Chapter 1: Page 1
This page brings back a lot of memories for Rachel and me, since it was the very first page in any “Western Deep” story that received a splash of color. Back in 2009 when this happened, however, there was still a lot of experimentation and learning going on on both our parts. Showing the original version of this page to industry professionals at ComicCon led to some rather eye-opening moments that helped us re-evaluate the comic in nearly every way, right down to the webcomic delivery method we’re using today.
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The original version of this page, seen at the top, was the very first color experiment done with the world of the Four Kingdoms. At the time, we thought it looked great – but do you notice something? Yes, you’re probably noticing that everything is a rather narrow shade of green. That’s not all, of course – in this old version, Quinlan was actually a gray squirrel, meant to be a play on the standard Redwall squirrels all being red. The downside to this, we realized, is that gray-colored characters aren’t the most visually interesting characters. Since most of the story focuses on Quinlan, we decided to make him pop out of the frame a bit more, and that meant giving him red fur.
Another thing we noticed, in both the initial pass and the rejiggered version beneath it, is that the text box in the top-left obscured the scene quite a bit and stood out in all the wrong ways. We initially felt it was important to establish where the character was, but we solved this issue for the most part through the use of the prologue and the chapter header image telling the reader that Tamian reside in the forests of the Western Deep.
There are many other issues with the initial pass, which is why when we approached the webcomic draft of the story, Rachel completely redid the scene from the ground up. We wanted to focus more on Quinlan, so he is larger in the frame. There are more layers of foliage in the new page compared to the old one, and just more detail in general.
I remember first seeing this page on the production blog a long time back. I must say, I’m glad you took the time to re-do this page; this new version certainly is more visually appealing and more eye-catching than the original muted tones you had.
And I’m also glad you ditched the whole, “The forest of the Western Deep…” panel at the top. It broke up the flow of the page and reminded me of what you might find in some cheesy Superhero comic or something… ;)
Anyway, you guys have some really nice and solid improvements here today. Looking forward to next Saturday!
And also, I am loving the fan-art. Reminds me of [http://fourkingdoms.blogspot.co.nz/2009_03_01_archive.html this one].
New page, new fanart! This is looking good! Concerning grey looking characters; I have to agree that Quinlan looks more interesting with red fur. Grey colouration can be useful for a less central character. For example if they contrast their colour with being over the top fun, mysterious, and/or badass. It adds a level of surprise and makes people immediately underestimate the character only to be shocked later.
So yes, red colour is better for Quinlan, but major chops of attempting grey as it is the less taken route for obvious reasons.
Now, as a fan of “middle-period Disney,” I of course took one look at today’s page, saw the green tunic against red fur, and immediately thought of a certain other green-clad, red-furred, bushy-tailed, forest-dwelling critter of animated lore. Which could actually work for you here, if any “Robin Hood” fans are following this. Might allow them to connect with the character more immediately on an entire other level you never intended, without taking them out of your own story.
*agrees with everything that’s been said about the improvement over the original draft*
And as for V.V.’s fanart, I almost thought I was looking at a retouched photo until I studied it closer. Yes, very realistic, and a very different style indeed. And well done! Let’s keep that fanart coming! *wishes he possessed an artistic bone in his body*
Awesome! can’t wait for more!
Comic looks pretty good so far :) I have it bookmarked now so I’ll be sure to start following it regularly and commenting. I’m also curious, as I’m in the works of attempting a webcomic as well, what sort of people did you talk to at ComicCon? Though I read comics a lot and enjoy drawing, I really don’t know anyone in the field to ask about it, could you give me names maybe?
But anyways, this is looking nice so far. I’m liking the art direction and how you show some of your thought processes and concepts at the bottom, it adds a nice touch. Keep up the good work.
Hi Airan! Thanks for reading!
Back when we first started, I presented the comic in its earliest stages to a few industry professionals mostly for feedback on how to improve it. When the first pitch “issue” was initially printed up, I pitched it to numerous studios that were accepting solicitations at ComicCon ranging from Archaia to Ape Entertainment to Antarctic Press.
Nobody picked it up, but for that I’m actually quite thankful – I think the initial rejection really helped Rachel and I reevaluate everything from the art to the script to the delivery format and helped us create a much tighter, nicer-looking, better-reading story.
Maybe I’m horribly biased/etc. due to seeing the final version first but the font you picked in the 1st version is an eye killer and I agree that the textbox is quite obstructive. I’m actually kind of curious how Quinlan would look grayed out now that the rest of the image has more than 1 color. *tosses the image into PDN*
He actually comes out quite well. The grey squirrel stands out from the bright green. :)
Oh yeah, that font was dreadful – I don’t think we used it for dialog then, just titles, but it’s still… oy. X)
Chances are the gray thing was also an issue of contrast, which I’m hopefully doing better on nowadays. It will leave room for gray Tamian to exist in the future, for sure.
And so we get our first look at Quinlan, our hero. We’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the coming pages so I’ll wait with commenting on his personality until then.
Let’s just talk about the page itself and its history. I notice some people here followed the original production blog in a way I didn’t have the opportunity to do, and they might know the history of the comic better than me, so I’m grateful that you’re giving all this info in your commentaries. I agree with what most others are saying that, again, this is an improvement over the original version. The colours are better and more varied, the scenery is more interesting and we’re not distracted by that huge box in the upper left corner. Once again, great work.
However, this is where my first criticism comes in – as a loyal reader it is my duty to inform about things that could’ve been done better as well as giving my praise. I hope you will understand that. In this case, it’s two nitpicks about the art.
First, something about the way Quin’s face looks in profile here does come across as a bit… off. I dunno – I think it’s the nose and how it comes apart with the eyes and mouth that makes his face look a bit flat and almost human-like.
The second nitpick is the stream. While I think this page is a huge improvement over the first two drafts in most ways, the river/stream actually looks the worst in the final one. I looks much too solid and dull, and the way it flows seems rather awkward.
Well, these little hiccups happen. Still a great page, overall.