Graphics Steampunk art - Sketchy BW or Polished Color

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SoulTie

Guest
Hey guys, I am currently working on a steampunk game where all the cutscenes are in comic book format. So, instead of a movie, the view will pan from section to section on a comic book page. I honestly like the way the art looks when it is kinda sketchy and black and white, but I have had friends tell me that I should color everything in, and fine tune the sketchy looking lines. What do you think?

EDIT:
RichHopelessComposer placed a brown paper background to the images. It really added a lot to the art in my opinion. Even if I decide to do color, I will be using coppers, bronzes, and earth tones which should all go nicely with the brown BG.

BotHead
paperHead.jpg

Hand sketch
concept2.jpg


Bothead 001.png comic strip concept art 001.png
 
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Morumotto

Guest
I really like the sketchy looking lines, but maybe the background not white? But I like it because it's steampunk and looks like the old woodcut art!
 

hippyman

Member
I think it would depend on the actual game's graphics. IMO, If the game is colored in, then it would be weird to me to see the cutscenes in all black and white. I'm not saying those drawings are bad in the least. They're actually really good. But they look more like really good story-board art rather than a comic book.

I'll be honest, I was never a huge comic reader or anything, but when I think of comic art I think of stuff like this


Looking side by side, if you clean up your outlines mostly and color it in with some cool texture brushes that have that pointillism look to it, it will look just like the old school comics.
 
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SoulTie

Guest
I really like the sketchy looking lines, but maybe the background not white? But I like it because it's steampunk and looks like the old woodcut art!
The background might not be white i'm not sure yet. Also, these are not finished sections of a comic page. These are just a few pieces of concept art so that I could get a better idea of what i'm going for.
 
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SoulTie

Guest
I think it would depend on the actual game's graphics. IMO, If the game is colored in, then it would be weird to me to see the cutscenes in all black and white. I'm not saying those drawings are bad in the least. They're actually really good. But they look more like really good story-board art rather than a comic book.
The games graphics look pretty much just like this. I am using Spine to animate, so this enables me to add quite a bit of detail without having to draw the same amount of detail for each frame.
I just finished a simple shader that slowly fades out all the color in an image, leaving only the black lines. I was thinking that the first comic section will be in color, then it will fade as the view pans to the second section. Once you get to the last section in the cutscene, the color will fade back in and the game will start.
 
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Jaqueta

Guest
Have you ever read Sin City? It's a mix between Pure Black and White and some details colored.

If the pure black and white is too much, perhaps a GrayScale with a few colored stuff would fit better the art style?
 

hippyman

Member
The games graphics look pretty much just like this. I am using Spine to animate, so this enables me to add quite a bit of detail without having to draw the same amount of detail for each frame.
I just finished a simple shader that slowly fades out all the color in an image, leaving only the black lines. I was thinking that the first comic section will be in color, then it will fade as the view pans to the second section. Once you get to the last section in the cutscene, the color will fade back in and the game will start.
That could be an interesting thing to see. I suppose you'll never know if something works until you try it. I also like Jaqueta's idea.
 
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SoulTie

Guest
If the pure black and white is too much, perhaps a GrayScale with a few colored stuff would fit better the art style?
I agree. I guess I always kinda imagined the art to be in grayscale, not B/W. I might try to color a few images in and see how they look, but damn....that would be A LOT of work. I have written a pretty deep story for this game, so there will be many comic pages. Not to mention I am going to either paint or use pencils/pastels for the color. My hands are already cramped...
 

Turgon

Member
The sketches are really good. I think a splash of color would add a lot to the flavor, even if it's just a single color shaded in for each image, to convey emotion. E.g. red background for anger, etc.
 
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SoulTie

Guest
The sketches are really good. I think a splash of color would add a lot to the flavor, even if it's just a single color shaded in for each image, to convey emotion. E.g. red background for anger, etc.
Not a bad idea. I will have to play with that a bit. However, the background in each comic section will be highly detailed. I think that Jaqueta's suggestion may be what I end up doing.(Grayscale with pastels and/or charcoal).
 
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icuurd12b42

Guest
I agree with the consensus. there are so much detail in there that black and white don't do the images justice
 
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SoulTie

Guest
I agree with the consensus. there are so much detail in there that black and white don't do the images justice
Alright, I am convinced. I'll spend some time coloring in a few images tonight. I'll update the post with the new stuff tomorrow. Thanks for all the thoughts you guys!
 

Nocturne

Friendly Tyrant
Forum Staff
Admin
If I may just say... I do actually like the B/W sketches and am not sure they'd gain anything with colour. I mean, they are quite clear and obvious and perhaps colour would actually hamper their readability? Also, the ones on the paper background work quite well, BUT the paper is way to dark and saturated, so the grain and stains stand out more than the drawings - with better paper style backgrounds it would certainly work well I feel. However if you do go with colouring them, maybe try in the style of Quentin Blake? He had a very sketchy style and used watercolour to marvelous effect when colouring them...

Oh, and it would be lovely to see an actual game screen (or even a mock up) showing how these would be used. :)
 
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SoulTie

Guest
This looks absolutely awesome on the brown paper background.
Thanks Jas! and thank you to RichHopelessComposer for that idea!

I have the feeling that colour might ruin the look.
I had the same feeling at first, but after talking with my partner/sound effects dude, I have decided to use a combination of a few different suggestions.
-Brown paper BG, some of the images with no color, and key images colored with earth tones, rust, brass and the like. I envision the game to be set in a mechanical world that is dying.
I want the colors to portray that.

with better paper style backgrounds it would certainly work well I feel.
These were just googled, but when I buy paper to take photos of, I will definitely keep this in mind.

maybe try in the style of Quentin Blake?
I'm not familiar. I'll check him out.

Oh, and it would be lovely to see an actual game screen (or even a mock up) showing how these would be used. :)
Pressure! LOL. Most of the work I have been doing on this game has been geared toward fleshing out the story and creating the images. So, a screenshot of the game is impossible at the moment.
However, you might see a mockup soon. ;) It would be good for my spirits, to remind me of what I'm aiming for. Sometimes I forget the jewel when I'm looking at individual facets.

Thanks for the replies everyone!
 
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