Step by Step

So I decided to show a step by step for what I actually do.

First I get the original black & white artwork. The art here is by the brilliant J.H.Williams, from Batwoman # 12, published by DC comics.

Then I put in the basic flat colors. Every little piece that will be colored independent of each other must be separated. My boss, Dave Stewart prefers that I use colors that are not related to what he will end up using because that makes it easier for him. Thus the blue skin tone.

Finally there is the finished piece with full colors by Dave. You will see that it is completely different from the basic colors that I put in. Also the colors are painted and modeled and look really beautiful.

Goon Covers

These are some covers I flatted for The Goon from Dark Horse Comics, drawn and created by Eric Powell. He's an amazing artist who almost always works in ink wash. I find that some colorists these days, when coloring ink wash, rely on the gray scaled art to do the job. It kind of makes sense because the artist is doing some of the work that usually is done by the colorist, the tones and whatnot.

But these examples illustrate just how much the colorist adds to the artwork. The colorist here being Dave Stewart. The covers looks cool with my primitive flat colors because the drawings are so good. But you can really see how much Dave adds to the whole package with the finished pieces, especially on the second one here, the closeup of the Goon.

Rocketeer Adventures

This was another fun job. I got to color Darwyn Cooke's rendition of the Rocketeer. One of my favorite comics. From Rocketeer Adventures #2 published by IDW. Finished colors by my boss Dave Stewart.

Daytripper

This is from a comic that I flatted called Daytripper. Written and drawn by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, colored by Dave Stewart, published by DC/Vertigo. It's a really amazing comic and I highly recommend it. No superheroes or vampires, just regular people. 

Slim Goodbody Sapien

Here's a cool anatomy style cover for BPRD: Hell On Earth: Gods #1, drawn by Guy Davis. The making of this one can be seen at the Dark Horse site. This is just a little part of it. Finished colors by Dave Stewart.

Hellboy again.

Cover for Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead #1. More great art by Mignola and finished colors by Dave Stewart. See the abstract, amorphous blobs that I create become something wonderful in their hands!

Batwoman

Batwoman #0. Artwork here by J.H. Williams on top and Amy Reeder on the bottom. Finished colors by Dave Stewart (not shown). Flatted by me. Part of the finished artwork can be seen Here.

Crush enemies, see them driven before you...

Page one from Conan: Road of Kings. Written by Roy Thomas(!) illustrated by Mike Hawthorne and finished colored by Dave Stewart. Here is the finished page. I flatted this page and many others in this ish.

Elephantmen

This was done for Richard Starking's Elephantmen. The artist is Axel Medellin, colorist is Gregory Wright. Published by Image comics.

Judge Dredd

This is from a Judge Dredd story that I flatted for Dave Stewart. Artwork by Guy Davis. Published by Rebellion in the United Kingdom. Judge Dredd Megazine #296.

Here's the finished art and a bit about this next strip.

So these next few are from another Dredd story I flatted for a different artist named Dylan Teague. He drew and did the finished colors. He's phenomenal. You can see the finished art for this and see some step by steps of his process for this comic on his blog. Check it. This story appeared in Judge Dredd Megazine #298.