How do you color?

[-]

Seeing as I am clueless, and I think it would be a nifty idea, I'd like to know how everyone colors.  Tutorials with word instuctions are greatly appreciated.

[spanio]

I do my coloring digitally. And I only color what I've also inked digitally.   I do all of this in Photoshop.  
First, I scan in my pencil drawing, which usually looks terrible, and full of smudges and stuff.  Then, I create a new layer.  I use the pen tool to carefully outline my pencil lines.  Making sure that my paintbrush is set to the appropriate size, I right click on my pen lines and select "stroke path."  This creates my line art.  Next, I create a layer between the line art and the pencil work, and fill it completely with white.  Then I create a layer just about that one for the colors.  I select the fill tool, setting tolerance to 150 and checking off the "all layers" box, and fill in the colors.  Usually, I just add a quick background and leave the drawing alone at that, without bothing to add any kind of shading.  If I wanted to do shading though, here's how I'd do it.  I create yet another layer above the color one, and hold alt and click between the two layers on the layer window.  This prevents anything I add from straying from the spots where the color is.  So I won't accidentally shade the white area.  I use the pen tool to lay out where the shadows go, and fill those paths with solid black.  Then, after adding all of that, I adjust the opacity on the shadows laver till it looks how I want it.  Generally, around 14%.  And there you go.  The magic and mystery of my talents in now gone forever.

[Destichado]

that actualy sounds much more inteligent than what I do -which is the artistic equivalent of bludegoning.  

it involves the use of fill colors, LOTS of eraser time, and occaional use of the burn tool if I feel like shading.  Normaly I don't.

[Mokenda]

I use colored pencils, I don't have the software right now to do much else    The only thing is, ocassionally, my computer gives, and lets me use Photoshop 5.0 (see how behind I am?) but it's really rare u_u

[Ollie]

whoa, pretty broad question there.

before I begin, I need to state that I use a WACOM graphire3 tablet for all digital work; none of it is done with a mouse.

awright, then. For digital coloring:

Photoshop:
If I am using a pre-drawn lineart, I first clean it up [if necessary], then set the lineart layer to "multiply", and add new clear layers beneath it to color.

There's 2 things that need to be stated here, because of what I'm aiming for in the picture - realistic or more cartoonish.

when I want to shade more realisticly or smoothly, I do not ever use dodge or burn, and if I actually do, it's very rarely. I much prefer picking out colors seperately on the palette and testing them if they make good shadows/highlights [choose a color close to the base one]. Dodge/burn is much more limiting and you have to be a lot more careful with it. But that's more general. Anyway.
After I lay the flats down, I proceed to pick out a new color, then lower the brush opacity to somewhere around 10% [changing it and the brush size now and then depending on what I want to do], then proceed to color. Opacity is a very nifty feature, since you can color very lightly then more dark as you add more strokes   I can't really describe how I work from here on out, except I keep layering it as it gets darker/lighter until I reach something I'm satisfied with.

When I want to shade more cartoonish [cel-shading], I just lay down the flats, then on a layer directly beneath the lineart but above any color layers, I set the new layer to "multiply", pick a shade of grey, and color over the parts that I want shaded. Very easy, doesn't take nearly as long as the first.

OpenCanvas:
Mostly leaning to the 'realistic' stuff, but can also be used for cel-shading [but cel-shading is easier for me to do in Photoshop]; blending is very easy here so long as I don't press hard with the pen [don't know about mouse use]. Since I use a very simple version of the program, very very little can be done with layers and filters, so it's always done entirely by hand.

for traditional coloring:

'traditional art' is art made with the use of markers, colored pencils, regular pencils, ink, charcoal, etc. for those not familiar with the term

Markers: I use Prismacolor markers. Good markers, buy them if you have talent and can afford them.

Since you have to work quickly with Prismas [it needs to be still fairly 'fresh' to blend well], I don't do realistic shading with them. I lay down the flat colors as fast as possible [so there aren't any streaks], give it a minute to dry, then using the same marker color where I want shading [unless I already used a grey marker before putting the actual colors down].
Same with when I want patterns on clothes, I usually keep the cloth and pattern the same color so when the base dries, I can add the pattern.
Lighter parts are either done with this Sakura opaque white ink pen, or with a white prismacolor colored pencil.

Or I just avoid coloring in the parts that I want to look light and use a lighter but similar color, or none at all. :p

Colored Pencil:
I prefer using more realistic shading for this. Just pick out a color, and press lighter where you want it lighter. There's a much more time-consuming but better-looking-result way where you take one color and, without changing the pressure of the pencil on the paper, keep coloring over specific areas until it looks the way you want it to.


I have no idea how to describe how I mix my colored pencils and markers together, so I'll end it here.

[Akero Leafrunner]

I use Photoshop 5.0 Limited Edition for digital coloring. Yeah, it's an older version, but whatever works, works, right?

I use Grand Artist Series colored pencils that I got for Christmas in my traditional coloring, and I use these pens that are similar to Microns, possibly only different because they aren't brand name.

Digital -

First, I'll scan in my picture, put it in photoshop, then proceed to create a lineart layer. I trace over my original sketch with the brush tool, and then create a new layer over the sketch and under the lineart.

On this new layer, I select the color that is going to be used the most on one of the characters (assuming I have more than one), then fill in the areas with that color in it.  I create -several- more layers, one for each color on the character. Sometimes, I put more than one color to a layer if they are rather far apart. I use the brush tool with a large size to do this, and I often have to erase alot, so I need the multiple layers to make it cleaner. At  the end, I merge the color layers.

I repeat this process for each character.

After this is done, I create a single, maybe a couple layers for shading.  I use a custom color pallete to shade in the characters. However, after seeing the previously mentioned transparent grey technique for shading, and then testing it out, I am definately swapping that for the grey.

Traditional -
I take the sketch, trace over it with the Micron-alikes, erase the sketch, take my pencils, color it in, and then go over certain places for shading. Simple, but I don't think it's all that effective. ^^;;

[Tane Shukumei]

Well, I've been useing some of the latest versions of Photoshop.  This is a really cool trick of cleaning and darkening sketches that I found online.  It is especially helpful when you don't have a tablet.

1. Make a rough sketch in a light blue pencil. You know, one of those pencils that animators use.

2. Go over in a really dark pencil (I use a 3B, but darker is better) and make it as clean as possible, and try not to smudge it.

3. Scan your image.

4. Now you need to get rid of them blue lines... Next to the layers tab there should be a tab that shows the colors: RGB.  Delete all but one of the colors until the blue disappears (use trial and error).

5. Select Auto-Contrast.  If you want to make it more clean you can also use the filter Photocopy.

6. Use the brush and eraser tools to clean up any extra spots or fix boken, faded lines.

As for color, change the color scheme to grayscale, then back to RGB. After that, create a new layer and start filling or freehand the color in.

[Delfina]

i just -DON'T- color. i can't, my hands are too shakey to keep color where it should be. ^_^;

I was going to get a tablet for x-mas, but i told my mom i didn't really -need- it. and i didn't, i dont like color. I like black n' white

<3

[Tane Shukumei]

i just -DON'T- color. i can't, my hands are too shakey to keep color where it should be. ^_^;

I was going to get a tablet for x-mas, but i told my mom i didn't really -need- it. and i didn't, i dont like color. I like black n' white

<3

You're right, I like drawing B&W alot, too.  All you have to worry about is light and dark.  With color, you have to worry about contrast, shades, and tones, and mood.  Mood is apart of any picture, except with color it is more complicated.  Every color's tone, contrast and shading expresses different moods.  Unlike color, in B&W all there is is light and dark to describe mood.