Which if these two colorings go you like better?

[Johnrap]

Neither of these is final, but do you like this page colored with or without the black lines?

Without:


With:


Thanks for taking a look. This is from a comic in development, called 700 Knights, drawn by Lou Manna, and written by John Rap.

[Cross]

think it'll come down to personal preference. they both lend to a specific style but i gotta say i like the first one better. the second one the blacks are a little heavy handed especially on the castle/fort behind, makes it feel like its been burnt out.

[LordMikel]

I like the first one too. The lines do seem heavy handed. It takes away from the art.

[Johnrap]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I agree that the castles look better on the without. But I think the trees and people look better with. The catapult, I'm not sure on. So, I'm made a new version, with the black lines gone from the castle and partially gone from the catapult. What do you think of this one?

[LordMikel]

I think the catapult and castle both look better.

You can't tell what the helmets look like however in the catapult. Also I'm not in love with the bushes, unless you are going for a burnt look.

[missingmarch]

Personally I like the second one better. The first one approaches the uncanny valley for me.

[Cross]

might i suggest only having the black outline on the people and what they interact with? leaving everything else unlined? might be an interesting look

[gobSIDES]

I prefer the first one out of them all.

[Johnrap]

I lightened up the bushes. Better?

[Cross]

yes, better. especially with the plants. does still look a tad like the catapult is sitting on scorched earth though. which may be what you're going for

[DanArt]

Okay. Seriously if it was printed the one with more contrast makes me want to look it at longer. The one with less contrast have more eye candy and is much more colorful.

It really depends on the story. The one without contrast forces me to compare to fine art and airbrushing. While the one with contrast makes me think about animation and woodblock.

You have to explain which one came first. The one with contrast or the one without. Because both look good no matter which way.

If your asking which one would I rather seen blown up into a huge poster, painted on my wall. That is the one without contrast. The one with contrast however makes me want to look at it more. Maybe it is a balance of contrast

[Johnrap]

Great points DanArt. Which picture is better is unanswerable without knowing what this picture is foe. Well this is the first page of a graphic novel called 700 Knights. The novel will get pretty dirty, grimy, brutal and bloody. Which is why I didn't like the one with no black lines. However, this is a splash page, and it is the first page, before any specific battles have started.

Right now we're leaning towards the painted look for backgrounds and splashes and the comic look for the panels overlaying those backs/splashes. Though we still need some darkness in the splashes, like to de-emphasize the bushes in the picture above.

Below is a page that demonstrates the comics over mattes look that the book will have. It's going to be landscape 8.5x11 when printed.

[Cross]

definitely makes a difference knowing all that. all that taken into account, definitely go along the lines of the latest catapult pic you showed us. blacks are tricky and can easily go too far. there has to be a balance. especially in a splash page.

nice color palette by the way