Help
Bugg, on 19 January 2013 - 12:27 PM, said:
A lot of comic book art today has pretty realistic gradient and shading while maintaining the traditional lines of the inker. Actually most of it. It's not really realistic but it looks cool.
I wrote up a long-ish posting on that and then remembered why I post in this subforum only every few months...
Basically, just because many comics do that does not mean it's good or desirable. Many comics are drawn and coloured by up to four people. Take a look at those comics that are both drawn and coloured by the same person and you will see a huge difference. The styles that look the most harmonious/expressive are often those that are not trying to be realistic.
Dolmen expressed my opinion in a much nicer way than I could be bothered. I like how where this is going, and will add that what it needs is some good old-fashioned drama, as in more contrast between lights and darks, and as Dolmen already mentioned that might be difficult to achieve if you want to keep the lines as is.
Sadly, since I'm not really into that kind of style (while I still like your piece), I can't comment on how to get around that issue. If you want to keep the style a webcomic that uses it comes to mind; maybe you can snatch some ideas on what to do for backgrounds there. But again, there's not really much happening shades/lights-wise.
Edit: I just remembered, the graphic novel Pride of Baghdad does a pretty good job of using realistic shading to convey atmosphere while keeping mostly clear linework, iirc. Also, good examples of doable backgrounds.
This post has been edited by Puck: 20 January 2013 - 12:02 AM
I like the fact that his face is hard to see due to shadows and skin tone, while still posessing enough details to see the mouth and nose etc. if one looks hard enough 
