To be a comic book colorist

What is a comic book colorist and what does it take to be one?

let's start with what a digital colorist's job is. A colorist uses their skill and knowledge to apply color to a comic book, more specifically individual pages that make up a comic book. This isn't as easy as it seems, let alone as easy as your
friends and family believe it to be. Applying digital colors to a comic page takes time and practice to efficiently pull it off.

After all you not only have to color those pages, but must do so in a timely fashion. Most publishers will give you a deadline to complete your work. This can be as little as a day to a few weeks.

Now that we know more of what a colorist does, we can take a look about the technical aspect of the work. Coloring is often done in two steps. Flatting and coloring. Often colorists that work with the larger publishers use someone to assist in the coloring process by flatting their pages for them. Usually, the flatter rarely receives credit but does a large chunk of work that would otherwise need to be done by the colorist themselves. The need for a flatter is
for the most part to save time and allow the colorist to better meet their deadlines.

What does the flatting process consist of? The flatter blocks in the basic areas of art, each with a unique color. This is done so that each area can be selected by itself, aside from all the other elements of the page. Although, I flat my own work, I hate the flatting process. Which is why I chose to be a colorist. That said, if flatting is something that you might
enjoy doing, then by all means give it a try. I wish you the best making a career out of it. I know many flatter myself, having one more flatter in this world would be a great thing.

After the flats, or "flatting" we enter the actual the coloring stage, this is where the magic happens. It's where the colorist applies not only the color itself to the page but much more. During this stage the colorist will add both lighting and shading to help give the page a more an extra dimension that a flat page won't give.

What does a colorist need to do their job? The colorist will need to know how to use color. Simple right? Perhaps, but there is a bit more to it than just that. Learning the trade from school training can be very helpful, especially from an art nor photography class. Although training from a course or class can help, it isn't necessary at all. Many colorists learn as they go, myself included. Here is what you will need to know. As a colorist you will need to know what color looks like under various conditions and how it changes under light and shadow. Is the scene taking place at night, or day, is there a fire or explosion in the scene? Each panel, every page will vary. it will be your job as the colorist to enhance the art to the fullest of your ability using the techniques that you have learned. Techniques, tips and tricks that you will learn from both other colorists, as well as from how to books or guides.

Another aspect of what you will need to be a colorist, are the tools of the trade themselves.
At this point. almost all comic books are done digitally. This means that you will need a computer, you will also need as well. The standard for the industry used today are Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. Both programs are a must have, but are both very expensive. If you want to be a colorist, do yourself a favor and save up for them both, or if you can only get one, I would recommend Photoshop over Illustrator.
It would also be a good idea to get yourself as tablet. There are many of them available, but the best one out there is the Wacom Tablet.

So you still want to be a comic book colorist? The first step after acquiring the tools of the trade is to simply start practicing. I would like to suggest looking for line art at www.deviantart.com, but it is advised that you ask permission before using it. Once you have the art, start practicing, then practice some more after that. I've had no formal training myself and continue to learn something new every day and That's what it is to be a comic book colorist. At least it is for me.

Until next time, be sure to "Stay inside the lines."

- Tim