[Magpie]

Hey people,

Just back after a ton of work and the holidays, and all of that. I just wanted to post a recent page I did for Steampunk #7 for all who are interested in comic color.



for higher rez: http://www.anticz.com/images/OtherWeirdness/SteamPunk7.jpg

Comments and critiques(constructive) are always welcome, and I thank Chris Bachalo for letting me post as usual.

P.S. I totally forgot to thank Mike Brown(ANTICZ) for havin' my stuff clutter up his drive!
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Magpie

[This message has been edited by Magpie (edited January 22, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Magpie (edited January 22, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Magpie (edited January 22, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Magpie (edited January 22, 2001).]

[Bizarde]

Wow, that's cool.
(i don't think the link is to "higher rez" )

~bizarde

[Seraphire]

Just drop the "sm" of the link.

That's pretty good, magpie.

I like the movement through the panels.

The fire looks great.

I think Cole disappears into the fire too much in the final panel. Perhaps reducing yellow on Cole, to increase the contrast between him and the fire.

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The Groove is in the Heart!

Seraphire
Michael Jon Birkhofer
Seraphire's Cafe/[URL=http://www.ozn.com.au/affiliates/digitalevolution/[/URL]

[CapnPyro]

lookin good, your a professional colorist, right?

high res = http://www.anticz.com/images/OtherWeirdness/SteamPunk7.jpg

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http://home1.gte.net/capnpyro

[TheMilkMan]

Looks good magpie

[Magpie]

quote:

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Originally posted by CapnPyro:
lookin good, your a professional colorist, right?

high res = http://www.anticz.com/images/OtherWeirdness/SteamPunk7.jpg

---

Yes. I color stuff on the side when I'm not working on videogames. I love both, so I try to do both at the same time.(no rest for the wicked) I'm currently doing steampunk, but I worked for Wildstorm ages ago(god 4 years ago) and I work on comics with a san diego cast of characters who are all mostly former Image/DC comics people, and darn good freinds.



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Magpie

[McSteed]

Sometimes you make me wanna cry Magpie. You turn such cluttered line work into a golden something or other that radiates a sort of . . . something. Its plenty neat. That's for sure. That's what I'm saying. Yeah.

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Chris the Great
www.mcsteed.com

[Chapel]

I envy you Magpie. Video games and comics. You make me mad.

Is your name in any of the credits in that book? And can you pass me some pages to color for my portfolio? I'm finding it really hard to find pages at 300 dpi.

[Rinaldo]

very nice

Can I ask you how many pages you manage to put out per month on top of your full time job?

[Magpie]

quote:

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Originally posted by Rinaldo:
very nice

Can I ask you how many pages you manage to put out per month on top of your full time job?

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Depends on my work schedule. Usually about 1 a day if it's a work day, and 3 or 4 if it's a weekend. That's Steampunk pages, not something more simple. If I do other more simple work I could double that. I do work some killer hrs here at presto though, so sometimes sleep goes bye bye, but seeing work finished and on the shelves is a really cool motivator.

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Magpie

[Rinaldo]

That's pretty fast

if you can be bothered a few more Qs- I was wondering if you flat your own pages or is that time just on the rendering? I'm interested becase I want to do both as well and I'm wondering how feasible it is. (as it stands I think I need to get a LOT faster (not to mention a lot better, looking at the quality of your stuff).
do you think you could give an average time for a page. something like this one?

anyway, thanks=)

[mykscholze]

Nice work....finish the story and post the rest!

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| | Michael Scholze | |

[Magpie]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rinaldo:
That's pretty fast

if you can be bothered a few more Qs- I was wondering if you flat your own pages or is that time just on the rendering? I'm interested becase I want to do both as well and I'm wondering how feasible it is. (as it stands I think I need to get a LOT faster (not to mention a lot better, looking at the quality of your stuff).
do you think you could give an average time for a page. something like this one?

anyway, thanks=)

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Rinaldo,

Well, since this issue landed right during the holidays, I didn't have access to flatters because of vacations and such, and I think some of them are colorists now, and sometimes Chris' pages can deter flatters, so as a concequence I flatted all but 4 of the pages. which most colorists might think is a little crazy.

But you do what you gotta do.

So, to answer your question, you can do both. The upside to flatting your own work is that you can use colors that are ready for the final piece, and you don't ever have to worry about getting work back on time from someone else.

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Magpie

[A]

Magpie;
First up, your work kicks arse. Top job on Steam Punk there!

Second, you mention that you work in games and comics. This seems to a lot of people to be a dream come true. I had a dream like that once, but after several years in games, and after watching my brother (an illustrator of no small talent) nearly starve for lack of payment on work, my spirit was crushed. Do you think the work (especially the comics) stuff is worth it in the end? I guess I'm asking because I've had ideas for a long time of putting together a comic, but every time I start, I stall as I realise just how much work is involved for such small returns......

Love to hear your opinion on that; it's a huge privelige to be able to quizz artists of such calibre on this forum!

Cheers, A.

[Seraphire]

One a day on top of your full time job and 3-4 on weekends! Wow, that just makes me look bad. Maybe I should spend less time on these boards... Must work harder...



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The Groove is in the Heart!

Seraphire
Michael Jon Birkhofer
Seraphire's Cafe/[URL=http://www.ozn.com.au/affiliates/digitalevolution/[/URL]

[Magpie]

quote:

---

Originally posted by A:
Magpie;
First up, your work kicks arse. Top job on Steam Punk there!

Second, you mention that you work in games and comics. This seems to a lot of people to be a dream come true. I had a dream like that once, but after several years in games, and after watching my brother (an illustrator of no small talent) nearly starve for lack of payment on work, my spirit was crushed. Do you think the work (especially the comics) stuff is worth it in the end? I guess I'm asking because I've had ideas for a long time of putting together a comic, but every time I start, I stall as I realise just how much work is involved for such small returns......

Love to hear your opinion on that; it's a huge privelige to be able to quizz artists of such calibre on this forum!

Cheers, A.

---

Well, that's sort of a tough question.

It was worth it to me to enter comics, 'cause I wasn't doing anything with my art at the time. I could've done something else, but I did go to school to be in the art field, and I figured if I didn't pursue SOMETHING in the arts, then I wasted my time. I can't mince words about this though, for most this is a tough and very unpredictable gig. With the exception of the phenominal artists(which I am clearly not)security is not a guarantee. Entertainment in general is a volitile market to be a part of and you're usually only as popular as your last product. Yes you could RULE at something and not be successful. That is a risk, but there are a lot of factors involved in entering the art field. The 2 that I could mention would be diligence, and constant improvement. Always keep working at it, even if your not working in it. Ultimately if you love this stuff, you'd do it for yourself. As far as putting together a comic, it's a lot of work to do a "professional" quality comic book. There are either freelance artists, or entire companies who do every facet of production. So I'd recommend if you wanted to do something all by yourself that you either take your time and treat it as an outside endeavor to your "real" life, or just concentrate on one aspect of it and get really good at it, you may have a little more luck breaking in that way. And try to keep things simple!



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Magpie

[Cuddly]

Um, Chapel,

followed the link and checked out the flatting tutorial - thanks!

I'd never heard of flatting before and I think this goes back to what you were telling me about filling in the blocks of color first before going in detail with the special rendering, highlights and effects. Thanks again!

Do all professional colorists work this way? Flatting first and then detailed rendering?

[Chapel]

You mean most colorists don't flat their pages? Do the people that just flat have other responsibilities to?


Rin: I thought I showed you this. It is a tutorial on flats. http://www.island.net/~shadgrap/flat1.html

[Chapel]

cuddly: Yes, unless they are working from color guides then they may do it differently. In either case all the colors are laid down before the detailed rendering starts.

[Sweeney]

Great Job Magpie! Or should I say James....

I can�t wait to pick up a copy and check you finished work out in print when this book comes out.

Cuddly, Chapel, when it comes to coloring pages, flatting is always done first, even if they're using guides.

Having flatted pages for books for Image, Marvel and DC, I can tell you why flatting is done first, even if the pages have guides.

First, and foremost, it speeds things up for the colorist. Most colorists wouldn�t be able to get nearly as much work done if they flatted everything themselves, which is why most hire people to flat pages for them.

Second, It allows them to set color schemes quickly for a page using the Bucket Tool in photoshop. A flatter may throw colors on, but it�s the colorists� job to decide what the mood is, and what colors he or she wants dominant on the page.

Third, they make a grayscale copy of the color flats and copy them to an alpha channel. They do this to reselect areas they�ve colored to make changes, adjust colors etc. This way they never have to reselect an area manually, using the lasso tool.

As for a flatters other responsibilities - Just to flat the page as quickly, and accurately as possible (i.e. no stray pixels, or �running the crayon outside the lines� so to speak), and get the flatted pages back ASAP.

How do I know this? Because I wrote that Tutorial on Flatting.

I flat pages on the side for several colorists while working on my own coloring portfolio.

[lostpapers]

Wow! this forum page is a real treasure.

First I really love the work of Bachalo and second the coloring job is a must! Good job. I really like what I see.

Also I really appresiated the flatting tutorial! I think it will make my life easier in the future colorisations I'll do!

[Chapel]

sweeney: I'm Brian Reber aka Kaiju from the comiccolors.com board. I just didn't want to tell cuddly that everyone flats first. I imagine there might be someone out there that does it in parts or has some weird twisted process. I for one don't use channels. My methods for coloring are slightly different than most though. Hey I have 4 pages that need flats.. think you could do them for me? hehe

[Magpie]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sweeney:
Great Job Magpie! Or should I say James....

I can�t wait to pick up a copy and check you finished work out in print when this book comes out.

Cuddly, Chapel, when it comes to coloring pages, flatting is always done first, even if they're using guides.

Having flatted pages for books for Image, Marvel and DC, I can tell you why flatting is done first, even if the pages have guides.

First, and foremost, it speeds things up for the colorist. Most colorists wouldn�t be able to get nearly as much work done if they flatted everything themselves, which is why most hire people to flat pages for them.

Second, It allows them to set color schemes quickly for a page using the Bucket Tool in photoshop. A flatter may throw colors on, but it�s the colorists� job to decide what the mood is, and what colors he or she wants dominant on the page.

Third, they make a grayscale copy of the color flats and copy them to an alpha channel. They do this to reselect areas they�ve colored to make changes, adjust colors etc. This way they never have to reselect an area manually, using the lasso tool.

As for a flatters other responsibilities - Just to flat the page as quickly, and accurately as possible (i.e. no stray pixels, or �running the crayon outside the lines� so to speak), and get the flatted pages back ASAP.

How do I know this? Because I wrote that Tutorial on Flatting.

I flat pages on the side for several colorists while working on my own coloring portfolio.

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Gahhhh! You blew my cover Sweeny! (just kiddin')

Thanks for the comments, and thanks to everyone else who's come on this thread with things to say about coloring and flatting. I hope to post more stuff, 3D, illustrated, and otherwise as time moves along and work permits.

This forum is pretty cool, lots can be learned if you really want to.




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Magpie

[Sweeney]

Sorry about that...at 2 a.m. cranial neurons are no longer firing in sequence... just anomalous little brainfarts popping off in random fashion.

Eventually, I'll be adding more tips and tricks to the flatting tutorial.

Chapel, I can flat pages for you, but I'd have to charge you for them.

But it's only an arm OR a leg, not both...But I get to pick which...he.he.heh..

[Dean Welsh]

James: Can't wait to see more dude. Good to have you here.

Sweeny:Great Tute you did there.

-Dean

[Freddio]

good work *James*

[Chapel]

Sweeney: I need my arms... otherwise I have to tape down the paper and becomes a pain to remove with just your mouth. Do you have pages already flattened that I could use maybe?

[This message has been edited by Chapel (edited January 26, 2001).]