Table Of Content

Copyright © 2004 by BC Cons A Bee eseees afl eters bch ct OC Gor, SerorAeiian Er Candace uray as or aequelre Chg fredicten Marege: Hosar Cartel ‘oj arner sr Dsign: Kop Ne Fa pubes in 2004 by Wasor-Sup lubes, eds ot YNU Binet: Mt, be 776 Sronnoy, New Yok, NY 10008 ew gph brary of Congress Cotto Hirao, Mork. ‘The DE Comies gud to coloring and leering comics! by Mark Chi Introduetion by Jim Strano. Prem pated le: ISBN 0-8290-1030:9 1 Comic books, sips of-Tochrig ilo and Tol Klein; 2. Certooning-oehnique. 3. Letoring-Teehniqu Klein, Todd. DC Comes, ne I Tie Nc1769.ca9a 2006 yan.s-de2 004000753 Petpet) si yb pretend conc a) fee Ey ap eet ‘lecronc, machoneal feuding areoeepying, cena, 00.95. otomaton rags en rial stone shou rion porns oka publi Cine eee Thoda the Untod Sate of Aran Fat priming, 2004 # 125.4567 89 / 1007 68 G7 06 05.04 Ho Cathy, ry fn Mak To the many fine lesoves Ive kt foe putin 1, wotked with, aad learned “om: and Wo my wife Ellen, x long hours inthe tudo, Ton Klei CONTEN Introduction by lim Sterance PART ONE: COLOR NG ONE © What is Coloring? TWO © The Principles of Color THREE * Storytelling with C PART TWO: THE COMPUTER AS A COLORING TOOL FOUR © Computers and Comic Book Coloring FIVE © Getting Started with Coloring SIX + An In-Depth Look ot Applying Color SEVEN © Coloring Style EIGHT * The Traps cf Computer Coloring NINE + From Computer to Printed Poge TEN © Showing Your Work PART THREE LETTERING ELEVEN © Lettering TWELYE * Tools and Materials THIRTEEN * Getting S FOURTEEN « FIFTEEN © Display Lettering and Sound Effects SIXTEEN * Other Elements on the Page ed with Lettering ‘ext and Balloons etterin SEVENTEEN * Advanced Techniques EIGHTEEN * Logo Design PART FOUR: COMFUTER LETTER N NINETEEN * Hardware and Software TWENTY © Fonts and Type TWENTY-ONE © Using Illustrator TWENTY-TWO * Work ng with Ari and Scons TWENTY-THREE * Working with Co or TWENTY-FOUR * The Final Produc ndex INTRODUCTION AWAKENED AESTHETIC: THE POWER OF COLOR Inthe process that begins with a blank sheet of paper, the Ac of Coloeing Comics can be the nut fa sine being pad for & Crayola habit or the mest Fasting (hay= ing your peers refer to you as the Fuekson Pollock of Comics). The act of selecting colors and integrating them within a panel frame requires skill iilar to tat of paint- Jng-—except the image is aleady there So. what's the big desl?” Move tha you ieaize Early “craftsmen” painted men's suts green and orange (so readers could eas ily keep tack of characers), never dreaming that color coulé be used fo Help build rnamtive sequences, shill attention from one panel © another, punch yp deamat beats, generate atmosphere, create compositional bilaee, define emosons, Heighten suspense and mystery, suggest Neat ané cold and desolation, even articulate flash- backs. Consequently, the icons wha shouléeced the comics universe for generations failec te embrace une ofthe most effective wespons ava lable in thet Timited gee ph- jc arsenal: color I you doubt it, lok at almost any eomie published before 1985, apply the ideological concepts witir these pages. and youll discover, more oft than not thst color was simply another aspect ofthe assembly-Line mentality that defined the madi- ‘uma ayant eeusent wsnte ly Unoxe who simply lscked the vision ake, ‘courage to expaad comics” dimensions beyond the stereotypical form it had become. "Two reasons: the fist is that (with the exception of comic-strp eretoss who colored their ova mateil) the work was relegated to non-atits afew of whom ‘might qalify a erafisnen, The secon is dat page rates wete anita; eoiss om salary ha to produce tenor more pages in an average workday (those with auchentic artiste ability soon Fecame perciller or inkers), Instead of be:ng provocative and inspirational, the result was often rushed, isp, undramati, confusing, or absurd — and fled to enhance the storytelling process, whith isthe hear ef the comes form. Instead of serving the material, it often did the opposite. Believe it or na, eo ‘ring was frequently let ze she printer! While it might seem sacrilegious to state, few; if ary, artists and editors eon sieered coloring as important as words and pictures, never yuite understarding that ood olor ean make a bad image appealing and tht had calor eam deste \linaryiniage, Forunately, thei rviliation began 1 disipate,primatily due 70 the self-conscious concerns of a new weve of ereors who muscled the old gaurd out of leis complacent niches ‘When digital cole materialized in the 'Ms, he option of coloring was trast Jno ereaors? hands though not every srsator san color}. Mocs importantly, the process vats transformed by the possibility uilizing millions colors (previously only a few dozen were available) and a spectrum of vole and precise special FX Predictably, the new weapon was abuses much as it was used with inteprity new ertheless, it caused color w become an equal slement in comics’ artistic equation (and ‘one so portant dt Ive etrisened the pero fram 19NS co the present The Pigital Age of Comics.) ‘While much has hoon published shout writing and drawing, the dynamics of coloring and lotering have been essentially ignored. Fortunately his volurse resolves hat oversight Authordartivilesigner Mark Chiarello has demonstrated his mastery of color in every medium from paint 0 Photoshop, and his expressive models here are designed to aise the seststic consciousness af thone who read comics snd those who create hem, amateurs and experts, fans ard prs ake. Within these pages, he reveals the secrets of his at fn the prototypical hasies othe explicitly experimental, from creating coherent, cramatic color © the inticacies of its psychological use and beyond, CCaltgraphie wizerd Todd Klein minors the achievement wth his overviow ‘on maiters typographic, demonstrating tht he Art of Lettering can be no less el Jenging shan the omer aspoets which invalve the puzzle of producing. supevior comet a seule cllahoration betwen the ay, the heat, al the imagination, STERANKO Taravghout the history of comic books, coloring was never considered very’ important, It was always a rushed, last minute pat of the ereative process, and very rarely thought of at creative, ‘Well, sims change, Coloring is naw considered hy many te as important to comic Books as any cher espect of tie exeative process. Without a good colorist, che visual pune and appeal of a ‘comic book isin jeopatdy ‘We've all seen dozens of examples of mediocre art jobs that were “saved” by great coloring pbs, Where mood, dimension, aspth, and atmosphere are ahsent inthe pereils and inks, «alent ed colorist ean supply all of those life-giving elements. Conversely, we've seen H-st-rate artwork suined by uninspired. back coloring. Finely rendered aud inked comies ave been deflated too many’ times by coloring that was Blan er gash, ‘The goa! of an affective colorist isthe same £8 that ef every ether creator working on a ccomie: to tell a ear and exgaging stery. Many skills eontibute to this objective, .neluding being able to set niood, flow a story dough different scenes. and support the dramatic inensions of the seriter and sti, ‘The first part of ths book deals with the complex aesthetic question: “How do T choose colers?” The answer can be inezed:bly simple or ridiculously complex. The secoad pat tikes aut in-depth lock atthe computer and the remarkable role it has played ia the att of eoloring comic books.