My Great Style Debate

When I started to work on my Snape comic, the style came first and the scenario came later. I knew how I was going to approach the subject in terms of graphics, and basically took that as a start. The art was going to be in black and white and have a lot of cross-hatching; everything else simply followed from there. - Okay, maybe that is simplifying things a little ;-), but it is a fact that I set off in earnest once I had made this one large drawing that seemed to summarise the story I wanted to tell. You could say that the whole comic was built around that picture.

For War in Gaul, I haven't got such a picture (- yet?). I haven't drawn anything so far of which I think: this captures the spirit of the story I want to tell. I haven't got anything that serves as a guideline. It is possible that it is still too early, that the idea is too fresh and that I haven't engaged sufficiently deeply with the story so far. After all, my Snape comic and stand-alone Snape pictures deal with one character only - and a character on whom I have been very focussed for years now. I know him inside and out. Moreover, the style that you have come to know so well is a direct result of my engagement with Snape: I didn't use any black at all until I started to draw him - and I had to learn about using black before I could draw him in a way that pleased me.

War in Gaul requires colour: the Celts were a colourful people, so much so that the Greeks and Romans felt obliged to report on the many and bright colours of their clothing. Unfortunately I am bad at colour. I have to learn about it, find my style, just as I had to find my style for Snape. This time the task is harder, because - ach, my colouring skillz, they make me weep ;_;. My blacks were never that bad. This is going to take time.

Below are a few samples of styles I tried out. None are great. Suggestions and opinions are very welcome.

( Pictures... )