Noob Colorist

[gigo]

ok this is really my first time trying to color something using computer tech stuff (not counting some failed attempts using other peoples work). What I wanted to do was try to color something of my own. And this time I'm going to try to learn through trial and error. I'm not going to try any pre-made conventional methods or something that I've seen others do...this time I'm just going to go on instincts. While I'm not even that good of a colorist using Fine arts mediums I'm hoping my previous knowledge of color theory and such will help pull me through.

ok here's the drawing I will be attempting to color (sorry its not anime/manga style):
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/2016/warriordisplayxc9.th.jpg (http://img124.imageshack.us/my.php?image=warriordisplayxc9.jpg)
Dont ask me what that weapon is in his hands...I just made it up..

I will be using Photoshop CS and a Wacom Tablet. The only changes I made to it were dimensions (for showing on AN Forums)/Contrast +10/And Erased some excess pencil marks and shading around the character.

Now I dont know how long this will take. Maybe an hour or two? (highly doubt it), Maybe a week (If I'm lucky), Maybe even as long as 6 months (sounds more like me)...But at any rate I will try to keep this thread up to date with my progress. Hopefully I won't slack off or play too many video games.

[Skyy Blu]

CGing can be a real ***** to learn to by yourself, but worth the effort. Good luck on the coloring and remember Ctrl A+X+V.

[gigo]

OK, lets have an update:

http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/6039/warriorscreenshot1ja2.th.jpg (http://img119.imageshack.us/my.php?image=warriorscreenshot1ja2.jpg) http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/7627/warriorscreenshot2sd9.th.jpg (http://img128.imageshack.us/my.php?image=warriorscreenshot2sd9.jpg)

Explanation:
For me, whenever I'm discussing color, the first thing to do is get an idea of what color every specific object should be made. Why? Because if I don't I won't realize whether or not my color palette will clash before I even get started (and I know that will discourage me in the future). So i decided to just go ahead and type out the objects in their corresponding colors right next to the image.

When I began to color in the image using the color descriptions on the side as a reference I found it was much easier then the swatches option. So I decided to just use the eyedropper to get the colors from the color-object descriptions I made and go directly back to the sketch.

Note: I have not yet deviated from the colors I chose for each object. There is no real "difference of tone" in any one color you see. The different values you might see in a color are coming from the opacity. I kept it constant @ 17%. When I paint something I am usually holding down the pen (from the wacom tablet) until I have filled the area. Then I go back over it with another coat and so forth. So after the second coat the resulting coat is no longer 17% opacity. It becomes 34%. I guess an easy way to say this is..if you have a translucent color and you paint over and over again with it, you will see it get darker. Now, I said all this to say: this is why I use the color-object reference I made, because I can get the original color I started with, rather than trying to use the eyedropper repeatedly on the sketch itself and get different values each time.

You might note also that all of my coloring layers are above my drawn sketch. I dont know if this is standard or not. I know I've seen some people takeout the white areas and make them transparent. I personally thought this was a painstaking task that really doesn't do much but make your drawing look like a page from a childen's coloring book. I didn't want this effect. So I kept it as is and for now I just let my dark pencil markings show through to the surface. Cause hey I like my pencil marks! :P

After finishing this first stage of just seeing how the basic colors would look, I'm noticing that I might run into a problem with the reds. They might lack the proper balance in the color palette (they could dominate). And even though I know that I will be adding more depth in color to the golds and bronzes, I fear the drawing may have too many warm colors and not enough cold. So I might put some more of that dim green inside the image.

this stage took about 2hrs

[bowaZi]

well since you're getting so technical on the coloring i thought i might jump in to help a bit

it's pretty easy to remove all the white from the image in photoshop (although i don't know if it's the same in CS)

basically you go to the channels menu and from there you simply do load channel as selection then press delete (which removes all the white), you then reverse the selection and do fill black / whatever color you want the lineart to be (i prefer a sepia tone when coloring although it really depends on what kind of picture you're going for)

* the above does not work if your lineart is set as the canvas / background layer, do a layer copy and make sure the pixels aren't locked in the copied layer *

true it does give it a coloring book kind of feel but it does help you finish quicker . what i do is that i color underneath so i can do the base colors and shading quikly then i flatten the entire drawing into 1 layer and finish up

but then again i use corel painter (i like their brushes more than photoshop)

there's also a way to color on top of the lineart without messing up the lines, basically you just make a layer on top of the lineart and go to the layer's options (it's usually right under the layers tab with the default setting of 'normal') and then change it to multiply, if you color this way then if your lineart isn't black when you color over the lines it will change the hue slightly (which could be helpfull depending on your style)

* you can also set the lineart layer to 'multiply' and color underneath, it's interchangeable and there's barely any difference *

using any of the 2 methods will let you use 100% opacity and not mess up the lines (which really helps) and if you're using a tablet then you can set the pressure and color of the brush to use the stylus (when you use a brush/airbrush there should be a box in the upper right that will let you change the brush/airbrush settings) i find that this helps me to shade in photoshop

[gigo]

hmm well the reason I want the lines in is not because its simply to painstaking to take out...its because they play a big role in shade and color placement. It lets me know without even thinking that there is a shade change in a certain area. Plus, why take them out when I know eventually I will just saturate enough color over it to the point that won't be visible anyhow. As a fine artist I'm used to seeing a solid background color as well, the transparency blocks would just be annoying. Also the reason I do not want 100% opacity is because this restricts color mixing, which I want to do a lot of in this work.

*note: I'm just coloring the character...not making a background on this run.

nice deviantart stuff by the way.

[spookyruthy]

*applauds* Well done for doing colouring! I know it's tough starting out - I've only just started too! Maybe we can share tips and the like?

[Shiroiyuki]

* you can also set the lineart layer to 'multiply' and color underneath, it's interchangeable and there's barely any difference *

using any of the 2 methods will let you use 100% opacity and not mess up the lines (which really helps) and if you're using a tablet then you can set the pressure and color of the brush to use the stylus (when you use a brush/airbrush there should be a box in the upper right that will let you change the brush/airbrush settings) i find that this helps me to shade in photoshop
I usually change the layer option to 'Linear burn' because it makes the lines more apparent. *Shrugs*, but I'm still pretty much a Photoshop-coloring newbie haha.

[bowaZi]

to get rid of the transparency blocks just make a new layer and do 'set layer as background'

i usually do this and change the color of the layer to make it off-white, some kind of neutral color to help with coloring

well if you're trying to color it such that the lines are no longer visible then yeah do the 1 layer thing

if you are going for the no lines route then might i suggest a little more contrast with the color choices ? right now it's pretty yellow, maybe a touch of red to the skin

btw shiroyuki i set my layer as multiply because i use a different method to darken my lines, if your lines are too light when they scan in there's some other options you might want to try such as :

image -> adjust -> levels (what i use)
image -> adjust -> brightness / contrast (if it's blurry or just too dark overall)
image -> adjust -> equalize (i rarely use this)

well anyway good luck with your coloring, i'm starting to ramble