Trying, rather desperately, to get a handle on color. I really feel the lack of it. That is, a lack of strong color pieces for Athra really hurts. I think. At any rate, it's a shortcoming I'm seeking to address.

And I thought I'd add some images here and invite savage critique, the more brutal the better. I wouldn't even really call this a piece in development. More of a study really. I've been trying to bash away at these in order to make some advance.

So, if you have a chance, and you're feeling kind, then please, by all means, bash away.

For a study, that looks pretty good! You've already got a handle on the most tricky part-- all the subtle shifts in color that go on in skin tone, and the use of cool shadows.

Hair is always tricky to paint. You might try a different brush, or a thinner one.
His nostrils looks a little lumpy/crooked, so you could tweak that..
When doing a head shot like this, try also modeling the shoulders and collarbones. Right now you've got a lot of great stuff going on up top, but the image "flattens" half way down.

Definitely keep pumping these studies out. Try limiting each one to a 1 hour period and you'll really see the improvement.

Niki,

I think all those points are dead on. More importantly, I think the idea of running through a slew of these, devoting an hour to each, is a great idea. I think I'll make a schedule for the coming week and do that. A really good idea.

I also need to find a way to bring some drama to these images. Right now, I find them rather flat and not kind of lifeless.

Still, a series, an hour for each... That really strikes me as a good idea. Many thanks.

@Nathaniel Sullivan - I split this into its own thread so that everyone can see you have a new piece to critique.

I'm not sure you're at quite the disadvantage that you think you are.

Going through your finished Athra pages, I'm seeing a very strong use of your limited pallet. Your most recent stuff in particular is very solid, with good contrasts to define your forms, while the line quality suggests a lot of energy and movement. You're even skilled at drawing full environments with just two tones, which blows me away.

The study you've done here, you've gone at with a different mindset. Your colors are all very close together in hue, saturation, and tone, and the pose is quite static compared to - for example - the fight scene you're working on.

If the choices were between this and what's on your website, I'd pick the website. But it's really not a fair comparison. Perhaps you should see how you apply color to the subject matter you want your final product - take a panel or two from your black and white version and do something similar in color, to see how well your technique translates. Does it retain its dramatic affect? Is it visually interesting? Is it still feasible to produce X amount of work in Y time?

i'm confused...did you completely abandon the black line sketchy scratch board aesthetic for this new digital oil paint style?

I reeeeeeeeaaaaaaallllllllllyyyyyy liked the scratch board style you had before and i would have loved to see you build on top of that rather than completely paint over it.

Mea culpa, dude.

And thanks. I was trying not to be greedy.

No way. I'm entirely committed to the scratchy, brutal, medieval noir look of Athra because, frankly, that seems to work for me. I wish I were delicate and gentle and subtle. I'm not. I wish I were, but I'm not. I just don't have that.

Working on painting because I feel the need to bring some color into Athra and because I really want to be able to paint before I die. One of those obsessive life mission kind of deals. I'm building an easel in the garage and working on digital paintings in an attempt to develop some facility.

So, no fear, Athra will remain a graphic blizzard of black and white and I'll work on bringing some real brutality and energy to the painting.

An entirely different mindset. Very true.

The painting stuff, for now, a disaster. No real drama or energy to it. I don't know. I've resigned myself to being frustrated. I need to find a way to bring some energy and life to the painting. Very hard. With the black and white pages, I just tear it down and bring it all back up again over and over. When I try to do that with color, I end up with mud.

I should probably try something different. Maybe tearing down the paintings and bringing them back up again and again is the answer. Not sure.

Art, dude. With art, you have to try it and see. Again and again and again. There's just no way to know if something will work until you see it.

Glad to read that you like the environments. Kind of the result of desperation. I looked at some of the early pages and said "God, this looks like a lame ball point pen drawing in a high school notebook. I mean this should have blue lines running across it. These pages will bring shame to my family for generations."

That went on for a few hours and then I decided to rework everything.

Thought about EmilylOrange's comments a great deal.

Rather grim visaged. Should work on that some.

Ah, color....my arch-nemesis!
It seems that the biggest problem in the pieces you've posted is a lack of structure. I'd suggest developing the forms in sepia tones....setting down your lights/darks, and then glazing thin color over them. You'd be amazed at how much the colors seem to work themselves out that way! It's a technique that lots of the old masters used in oil painting, and I get satisfying results from it.
My two cents!
-Dave

I would definitely suggest trying what Dave_Flora just said! It's a really great way to work because you can focus on getting all of the elements working together before you spend ages making each of them look exceedingly detailed. I've found it to be quite helpful!

I agree with this. I think it's a valid criticism. I would probably label this the "mushiness" problem. The images, and this is very clear in that last one, tend to be on the mushy side, like the faces and hair are dough. I agree that it's a problem.

I've tried building up pieces starting with the sepia tones before and I've looked at the old master techniques. Looked at the Atelier movement some as well. I should force myself to do more of that. I've read, and heard, that color gets all the credit and that the black and white does all the work. Unfortunately, everything kept turning into mud, but I should take another shot at it, especially given that I need to work on the mushiness.

All right. A good idea. Besides, the point of these is experimentation. I set out to try everything I could think of, and every reasonable suggestion, so I'll return to the drawing tablet and work on some images beginning with sepia tones. I think it's a good idea and definitely worth trying.

Many thanks for the suggestions. I'll take a run at it.

A technique you might try, just to get an idea of how to build shape with color, is to do all your shading in greyscale, then set a new layer on top to the "color" setting. Like this guy does Dual. The technique does have its weaknesses, but it could be good practice for you to figure out one thing at a time. Shading/structure and then color.

Working on developing some mastery of color. I don't know. Very conflicted about the entire affair.

At any rate, the criticism has been very helpful and I'd be glad to read any critique of this experiment anyone would like to offer.

Many thanks in advance.

Best,

Nathaniel Sullivan

I'm not the right person to give you advice, but I think that this last attempt is the best so far. It keeps the rougness of your drawing style. I can see that there are some variations in color, but at the same time the coloring has a bit of your roughness to it that compliments your lineart. I am not sure if a very smooth kind of coloring/shading type is what your work needs. And yes, I'm no good at explaining things so I hope you understand what I am trying to say.
I think you are on the right track, so keep at it!

Many thanks for the kind words.

I'm sure I'll try a number of other approaches. Color is tough. I'd love to be able to produce images that are "smooth", not so rough hewn, but that's very difficult for me. I'll keep at it. I really need to add some color to the body of work.

So what's the comic book market like in Belgium? Very much like France I would imagine? A slew of band-dessines?

A la prochaine,

Nathaniel Sullivan

Hmmm, we got a lot of comic book series here. We even have our own museum about the history of Belgian comic books. But it's also possible to buy comics and graphic novels translated from other languages.
I don't know if nowdays there is still a difference in between the two main language regions when it comes to the focus of the comics that are created. But I know that in the past it used to be so that in the Flemish part of Belgium it was more about the story, while the French part was more about the art.
When I was a kid there where whole comic book series we grew up with, some of those had started when our own parents where still kids. I even remember there was a magazine about comics, not sure if that is still around.

So in a typical book store is there a pretty large collection of bande dessines? I remember seeing that bookstores had a pretty good selection, but it's been years since I was in France.

I wish more European comics were available here.

That said, I should make more of an effort. I should probably just buy a slew of french graphic novels, band dessines, and read them. My french is atrocious, but comic books are usually pretty straightforward and manageable with a dictionary.