Did I miss something?

[PaintChips]

Hmm... Just started, and have already changed my style...

The lines are too thick (obscuring some detail work) and the shading sucks (working on it...). Oh, and you can't see any faces because of the distance, so that's intentional... Any other glaring technical faults?

[Levi-chan]

I really feel that gradients shouldn't be done with thickly-inked stuff - unless, that is, it's combined with cel-shading properly. Maybe you can give it a shot?

Line weight variation is also A Good Thing (TM) to consider, and would probably be helpful in setting up perspective and giving the viewer an idea of where Object X is. You can use it to show which is closer to the "camera", Chips.

[PaintChips]

I really feel that gradients shouldn't be done with thickly-inked stuff

Totaly agree... Except I suck at shading, and this is the only way I know how. Know any good shading tutorials for Photoshop?

Line weight variation is also A Good Thing (TM) to consider, and would probably be helpful in setting up perspective and giving the viewer an idea of where Object X is. You can use it to show which is closer to the "camera", Chips.

Yup. The way this one was done, however, doesn't allow for line size variations (once the image is traced in Illustrator, you can't alter the lines, or at least I can't figure out how...) So that was my fault, and I'll keep that in mind when I redraw the full version of this one.

~Thanks for the tips!

[Levi-chan]

I really feel that gradients shouldn't be done with thickly-inked stuff

Totaly agree... Except I suck at shading, and this is the only way I know how. Know any good shading tutorials for Photoshop?

Well, this is pretty basic: http://www.deviantart.com/download/9731752/. It's about 1.3 megs, and though I'm not too happy with it, it's pretty alright.

Here's a better one: http://www.deviantart.com/download/28747397/

Don't be turned off by the anime style of the stuff they're coloring. Even if you hate manga, the techniques are pretty much worth noting.

Line weight variation is also A Good Thing (TM) to consider, and would probably be helpful in setting up perspective and giving the viewer an idea of where Object X is. You can use it to show which is closer to the "camera", Chips.

Yup. The way this one was done, however, doesn't allow for line size variations (once the image is traced in Illustrator, you can't alter the lines, or at least I can't figure out how...) So that was my fault, and I'll keep that in mind when I redraw the full version of this one.

Have you tried inking with Photoshop? Or, with a pen? The latter allows you more freedom - though much fussier, and it has less tolerance for mistakes. For the former, you can use brushes instead of vector lines to ink your drawing - this way, it feels more natural.

Here's a good tutorial: http://www.deviantart.com/download/23209405/

So yeah. Good luck, man!

[Hale]

Give lineless artwork a shot. What you do is the normal routine with coloring and then when you're all but done, select the lines (transparency if they're isolated in their own layer) and take a sample color of the fill encased by the lines and color the lines in w/ a brush or pencil tool while those lines are still selected.

Your inks are thick and jagged, which really jives with lineless work. I think it'll be really promising for your style. Also, it's really easy.

This was a quick attempt, it's not very good, but I hope it illustrates the idea. Ian at http://www.machall.com has a lineless artwork style, check that out.

[Levi-chan]

I think the non-lined artwork would work if the shading was a bit better. A agree that it would be a worthy shot though, considering the character designs.

Go for it, mang!

[PaintChips]

Levi: Kiyaaa!!! I can't get those last two things you linked! The first one was helpful tho' and I'll give it a shot. Oh, and when did I say I didn't like manga ? The way I did this panel is I drew it in my spare time during class on notebook paper. Then when I got home, I traced it in ink (all one thickness tho'), then scaned it, darkening it so only the pen ink showed up. Then I ran it through Adobe Illustrator, a program that converts scans to vector images, like in flash. Then I used Illustrator to color it in, and saved the image as a gif. Then, in photoshop, I shaded using gradients. I won't color it by hand (to uncoordinated), but doing that cel-shading thing might work. I'll work on it tonight...

And Hale: The line-less work does look really sweet, but I like the edgy/stylistc look the lines give, so that wouldn't work for me. It is an interesting technique tho'

[Levi-chan]

Freakin goddamned servers. :p

Anyway, here ya go: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/23209405/ - Inking

Mouse coloring: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/28747397/

Also, if Illustrator kills any line weight variation you may have had, why not just skip it? I think the vector transformation is making it a bit chunky.

[PaintChips]

Well, I worked on it, and I think it did well. Check it out on my DD page here.
Only problem is, it's FREAKIN' HUGE. I need to work on reducing the file size ...

[Townie]

Filesize suggestions - crop it a little tighter and use smaller spaces between panels. Actual physical size does make a differance, plus you're not really using the blank space anyway. You might want to consider limiting your color pallet. I also recommend trying something like the xat.com Image Optimizer on your files, just be cautious about over-doing it

[PaintChips]

Yeah, the blank space does need to go. I've just been too lazy to deal with it . I'll get it next time tho'