Please help I'm stuck and don't know how to make my

To further cement my idiocy I didn't manage to make the links clickable... I'm sorry.

1. Self deprecating won't help with your art. So drop it.
2. The links are clickable, but you need to activate the options on the site settings.

That being said, I say that your stuff isn't too bad for an amateur, but you lack the fundamentals. Check the sticky and post your studies on the beginners general thread.
On a more specific critique, I say that your lineart doesn't goes well with coloring like that, and that your coloring looks flat because you still need to grasp on how to use values, and that part is covered on the sticky (or /beg/ OP's links).

You have zero flow from panel to panel. You don't lead the viewers eye at all.

>>2851713
Sorry I'm just so demotivated right now it makes me super depressive.

It's always fundamentals isn't it? I know I still need to invest a lot of time into those - but my biggest problem is the line <-> colouring things... I'll check out the stickies thanks for the feedback.

Any idea on the lineart doesn't go well with the colouring thing? Just how to adapt it or so.

Hi OP,

your work feels bland and lifeless because you're focusing too much on drawing and rendering and not on storytelling.

You try your best to fit everything nicely within the frames, to colour everything nicely and to have a bit of variation in perspective, but it serves no greater purpose. There is no cohesion between what I see and what I read, nor does what I see support or strengthen what I read.

- The resistance has broken into this education camp, but they are standing around quite relaxed, in exactly the same, clean & tidy environment, with the same colours and straight, static angles, and looking pretty similar to the children (with the exception of one panel where they are drawn very small and are hard to recognize). Where is the tension? How can I tell they broke in and are under time pressure of being discovered, and having met any resistance from troopers in the communication center?

- How can I tell the recruits are being oppressed and submitted to an inhumane training and indoctrination regime? Yes, they are some who are scarred, but how can I tell they are there against their will, and treated badly, and on the verge of rebelling? I can't tell if they aren't already indoctrinated and simply confused because their regular duties are being interrupted by the resistance on the com system.

- How do I know the troopers are the bad guys? Are they protecting the children? I can't tell. If they are the bad guys I want to see them as callous prison guards in a forced-labour camp. A looming, anonymous force of overpowering oppression and indiscriminate violence.

It's all about communication. Use light & shadow, colours, framing, perspective and objects/symbols to communicate with the reader.

>>2851800
Oh really? I'm surprised I thought that was actually a thing I was kinda okay at.

>>2851808

Some helpful stuff:

This video is great as it explains various framing and lighting terms and how you can use them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFUKRTFhoiA

Awesome videos that pick apart great shots and explain why they are great.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1AXWu-gGX6IcOGt0yaA9Cd_hkt_TwQlC

Ok, so these videos are about cinematography, but anything that's about framing and lighting can also be applied for graphic novels, illustrations, concept art, etc. In general, just try to find videos, books, articles, etc. about visual storytelling, symbology, etc.

>>2851808
Oh thank you. This helped me immensely.

Though this is page 60 - I tried to tell before how they are treated especially bad in this facility and how they frequently get hurt extraordinarily often hence even the First Order started their own investigation what the hell is going on there.

However I don't want to back out of your critic - I 100% understand what you mean.

I'm not really creative in the terms you described... I try to be more cineastic but somehow I just can't think that way.... my panels hardly convey any emotions... fuck any idea /tip how to work on that? I just.... show the story.... like a boring TV show without actually using the medium.

Uuuugh... thank you. This helped.

>>2851814
Oh thank you!! I was just about to look something like this up!

>>2851808
>>2851814
you're a good man

>>2851818

Ok, some tips.


Think about the use of objects and symbols:
- All people have associations with the objects and symbols they see. Imperial officers, with their grey uniforms, jackboots and emblems look just like Nazis. Why? Because of the incredibly strong feelings associated with them: Powerful, dominating, ordered, impersonal. Their spaceships are large, angular, harsh. The TIE-figters are like swarms of one-eyed bats. All concious or sub-conciously done to enhance the effect of the Emipre's galactic omni-potence. The Death Star is like a giant eyeball of Sauron. Stormtroopers are anonymous hordes of white skeletons, with their skull-like helmets.

It seems silly, but it works.

Think about the use of colours:
- Use colours that have a strong association with a specific emotion to enhance a scene. Or, you can connect a colour to a character, or a memory. so that when the reader sees that colour, he/she will subconciously connect it with the person, or situation.

Once you feel like there's a clear connection between what you want to tell and what the reader sees, that they support each other, then you can start to draw, using techniques explained in some of those videos.

And, in the end, remember that all this stuff aren't strict rules you must always obey, or follow to the letter to get the optimum result. Think of it more as a visual vocabulary. Something to think about, consider, and mix to create something that resonates.

>>2851877
Thank you. I guess I never really considered the power all these symbols had on me on a subconcious level. Getting aware of this helps.

I just struggle with some things... I like my scenes realisticly coloured - not too artsy. That might be a mistake but I don't like the arbitrary colour change to a dramatic colour just for the heck of it.... Like... when my boss would storm into my office right now yelling at me for using my cell phone - there would be no red light to emphasize his anger. Hence I would just draw an angry man centered in a shot maybe angrily looming above me. I guess I just need to understand how to at least frame such a shot interestingly and all.

Well thanks again this is all a lot to take in - but I will try my best to improve I'm already eager to try some new things. ( already started watching yt videos about these things as long as I'm stuck at work).

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I aprove of all the other advice in this thread but let me tell you two things.

Read The Noble Aproach, pic related, is a book that talks about production design for animation but it can also be aplied to comics, thanks to it before any comic I make I list every scenary, prop and costume so I can design them before hand and that really boosts the visual style of the work.

Your coloring/rendering is very bland but I don't have much experience with digital coloring so I can siggest a solution

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>>2851670
What the hell.
Where are all of these people coming from?

>>2851670
There's no flow, and there are no emotions on any of the faces.

You're not considering the action enough in your story boarding. You're not thinking about how the characters would really feel.

Think about human behavior.
Are people really staring and stiff as boards all-day?

It's no wonder it feels life-less.

You've drawn a bunch of mannequins, not kids.

You can see it in the first panel. Their hands are mirror images of each other. The poses are totally dead.

>>2852045
Right? It's just been a steady stream of pure autism this month and I don't understand the cause

>>2851670
>>2852049
I believe you really need to practice your facial emotions. They're terrible.

You need to look at how your face moves in a mirror and make sketches of it.

You need to be aware of certain pressures in your facial muscles.

What you've drawn is the initial facial lay-in, and then you altered it slightly, and it shows.

That's not emotion. You're not scrunching up your face to make characters angry or scared or happy. I can see it.

>>2852054
You got me - thanks I'll work on it!

>>2852049
Damn you have a good eye. I guess lazyness got the better of me and now I feel bad. I will work on this - thank you for taking time to answer me!