Red Hulk Colors

[Brener]

I attempted some coloring on Red Hulk

Pencils: Ed McGuiness
Inks: Dexter Vines
Colors: Me

Any crits would be greatly appreciated. Something tells me that all that money for Art School went down the drain. Lol.

[Stinsman]

First thing I'd say would be to stay away from the airbrush. It's a bit "old school" in terms of computer comic coloring. If you can't create your own texture brushes, PS has plenty to choose from and mess with. Pick a nice texture brush and mess with it's Opacity and Flow settings to create some nice painterly effects. It takes some getting used to, but it'll soon become second nature.

I would also suggest taking your time to pay more attention to the fine details of the individual artist's style. See where you can detail your colors out in certain areas to compliments his style. Ed has nice bold, open areas in his art, complimented by fine details here and there. You can follow suit by taking more time with the detailed areas such as the face and hands and veins.

I don't have anywhere near the talent or knowledge of most of the other people here, so I'm sure you'll get plenty of other and better critiques...

[Ross Hughes]

Well, let me be the first to disagree with the "stay away from the airbrush" statement. That's a matter of personal taste and the style you choose. Yes, PS offers limitless choices as far as custom brushes go (and they should be experimented with liberally ), but the airbrush is still a useful tool. I think this picture suffers from nearly everything having such soft edges. Vary it up a bit, and it would look much more natural.

I think where you went wrong here is not picking a lightsource and sticking with it. Your highlights are all over the place. Choose a direction for the light, and keep it consistent. Think about which parts of the body would be highlighted, and which would be in shadow, then render the forms accordingly.

Also, it looks like you're using the dodge and burn tools to render. I'm not going to tell you to stay away from them, because they have their place, but rendering with them isn't the best way to go. Using your brush settings, and color choices, you can achieve a much better end result than using the dodge and burn tools.


Anyone else think Hulk's leg looks funny? He looks like he's got super skinny calves.

[Laura]

Ross pretty much covers it. The airbrush tool isn't the problem; it's how you used it. Everything's just sort of "mushy" -- no real shape definition. Take it further, commit more, get in there and do the detail work that'll really bring out the musculature and create the form.

When dealing with a big form like this, the first step is to determine the light source. Where's the light coming from? Where are the shadows? Judging by the crosshatching under the muscles, it looks like the light is coming from above and slightly to the right. That means that the light will hit on the top right area of the body -- and of each muscle -- and fade to shadow at the bottom, and slightly to the left.

The image below gives some direction. The yellow arrows indicate the direction of light hitting the form; the blue arrows indicate the shadows. The green swoopy lines indicate the strength of the light -- the light will hit the top of the arm or chest first, then fade down the length of the body. I just indicated the major body shapes (head, neck, arms, chest) with the green arrows because those are the most obvious major shapes.



When breaking down a large form like this, work from large to small. Tackle the big shapes first -- the whole arm, the whole torso -- then work your way down to each muscle, and the small details. In this next image, I brightened up the red first, then began airbrushing in the shadows with a very large brush and low to medium opacity. This blends things nicely. Notice how I'm not getting too nitpicky with details yet; all I'm doing is establishing the overall, general light source.



Next, I'll choose a lighter red, and start working a little smaller. (Odd -- I must've set this file to a different color preview. Well, you get the idea.) Instead of doing the whole arm, I'll work on just the shoulder, then just the bicep, then just the forearm. I'm not yet picking out individual shoulder muscles, though -- not yet. I may go back and re-shape some of the shadows at this point as well.



Now, and ONLY now, are we ready to do the detail work. I'm still keeping the direction and strength of the light in mind -- always remember where your light source is, and keep it consistent! -- I'll start working on each individual muscle and vein. I've chosen a slightly harder-edged airbrush to bring in some details inside the muscle forms (I used a brush set to 20% hardness). Even though I'm doing detail work now, I'm still making sure that the highlights are brightest at the top right of the muscle, and the shadows are darkest at the bottom left of the muscle. I'll also bring in some cast shadows, such as under the nose and brow, and where the chest casts a shadow onto the left arm. These help to really define the shape and indicate the strength of the light. I put a little palette in the bottom left corner to show you the four reds I used on Hulk's figure.



This line art is so open and forgiving, that you could do a million different things with Hulk here. How would you approach this if Hulk were in a thunderstorm? Or a sunset? How do you alter your palette, and how do you treat the lighting differently? Think about these things too.

Hope this helps!

-- Laura

[Brian Frey ~ halfmoth]

I just dragged off all those step-by-steppings!

[Brener]

Hi everyone!

I want to thank all of you so much for your crits. I will be working hard to identify the weaknesses in my coloring work, and take all of your suggestions to heart while working. I greatly appreciate the crits and advice from all of you.

On a personal note, to have the GREAT Laura Martin critiquing my work is awesome! Not that I don't appreciate everyone's comments but I have been a MAJOR fan of Laura's work on Astonishing X-Men!

Thanks again, everyone!


-Brener

[sherkon]

nice tutorial Laura. I'll be studying your tips myself.

[jason_maranto]

Yeah dude you seriously lucked out -- those types of paintovers don't come often... everybody should take notes and copy the files to their hard drives. I know there are some paintovers I wished I still had.

Best,
Jason.

[Stinsman]

See! I told ya the airbrush is a great tool!

[Brener]

To Jason-

Yeah, I have been a lurker on this board for about two years, and I know it's incredibly rare to get such an in-depth crit from a pro like the one Laura gave me.

I've called every comic-nerd friend I have to let them know! Lol.


-Brener

[Vanessa]

Laura does the best tuts and paintovers cause they're so indepth and ridiculously helpful to people just learning. She doesn't have to do them, but I'm quite grateful that she does!

[jeaf7]

WOW...awsome tutorial. Cant get any better than a pro dropping tips....I shall give Laura a ice cream..

[patbollin]

Wow! I've just discovered this board, and ran into this awesome tut. I always wondered what ever happened to the "Color Artists Unite" boards. I guess this is where it went. Thanks Laura!

[Sensory Overlord]

There's yer problem right there if you were looking for it. It was Comic Colorists Unite, or CCU to those of us who've been around for too long (yes even us long-term lurkers) and then at some point ComicColors.com, if I recall. Now you've found it remember to keep it a secret. Not for any good reason, but I'm just able to keep up with the post load now, and I'm a selfish lurker.

[Zombie Dave McCaig]

Actually, we more or less absorbed CCU.