Colorist
In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is most often done using digital media, with printing separations produced electronically.
Although most American colorists work directly for comics publishers (either as
History
Originally, comics were colored by cutting out films of various densities in the appropriate shapes to be used in producing
More recently, colorists have worked in transparent media such as watercolors or airbrush, which is then photographed, allowing more subtle and painterly effects.
Digital color
Colorist
By the early 1990s, even though the larger comics publishers were using computers, there were variations within the field. DC Comics allowed only a 64-color palette, while Marvel had expanded it to 125 colors. Dark Horse Comics allowed even more variations.[1] The dominant programs in use during that time were Color Prep and Tint Prep, both originally implemented by Olyoptics. This software was invented and written by "Pixel Craft", the first company to create software that used a personal computer that could output files for a digital image setter to make negatives for color printing. Pixel craft was a small company in Long Island, New York, created by Kenneth Giordano and Khouri Giordano. The father and son team went on to accomplish many first in the computerization of color print.[1] In 1993, Image Comics' use of computer color and more advanced color separation technology propelled DC and Marvel to further upgrade their coloring techniques. Finally, in the mid-1990s, Digital Chameleon's facility with Adobe Photoshop helped make that program the industry standard.[1]
The improvements in the technology used for coloring have had a great impact on the way comics are drawn. Before the use of computers, artists would often use the pen or brush to put in detailed
Notable colorists
- Jack Adler
- David Baron
- Josette Baujot
- Jordie Bellaire
- Jeromy Cox
- Nine Culliford
- George Freeman, formerly with Digital Chameleon
- John Higgins
- Matt Hollingsworth
- Richard Isanove
- Vittorio Leonardo
- Lee Loughridge
- WadeeKT
- Laura Martin
- Dave McCaig
- Paul Mounts
- Olyoptics
- Cris Peter
- Joe Rivera
- Alex Sinclair
- Marie Severin
- Dave Stewart
- Christina Strain
- Lynn Varley
- Jose Villarrubia
- Glynis Wein
- Tatjana Wood
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Hollingsworth, Matt. "Color Guides," MattHollingsworth.net. Archived 2008-10-08 at the Wayback Machine Accessed Apr. 6, 2009.
- ^ "Bullpen Bulletins", Marvel Two-in-One #52 (Marvel Comics, June 1979).
- ISBN 978-3-8365-1981-6.
Virtually all DC covers from 1973 through the end of the Bronze Age were colored by Tatjana Wood.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-893905-71-9.
- ^ Gravett, Paul. Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics (Laurence King Publishing, 2004).
- ^ Sierra, Jerry A. "Digital Chameleon Colors The Vertigo Universe - Part Two," Archived 2008-11-14 at the Wayback Machine Publish (July 1994). Accessed Apr. 6, 2009.