Colorist Appreciation

*SparkOut1911 Mar 12, 2012 Digital Artist

I always feel that I'm under appreciated for being a colorist, and of those who identify as colorists I'm sure that I am not the only one who feels that way. While I do enjoy art I do not enjoy line art so I simply don't do it. (At least not to post, I still practice but I am never proud enough of my line art to post it anywhere.) Honestly, there's nothing wrong with doing what makes you happy and there are plenty of legitimate career opportunities with comic studios that look for colorists. Not to mention that a good colorist works their ass off just as much as a good line artist or painter. I do often add to the line art that I'm coloring. So sure, while I am constantly coloring someone else's line art, I am also not simply coloring inside the lines and that is what I wish for some people to understand. It doesn't help that there are a lot of people on DA that claim to be colorists who don't know the first thing about what it means to be one. You don't just take a stupid paint bucket tool and fill in lines, you don't just use the brush tool and block in one boring color after another. That's not what it is. You have to be creative yourself. You have to give the line art an atmosphere and shape. You bring that frigging line art to life and shock the living hell out of everyone when they didn't realize that THAT line art could look so damn good! That is what it is to be a colorist.

My coloring is something that I can be proud of and just like anyone else I enjoy it when other people enjoy my artwork and I despise it when people downplay the amount of time and skill required to do a good job. Even if I can't always take full credit it doesn't erase the fact that I still worked my ass off to do what I do and to do it well. So next time you find a good colorist, instead of turning a blind eye to them simply because the line art is not theirs, take the time to actually appreciate the life and dimension that they give to the lines that they colored. I assure you that if they are truly a good colorist they spent just as much time if not more on that picture than the line artist did.

and that's all I gotta say >_> sorry guys I had to get that out.

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*SparkOut1911 Mar 22, 2012 Digital Artist

Well LEARN to take a colorist seriously because that was very insulting. And why put "realistic" in quotations like that hm? I try to color realistically which is why my color work is far too good for the bullshit anime line art that I can't seem to drag myself away from. So let's get this straight, I AM practicing my line art and I've been told by numerous people that it isn't bad BUT I</b> do not like it. And on the same token as there being amazing artists that do everything themselves, there's also artists that people call amazing that can't color or shade worth a hill of beans. Seems like THEY only put half the work in too don't they? Yet somehow they get more glorified than the people that work their asses off to make their lines less dull and do more than just lie down flat colors. As I said before it takes more than a fucking paint bucket tool to make a colorist. All these people CALLING themselves colorists that lie down one flat dull color after another are only kidding themselves.

So you really need to back up and take a look around DA. You obviously don't know the first thing about being a good colorist.

*ESPICA Mar 31, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

im sorry if i insulted you but it just sounds like a lame excuse to NOT draw your own line art/being lazy. good day.

*SparkOut1911 Apr 1, 2012 Digital Artist

Is your excuse for not being very good at colors "I can draw?" "I'm good at line art already I don't need to color because I'm too lazy?" Give me a break. Being simply a line or sketch artist that doesn't color their own stuff, according to your opinion would be just as lazy.

So yes have a good day, don't bother to reply again.

(1 Reply)

~narutokunobessed Mar 12, 2012 Student General Artist

I always though it was the other way around that colorist have a harder time then line artists, since by just looking at what most modern people see as line art think its so easy to draw and is "cartoony." Also that colorist, I think of paintings and stuff. So, in a sense, I never seen a colorist insulted at all.

Some year later when I experience first hand how all the positions were hard anyway, there is no difference in terms of work other then a person's tastes. It takes time to sketch, It takes time to do line art, it takes time to layout the comic correctly, it takes time to color, it takes time to letter and add the ballons, etc. It all takes time to do the coolness factor and years of practice to get good. You just never stop learning.

~KyteGlory Mar 12, 2012

Oh, you're quite appreciated. I'm on the other end of the spectrum, you see. I bloody hate colouring, so I usually just don't do it. When I try to colour I end up ruining whatever I've drawn before. About 15% of my colouring time is spent with my face buried in my hand wishing that I had a fairy godcolourist to rescue me with their magical skills. I just said that your skills are magical. That's what I call things that I cannot begin to fathom.
Anyway, I'd take a look at the people who are insulting your job before you take their opinions to heart. I've never seen anybody insult colourist who's actually had an ounce of experience with the job colourists do. It's always the non-artists, or the artists whose work utilizes very simple or generic colouring jobs, who just can't tell the difference between what they do and what you do. But ignorance isn't a curse unique to colourists. It happens to each and every one of us. Just shrug it off and move on.

`Gwendolyn12 Mar 12, 2012 Professional Traditional Artist

awesome post

I am a colorist myself (as well as lineartist, but I enjoy coloring most of all) and I can tell how hard it is to make a decent coloring job, not to mention how much I spend in tools (I make traditional art).

I even got my DD on a lineart coloring!

=JeffHebArt Mar 12, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

I mad respect for all of you colorists! Without you guys cover art looks dull and lifeless and I cannot imagine reading a comic book nowadays with color!

*weremole Mar 12, 2012 Professional

Colorists should work together with the lineart and help tell the story. A bad colorist can KILL good lineart (by simply not understanding the design language or over rendering it) and a good colorist can make it all feel seemless and like it belongs to the artwork. Invisible but crucial, like an art ninja.
That's it really and good ones should indeed be celebrated.

Since colorists is the topic check these guys out folks: