Behind the scenes: The colours of Now Recharging

Photo of a plastic tray containing three Daniel Smith watercolour sticks with the labels gone in various states of consumption, on top of a paper with test paint strokes and next to a waterbrush
My main colour palette while working on Now Recharging

Now Recharging is not a full-colour comic. It’s primarily three colours: a brown, a blue, and a blue-green (or greener blue). Okay, four colours, if you count the black inks! You can get quite a bit of variety out of the three colours, all depending on variables like mixing, gradiating one colour into another colour, which colour gets laid down as the base first, etc. A lot of backgrounds for example are brown laid down in an uneven wash, followed by the blue-green/greener blue on top, creating an interesting patina effect, as seen in these panels.

Work-in-progress photo of Chapter 0 page 8 showing a person hugging a therapybot
Work-in-progress photo of Chapter 0 page 12 showingEmmie slumped on a desk and noticing some buzzing sounds
Work-in-progress photo of Chapter 0 page 13 showing a mewling kitten getting tangled in yarn while its parent watches
Work-in-progress photo of Chapter 0 page 28 showing Emmie walking away from the crowds

This approach, of using this particular group of hues, was inspired back when I was experimenting using waterbrush on top of Muji pens. I found the coloured refills were great for portable traveling doodles and getting watercolour-like effects. Below are a few examples of these drawings with Now Recharging characters from from 2015 and 2017.

Photo of sketchbook page filled with doodles of Emmie making different expressions, framed by Muji pens and a waterbrush
Practicing facial expressions in the earlier days of drawing Emmie
Photo of sketchbook page. Morio bending down next and saying "This is a new sketchbook" next to Emmie holding a sketchbook and saying "This is the first page of new sketchbook!", then doodling happily in it. Framed by Muji pens, a waterbrush, and a fountain pen
For a while I started new sketchbooks with drawings of Now Recharging characters announcing the event
Photo of sketchbook page. A tiny Morio and Emmie admire a selection of fancy pastries from Toronto's Roselle Desserts shop. Morio says "They have gourmet marshmallows sometimes" and Emmie exclaims "Really??" Framed by various art supplies
Doodling at a local dessert shop
Photo of sketchbook page. Morio giving Emmie a piggy back with his arms stretched out on either side. Emmie is looking to the side and saying "Uwaaaaa airplane". Framed by Muji pens, a waterbrush, and a fountain pen
Just having fun

As I experimented with the limited range of colours, I found I particularly liked the look of yellow, blue and green together. So I started looking more into doing a three-colour palette, and eventually shifted to the brown, blue, blue/green scheme.

At the beginning of the story, way back in 2015, I think I was still using Reeves student watercolours. These were a set of tube paints I had been gifted with even more years ago in university. They last a long time! I think the colours I was using at the time were Burnt Umber, Ultramarine, and Phthalo Blue.

Photo of a plastic tray containing three full Daniel Smith watercolour sticks with the labels still on, on top of an in-progress watercolour painting next to two brushes
Brand-new watercolour sticks from 2016

After some experimenting, looking for something more convenient with less packaging to deal with, I ended up switching to Daniel Smith watercolour sticks. This line has no Phthalo Blue, so the colours shifted to Burnt Umber, French Ultramarine, and Phthalo Turquoise.

Can you tell where the shift in colours and paint brands shift happened in the comic pages? I’m actually not sure myself anymore… but looking back through my photos my best guess is around July 2016, so end of Chapter 0 or beginning of Chapter 1.

Work-in-progress photo of Chapter 0 page 60 showing Emmie answering an interview question
Not sure if this is when I was using the new paints, but fun fact: Emmie’s hair actually uses all 3 colours (blue/green, brown, blue)

Work-in-progress photo of Chapter 2 page 32 showing closeup of Morio's eyes
By the time we were in Chapter 2 Morio, these were definitely the new colours. Morio’s eyes are 100% Phthalo Turquoise

Work-in-progress photo of Chapter 2 page 50 showing trees in the background as Morio walks through the park
Phthalo Turquoise with varying amounts of brown is used extensively for trees, grass, shading

Work-in-progress photo of Chapter 3 page 13 showing Wren requesting Emmie to lift them up
All three colours blending to create a grassy background texture

Periodically, I do add some other colours, either to emphasize something specific, or to bring in a bit more “wow” for a special scene. Red is the most common addition; sometimes there are also yellows and more yellowy-greens. You’ll notice the red in Emmie’s eyes of rage in Chapter 0 Labour page 40. Chapter 7 was distinct in that red was used throughout to highlight key things all over Red Dust World. In Chapter 10 Aware, yellows and greens are used to play up Shiny’s hinoki fragrance. The sunsets in Chapter 3 Ordinary Day page 28 and Chapter 11 Story Time page 70 were two of the rare instances of full colour being used for special impact.

The main benefit of a three-colour palette is threefold. It gives a bit of a distinct look to the comic, while also being enough to give the illusion of a fuller spectrum of colour. And best of all the limited palette allows me to work faster without getting stuck by indecision on colour choices!

Funnily enough, when it comes time to create full-colour illustrations for the book covers and some of the bonus illustrations, I sometimes find myself scratching my head since I’m actually not entirely sure what the colour of something is… And to be honest, sometimes I can’t quite remember the exact way I mixed or blended or layered the three colours to get a particular effect, and I don’t tend to keep proper notes on things. So things shift throughout.

Also, sometimes I imagine: maybe the robots in Now Recharging perceive the colours of the world like this? Who’s to say?


Some quick news: I’m excited to announce that I’ve finally reopened my online shop with physical items, include Now Recharging print books (1 and 2) and some other Now Recharging merch! You can check it out here! It’s been a while since I’ve done this, and things are quite different now, so please take a look at this Ko-fi post for an overview on shop operations before ordering.

♥ Maiji (Aug 1, 2022)

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