tonight, I'll go with black and white. They're posting in the thread making a case for that choice. If the pro-spectrum crowd wants that tie-breaker, they gotta state their case, too.

I voted black and white. I don't think the colorization really adds to your visual style (at least as is now, I may change my mind as your art continues to evolve), and looking at your past comics, you do such a good job in black and white that I would like to see more of it.

Hey, voted color, but I did it assuming it will not impact your ability to stay on schedule. I was pretty much torn anyway, because your B&W works really well, but I thought that maybe with the practice you can really get color to work for you and make your comics even awesomer.
Maybe it's a good idea to go B&W and when you do color whichever special or once a week strips or whatever you can put a bit more effort into coloring those that you'd have put into coloring all of them, and you'll learn anyway, that way.

Sooo... Consider my vote changed to BW, I guess?

Black and white it is! I'll stick to pen and paper, too.

Darn. I'm almost tempted to use a couple of alts to tilt it back into balance

Hey, my mini-comics will be in color. So there's that.

B&W for usual.
Color splashes for effect (careful use of color can enhance a comic).
Full color for holidays and Unlimited editions.

--Patrick

New development.

I have learned quite a few things about using Artstudio - better inking, shading, resizing, and assembly in Strip Designer - which has made me decide to make a go of this thing digitally. It should improve my odds of regular updates, and look like a cleaner finished product. Plus, I could always collect the pages together as an e-book, and they would automatically be properly sized.

This iPad is turning out to be one of the best things that's ever happened to me. It would have taken me weeks to finish half of my Portraits in Fantasy pieces using traditional materials. I'll save those for the gallery quality stuff now.

I think I know how I want to shade this thing. Gimme some feedback on this slight redesign of Mandi, now sans pain-in-the-ass-to-draw square glasses.

Do like!

Also like the non-grey shading.

I think this approach will work well. It's not too hard to do, looks smooth. I uploaded this pic to my DeviantArt, and I got a nice little burst of activity on it.

Edit: yeah, this will work. I threw this self-portrait together in less than a half- hour.