Which do you prefer: colored or penciled comics?

[RoboBobo]

This is mostly out of curiosity. I've started concept work on my own comic and I've always liked the pencil work before anything is inked or colored. I don't know of too many comics or graphic novels that only have pencil (if you know of any please list them!) I just thought it could be a neat approach and keep everything in that raw state. Opinions welcomed.

[kev ferrara]

Let's see the comic just pencil and then inked/colored.

[s.ketch]

I like Inked. I have always assumed that the penciled version is almost identical to the inked version just...in pencil.

[RoboBobo]

^Yep pretty much. All forms of comics have their own beauty. But I guess you really have to tie in the pencil look with the mood of the story and settings. It could get tricky.

[Elwell]

I like Inked. I have always assumed that the penciled version is almost identical to the inked version just...in pencil.

Totally depends on the individual artist. Some do very tight pencils, with all the hatching indicated and the blacks filled in, some simply do linework with minimal indication of texture or lighting. Most are probably in between, and also adjust their approach depending on the situation (a penciller is going to leave much more up to an inker they have a comfortable history with, and artists who ink themselves obviously can leave a lot out in the pencil stage).

[Mirana]

This will be kind of funny for me to say as a bulk of my freelancing lately has been as a comic colorist BUT I generally prefer non-colored comics. #1 I HATE "traditional" lasso-n-gradient coloring and #2 Companies sometimes go for the cheap on the colorist, or cut the deadline close and the colors look like ass. I've seen a comic and gagged at the art, only to see the ink/pencils by themselves and go, "Hey, that actually looks awesome!"

However! There are plenty of comics that use color well and I enjoy, so it really depends on the style and skill.

I also enjoy black-n-wht (ink only) works and pencils-only. Off the top of my head, I'd say you can check Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal for pencils without color (he does pages with some panels inked and some not):
471971

& Eric Powell's The Goon for shaded pencils with color (and select inking):
471967

[RoboBobo]

^That top pic of the samurai is great. It's also important to really feel confident in your pencil or ink skill in order to bring it to life. I haven't seen this approach backfire on an artist YET.

[ArtZealot]

I like colored a little better, but love looking at the pencils. Especially joe madureira's stuff (http://www.joemadfan.com/gallery)

[Jazz]

For me, if the lines aren't thick enough for me to see well (like in many manga comics I've read), I prefer coloured more. But with pencil, I find there is a satisfying thickness to much of the lines, and sometimes the pictures are more wild in expression. I guess cuz the pencil is so raw to me. :D

[Mirana]

^That top pic of the samurai is great.

Haha, and here I was thinking, "It's not one of his best, but it's the only pencil sample I can find on google and I'm too lazy to go scan..." Pick up the first volume as there is a lot more (pencils with a touch of ink sketch on top, half the page in pencil, half in ink and tone, etc). He's got great texture and contrast. Also, lovely feet. :D

[RoboBobo]

Will do;)

[newman]

the only entirely pencilled comic i can think of is simon bisleys "fistful of blood", which looked awesome...but then it is bisley :)

the only link i could find was this:
http://www.parnass.scram.de/bilddetail.php?_bild=/neu_03_04/fistfull1.jpg

[RoboBobo]

^I took a look at some of that comic. Awesome! I also plan on doing full colored cover and maybe some colored pages in between. Probably important action scenes or settings.

[Bowlin]

I've never understood why people don't publish pencil work. I always assumed that comics were done the way they were because of printing capabilities. But then Rockwell used to do a lot of conte crayon drawings (http://www.tfaoi.com/newsmu/nmus100a.htm) that got published. You'd think pencil drawings and adjustments in photoshop would be more desirable nowadays?

[Mirana]

You'd think pencil drawings and adjustments in photoshop would be more desirable nowadays?

Yes...and no. Pencil artists have been trying to sell the idea for a while now, but they usually ask for a bit more for "clean" pencils because they are doing extra work and the publisher is saving on inks. That doesn't always work, though. Also, if a comic has a heavy spot black style graphite isn't going to make an even "black" even with adjustments. It's a matter of style too.

The last comic I colored was pencils only. In fact, there were no backgrounds drawn. I had to color it "animation" style and piece together backgrounds from swatches in previous issues (to get that old school, reused background look).