Comic book color flatting

Create a new layer below the shaded layer and paint your solid color you want on it. As a flatter, it is your job to make the job of the colorist easier by creating a layer of easily selectable color blocks from the lineart. Here is a video tutorial to show you how to use a complex gmic filter named. Flatters are the unsung heroes of comic book coloring flatting is the first step when coloring as a comic book colorist.

Hes proven himself time and again having worked on their top properties, including spiderman, xmen, the avengers, daredevil, captain america, hulk, and many others, as well as working on titles for dc comics, image comics and humanoids. Before painting the penciled page, you need to apply flat color to all the shapes and forms, such as figures and architecture, so it is easy to make selections while painting. Flatters, if you are used to only getting hired once and not again by the same. Coloring comic book characters i have begun the course coloring comic book characters, the first lesson, color flatting, has taught me something i had to find out the hard way. Tags colouring tutorials, coloring comics, comic color, comic book coloring, comic books, colorist, photoshop techniques, photoshop tutorial. Lopez was elizabeth breitweisers color flatting assistant on comics like fatale, velvet, and the fade out and he. Dec 09, 2014 how to color a comic in photoshop flatting colors last time i showed how i scan in artwork and get the layers set up in photoshop for coloring. I just bought a near mint issue of marvel spotlight, with a son of satan story im particularly affectioned to, and the copy would have been better than mine, if not for some production crease, not on the cover, but on the inside pages, which breaks slightly the printed images, but is a lot more annoying. When comics are printed the colors are separated into four plates. Coloring assistant role june 20, 2017 june 20, 2017 design, online courses. The official site of comic book colorist and instructor k michael russell. This mindblowingly dull and tedious job is necessary to allow the colorist to quickly lay down colors and color effects and if need.

The line art is separated into flat, solid blocks of color which a colourist then uses to render the page. In the process of making of a flatcolor comic, the colorist fills in the lines with only flats, which makes the comics illustrations look twodimensional in contrast to comics with several layers of shading and highlighting. I talk about how to flat your own comic and where to outsource it so you can save yourself hours of time per page when coloring. Most professional colorists hire someone called a flatter to separate the elements on the pages into colors the colorist can then select those colors with the magic wand tool in photoshop to quickly change and edit those colors. In the process of making of a flatcolor comic, the colorist fills in the lines. He shows how to prep your illustration and perform color flattingsimple color fills that save professional artists a lot of time. A flatter takes the black and white line art of a comic and fills in the colors, sort of like a colorbynumber. Flatting is a colouring step where large sections of the black and white illustration are segmented into parts with blocks of colours. With out the line art it is easier to see the created.

Whether you have some photoshop experience or none at all this course is a must for anyone who has the slightest interest in the process of coloring a comic or any illustration with this technique. Lopez was elizabeth breitweisers color flatting assistant on comics like fatale, velvet, and the fade out and he passed away on. In the flatting process, the basic areas of color are blocked out so the colorist knows what spaces to color what. The colors themselves are irrelevant, but they make the colorists job easier by allowing t. My name is eugene alejandro, and i am a color flatter.

Turn pencils into nonphoto blue lines in photoshop. Flatting is the process of filling in a comics linework with flats, or solid blocks of color. Basically, all you need to do is make sure the different figures and shapes in the panels each have their own color so they can be magicwanded easily. Usually an artist will give their flatter a color palette to work with, but still often times artists will adjust the flat colors as needed. Flatting is the first stepwhen coloring as a comic book colorist. Need help flatting colors for a comic book freelance job. Flatting and masking techniques for clip studio paint. A flatter is a coloring specialist within the comic book industry that prepares the inked or sketched comic book page for the colorist with digital art software such as adobe photoshop. However, my very first paid comic book position was that of a flatter.

Coloring assistant role learn how to flat pages properly like a pro flatter. Flatting the image, like in the bottom right panel, is the process of simply coloring the image with midtones. Jan 08, 2017 flatting the image, like in the bottom right panel, is the process of simply coloring the image with midtones. The colorist can then select those colors with the magic wand tool in photoshopto quickly change and edit those colors.

Find over 86 jobs in comic and land a remote comic freelance contract today. The colored areas are butted against each other under the line art. A flatting tutorial for photoshop used in digital comic book. But its hard to get blackandwhite drawings to look like the comics that end up on store shelves. This process is also known as flatting, since were literally lying in a flat mid tone for each of the main elements within the composition. I understand how to use the lasso tool and fill in with color. Jun 19, 2018 change your image layers blend mode to overlay or multiply. Apr 01, 2016 all new ultimates line art by amilcar pinna all new ultimates line art by amilcar pinna with flatting. Dave stewarts interview and video on his coloring process.

Jul 23, 2018 simply put, a colorists job is to apply color to a comic book. While its more common to hear comic book artists talking about this stage, we, illustrators and game artists, also have to prepare our artwork to be painted. Flatters, sometimes called coloring assistants, break up all of the elements on the page into separate colors. Comic book flatting and coloring embs computer art. It is a timeconsuming process that most professional colourists farm out to peons like me. A flatting tutorial for photoshop used in digital comic book coloring youtube. You can use a combination of the paint bucket tool and the lasso tool to fill the flattened colors with your comics normal color palette. Coloring assistant role, learn how to flat pages properly like a pro flatter. Then you go in and render with highlights and shadows. Since my inks usually have blueline pencils underneath, i scan in full color, which means they can easily be filtered out. The trial is free, and you can see two full tutorials now. Most professional colorists hire someone called a flatter to separate the elements on the pages into colors. In this tutorial ill reveal my process for coloring a comic book character design.

Your job is to make it easy to just select the hand or the face or even the iris or the eyeball. Whether you want to scan and color traditional artwork or color artwork that was created digitally, this book will show you exactly how to prep your pages for color using the. The specialist does so by selecting the objects on the page and filling them in with a solid color called a flat, so that the flats can be used by the. Sep 15, 2015 by popular request, a flatting tutorial video. Flatters are the unsung heroes of comic book coloring. This is a detailed walkthrough of my full coloring process for my comics. Everything is provided,the basics of the tools and even the tools themselves. I just need some help from people experienced in the use of photoshop for flatting colors in comic books. Comic book artists use color and atmospheric backdrops to make their personalities shine through. The specialist does so by selecting the objects on the page and filling them in with a solid color called a flat, so that the flats can be used by the colorist by way of the magic wand tool. You can use a combination of the paint bucket tool and the lasso tool to fill the flattened colors with your comic s normal color palette. Flatting plugins for photoshop in the production of comics a special trapping method, called flatting is used.

Introduction to comic book coloring comics experience. No credit cardpaypalblood of your first born required for the trial. Flatting a page is setting up the shapes that are going to be colored or rendered later in the process. From the awardwinning comicraft studio, this fullcolor, stepbystep guide of comic book lettering tips and tricks is illustrated with two hip flask strips one by kurt busiek and stuart immonen, and the other by jeph loeb and ian churchill.

The color flatting skills of eugene alejandro home. Flatting is a step in the process of coloring line art which is widely used for comic books. Flatters are comic book colourists who separate the line art into large areas with plain block colours that a senior colourist will then polish. You should still have your shading above and your color underneath. After the penciller completes the lineart and many times an inker finishes the pencils with ink, the art is passed to the colorist or color artist as its sometimes called. This will expand the colors and erase the line work, so that your comic looks like this. Free coloring tutorial learn comic book color flatting. Usually an artist will give their flatter a color palette to work with, but still often times. The instructor had us copy our drawing that we were painting and then use the multiply function to make the white of it transparent and allow us to color it in.

The colorist can then select those colors with the magic wand tool in photoshop to quickly change and edit those colors. Coloring comic book characters rickeys graphic design blog. The coloring approach well be going over in this lesson is a mix between the traditional, graphic rendering style seen in comic books from the late 90s. A process also known as flatting these have to be a huge productivity booster to any artist working with coloring line art in photoshop, not just comic book artists and the like. Follow these steps to paint your own comic book page in corel painter 12. In this flatting tutorial video, ill show you to a correct way to properly flat comic book art for coloring. The first step to coloring a comic book page is laying down the flat colors. This facebook page is dedicated to my flat coloring work. A flatter is a coloring specialist within the comic book industry that prepares the inked or. Flatters are often junior assistants or pros who take on flatting. Ive helped over students in 142 countries learn how to color comics and make digital art online. Hifi color for comics provides the reader with stepbystep tutorials and artwork designed to teach you how to color comic book illustrations from start to finish. Comic book flatter and colorist page in the menu below the comic book flatting and coloring menu item to find out more or simply. Ill provide you with a sample of how id like the coloring done in layers.

Comprehensive photoshop comic book coloring courses. I would rather be more interesting in the overall quality of printing on the insides. Learn how to flat pages properly like a pro flatter. Free flatting photoshop plugin for comic artists coghill. My first book remind won the xeric grant and got on the great graphic novels for teens.

This is how comic book artists work when they start flatting in color to keep the shades on the ink layer above. Change your image layers blend mode to overlay or multiply. Flatting is the first step when coloring as a comic book colorist. Apr 12, 2014 the typical comic book page is drawn on 11. All new ultimates line art by amilcar pinna all new ultimates line art by amilcar pinna with flatting. But michael mentions in the video to change the settings in photoshop so that when. Flatting is a virtually unknown but a major production step in major comics. Without special tools, this can take a long time to do.

All new ultimates line art by amilcar pinna with flatting. Mar 31, 2016 here is my first attempt to reveal all my secrets of how i color my comics. Embs copy of frazetta cave demon 1978 the mummy a portrait. Comic book colorist job description, skills and tools. But this way gives you a good result and is a good starting point for understanding the basics. Ben takes the characters he created in drawing good and evil comic book characters and adds color, subtle shading, and simple environments with photoshop. These have to be a huge productivity booster to any artist working with coloring line art in photoshop, not just comic book artists and the like. Chris sotomayor has a reputation of being the fastest color artist in the business, and has been a mainstay at marvel comics since 1996.