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Monday, April 23, 2007

Voltaic - Rough Finish


Hey Guys! I finally re-colored the pic of Voltaic. I colored over the rough pencils as this is not the final piece. I gave him a basic blue jumpsuit as a temporary costume til Caanan and I put on the finishing touches. I'm not a very good inker either but once Caanan and I finish this pic I will ink and re-color it again with his actual costume. I tried some different coloring techniques but I'm still not completely happy with what I can do. Once I re-post the final inked piece I will post both a lineart pic and a finished, colored piece. Once I have posted it, anyone who wants to color the inked image is welcomed to do so. I'm gonna try to have at least one new pic I have done every two weeks or so. The finished costume will not be blue as I have not decided exactly what colors I plan on using in the final piece. Take a gander and let me know what you think! Thanks!


Curt Combs - Szerian

3 comments:

John Rauch said...

I'm not a big fan of the FX instead of rendering approach, to be honest. Also, as strong as your white/green FX are, they don't cast much light on the figure. That would probably be the primary light source unless the guy is standing in front of a spotlight. One thing that always helps in coloring or drawing is to think big/simple first, then work your way down to the small details. In coloring, this means to start by coloring the general shape of the entire figure before you start noodling around with the individual muscles. It will help your rendering to actually imply volume instead of just looking like shading. Hope this wasn't too harsh. Images based heavily on special FX can be very hit or miss. Any time your unsure of something, dig around online for reference to see how light might actually work in that situation. It's a big help until it just becomes ingrained in you.

Szerian said...

Thanks for the crit, X! I think I understand what you mean and will try to incorporate that into the final piece. I still have to add the detail to the costume and will try to render the FX istead of using layer properties. Thanks for all your input. I trust your advice cuase I've seen what a great colorist you are! Are their any books or anything you recomend for coloring? Any resources will help. Thanks!

John Rauch said...

Honestly, I don't know if there are any good books out there or not. When I started coloring, I don't think there were any books at all, but that was a long time ago. The thing is, being a good colorist is pretty much the same thing as being a good painter. So, the kind of information you want to find would be related to color theory, traditional painting, lighting and value study, etc. Technique is really the leat important part of the equasion. You could probably find amazing or horrible color artists using nearly any technique available. Focus on the thoughts behind the techniques and just try to work with the most basic tools possible when you start and it will keep you honest. It's my personal opinion that once you learn how to color/paint with a simple brush and nothing else, you'll be more able to use the other tools in a way that enhances your work rather than detracts from it, if you choose to use them at all. Personally, I just like sticking to a brush or two to do everything with. It just feels like a more personal approach to me. But, like I said, that doesn't discredit any other techniques. They can all work out beautifully if you have the knowledge to back them up.