Comic books have been popular throughout most of the 20th century, and with Hollywood adapting countless comic books into movies, their popularity will only rise further. To make a comic book takes the collaboration of artists, writers, inkers, colorists and pencilers. It is the colorist's job to transform the black and white line art created by the artist and inker into beautiful color renditions that tell a story. When comics first came out, this was done by hand. Most modern comics are colored using a computer graphics program. The best colorists are artists in their own right with a good knowledge of color theory.
Instructions
1. Scan your black and white artwork into your computer
2. Duplicate the artwork twice. Set the bottom layer to darken 100%, and set the top layer to between 35% and 50%. The top layer should be transparent. Both of these layers will remain over all other artwork as you continue working.
3. Create a new layer and select an area of the image to color. Each area should be colored separately. Use the drawing tool you prefer, such as the wand or pen, and focus on the main color for this section.
4. Choose a highlight color and along with your main color, select them in the palette in your programs toolbar. Create a new highlight layer.
5. Select the areas of the artwork for highlighting. Using the soft-edge brush tool drop the opacity to 25%. Paint the highlights.
6. Choose a shadowing color that is slightly darker than the main color. Create a new shadow layer.
7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 for each color in the artwork. Also create a new layer for any accessories in the artwork, such as fingernails, eye color, or jewelry.
