Commander Keen: the comic strip

Post by **KeenRush** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 16:45

Woah, that's amazing, allstories!! Makes me think what these would look like if they were coloured...

ckguy · Post by **ckguy** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 19:22

Comics by Mort.
Colored by allstories.

It would work.

Galaxieretter · Post by **Galaxieretter** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 19:28

That IS some very nice color choices. That was really good. How did you color that in?

Djaser · Post by **Djaser** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 20:03

The colouring of the surroundings is really blunt. Also there is to little contrast between the different colours. Sorry, but I don't like it.

Allstories · Post by **Allstories** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 22:10

Galaxieretter wrote:That IS some very nice color choices. That was really good. How did you color that in?

Photoshop

Djaser wrote:The colouring of the surroundings is really blunt. Also there is to little contrast between the different colours. Sorry, but I don't like it.

The colors are blunt? What does that even mean? You're certainly entitled to you're own opinion, but this is just a definition of blunt I'm not familiar with.

SynDuo · Post by **SynDuo** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:14

EDIT

Retouched some colors to make it some what...."cooler"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/ ... 1196232060
OLDER VERSION

Yup.... I couldn't resist drawing more space stuff so whoopy. Did a quick color and logo...

Napalm · Post by **Napalm** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 3:43

@SynDuo:
I like the rich use of colours and the night sky. 10/10

Napalm

Post by **KeenRush** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 6:50

Lovely work! (Even if the logo text reminds me of Keen GBC.)

Djaser · Post by **Djaser** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:34

Allstories wrote:
Djaser wrote:The colouring of the surroundings is really blunt. Also there is to little contrast between the different colours. Sorry, but I don't like it.
The colors are blunt? What does that even mean? You're certainly entitled to you're own opinion, but this is just a definition of blunt I'm not familiar with.

The surroundings have only one colour without any shading. How would you call that?

Synduo's versions don't have the problems I mentioned.

Allstories · Post by **Allstories** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 13:23

I would probably just say 'the surroundings have only one color without any shading'. Personally, I thought it would be better to have a more subtle background, but I suppose a compromise wouldn't be difficult.

Synduo's is okay, but the colors look over-saturated, too basic, and everything is only one color. There's no lighting, and it's kind of loud. All the details are competing for attention.

SynDuo · Post by **SynDuo** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 14:43

Thanks for the input, Though this was just something I whipped up in about 12mins, so of course it has some flaws.

personally I like like to work with saturated colors and seeing how the source material (the games) were very saturated in most places to draw attention to important yet dangerous parts of the game, seeing that I worked with it to sorta stay in the bounds of the source mateiral... it felt fitting.

That and I have a broader array of colors to work with and as a designer myself this was a nice break from the norm from working with nothing but a cmyk pallete. I personally believe space should be displayed as beautiful (as deadly as it is) even though most of surrounding nebulas are not as vibrant around the real Mars are kinda dull,and not that "saturated" I just felt like showing a contrast between the planet surface and the Space sky.

Though I'm confused on what you mean by lighting :3 its clearly there with the shadowing and indicated light source from the helmet glare...

Thanks for your input, if I ever consider making another Keen drawing I'll keep in mind your inputs :3

Allstories · Post by **Allstories** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 15:07

The lighting is there as far as having a light source (although there are some weird spots, like the light on Keen's pants coming from underneath him which makes no sense), but there aren't any color reflections, and there's not really any color harmony to speak of. Plus, there's no hue shifting. Nothing is ever just one color and one hue in nature. In creating shadows, it's not enough to merely add black. The issue with details competing stems from there not being any neutral colors anywhere. Your colors look like they came straight from a tube of paint without any mixing. With a background that bright and intense, it should reflect onto Keen & the Yorp. Lastly, your image implies that there's no atmosphere on Mars, which I'm pretty sure there is, and even if there wasn't, the contrast on your image would be much more intense.

Get studying:
http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm
http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/
http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/search?q=neutral+colors
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation ... opic=922.0

SynDuo · Post by **SynDuo** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 15:35

Oh god... John K again... He sure likes to preach about how bad others suck in the industry that are doing far better than him, but if that is what your basing things off on then I see where everything can be a prob.

"get studying"
Not if John K. is the teacher, that guy is known for ripping up portfolios of young art students if it doesnt have what he is looking for and that is hard to determine.

The second I read "mixing" I knew what you were getting at, its a bit hard to take John K. serious these days seeing how he rants about everything, one being color... then again you'd be angry too if you didnt have a decent job for about a decade. Not to mention the genre he created was kinda ripped outta his hands and ruined by the same network.

Though I guess I should have blended the terrian better with some sorta texture other than some grain, probably make it so it shifts and varies.
now I notice another flaw, which is tthe planet subtle glow which it shouldnt have been if the vorticon in the back is outglowing it, thanks for bringing that to my attention, the Atmosphere, hmm I guess i should have made it dustier or something that matches with the "red" of the planet.
:3 Now I know what I can do to make myself draw better on my personal art work.

Also you seem to forget the fact that I mention I was working with the SOURCE material... I don't know why you bring in John K. if it was up to him everything would be colored brown. If I planned to listen to John K. I wouldn't even have a job as a designer and comic artist.

I appreciate input, I just don't plan to take it if you base it off John K. someone who is clearly in a slump of work and hardly any credibility these days since he rants like a incoherent maniac.... Nice try.

Though the http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm is a nice place...
THank you for the inspiration my wonderful friend, your helpful once again.

Allstories · Post by **Allstories** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 16:01

Depite John K's colorful (and brutally honest) argumentative style (and maybe even arguable aesthetic preferences), he makes a lot of good basic points about things like color neutrality and the quality of contemporary animation and color usage (a lot of it IS garbage). Just don't underestimate the importance of grays. They can be the most beautiful colors of all.

Sciz CT · Post by **Sciz CT** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 18:35

I don't mind the use of grays for shading, especially given how often they were used in the games. It's the scenery and sky that really gets me in both cases. The textured landscape doesn't mesh well with the cartoony characters in either case, though SynDuo has the right idea with the shading on the mountains. In SynDuo's, the sky is overly busy and draws attention away from Keen. In Allstories' it's monochromatic, which is ok, but it's a flat gray, which is just drab. Bill Watterson's Spaceman Spiff strips didn't usually have detailed landscapes or atmospheres, but they were always vivid and colorful.

Keep trying, fellows.

Public Commander Keen Forum

Commander Keen: the comic strip

Got bored felt like trying it