Coloring the Dark Magician : Part 1

Hey yall !! This isn't exactly a coloring tutorial, but i thought some of you might like to see how i color my work, so i chose my "Dark magic Attack" work for you guys !







Step 1 : Scan that sucker !


You might not think this is part of the coloring process, but it's important. After you've finished your line art (which i might do another post like this for in the future ), having a good clean scanner and a fresh paper on which your line art is that's not bent or dirty will me the coloring process much easier.

Step 2 : Clear that sucker up digitally !


Now i don't think every artist does this process, because it's not entirely necessary, especially if you've either inked your work or think that your lines are strong enough already. I don't most of the time, so i open up my handy picture editor (i use a software called Photo Suite ), adjust the constrast and VOILA !! cleaner looking line art !

Step 3 : a dash of color !

I use Open Canvas to color my work, the really old one though. You can get it for free here http://wistinga.online.fr/opencanvas/, you have to pay for newer (and i presume better ) versions of open canvas. Anyway, back to what i'm supposed to say here. (lol)

If you know what colors you want to use, that's already a good step in the right direction. Ctrl + Z is your friend, don't forget to use it when you make mistakes or want to experiment on what colors might look better for you.

Open canvas works with layers, so don't forget to open up a new one every time you want to tackle another phase of the coloring process. By the way, you should always divide your layers in different phases. I do the skin first, then hair & clothes, extra ( if there is another extra piece that's not human, like an object or item, for example my dark magician's staff here) and i always do backgrounds last.

Step 4 : Let there be light !

This is important and should be thought about as soon as you finish the line art. I'm talking of course about the the light in effects and shading. Now I don't know about you guys, but i can be pretty lazy sometimes , so upon experementing with open canvas i found an easy way to do it, and that my friend is the art of layer copying ! Layers are the key to my coloring style. But i won't go into detail... i've said to much...

hehehe, Part 2 will be for another time. Bye Bye for now !!