As I sit beside the still forests of Yavin 5, I can hear echos of the olde teachings of Jedi of Yore… Ok enough with the Star Wars Jedi stuff. But learning our craft feels like trying to crack the knowledge from A holocron or learning how to wield a light saber at times. I learned the hard way and want to share the next trick I learned. The much needed skill of flatting. So you have photoshop / gimp / manga studio / painter and the magic wand tool. So go flat! WRONG. Using the magic wand tool though quick and easy leads to down the path of the dark side. The Lasso and masking tool are the better choice padawan. Why? Because of a irritating thing called anti aliasing. Works wonders to make you black lines look cool but will leave that telltale white/gray halo where your colors meet. In older (more civil times) printers used a tactic called “overprinting. Simply overprinting black over the color. (those old school artist will appreciate the terms overprint, choke, and trap, especially if you work with t-shirts).
Step 1.
Set up your drawing. I use blue lines. (A throw back from Offset printing. This allows for you to ink and not have to erease when your project is copied) In modern digital times it allows for the inker to differentiate between his lines and the pencilers lines. I will be making a tutorial on how I quickly do this later. REMEMBER TO SAVE OFTEN!
Step 2
Create your line art. I like manga studio because the inking tools are unmatched. Plus you can flat in layers there or export it out to photoshop with layers in tact. But you can use photoshop, gimp, illustrator, freehand or draw it on paper and scan it. (here is my take on paper… “why”. I say invest in a wacom tablet, go digital. Its easier to keep up and correct errors, but Master Steve Crespo has scolded me time and again for relying on digital tools. Steve is much better then I am, and he is the Master. I’m just lazy and on the move a lot and its more practical to tote a laptop and Bamboo tablet. Then I can draw anywhere.) Try to use a contour line around the outside of your art. This is a thicker line that separates the character from the background. This will help the colorist better find where the background ends and the character begins. Visually it also helps but at times can ruin it, like your kid brother coloring over your finished art with a crayon ruin it. But it’s up to you if you do it or not. I sometimes do and sometimes don’t… it depends on the project.
Step 3.
Make a overall selection of the total area to be masked/colored. (NOTE: I use green for a back masking, this comes in handy when you are dropping in the background). I copy that layer then lock it. This locked layer acts as your background white area. (T-shirt printers call this a backwhite for flashing – which allows for you to print colors more effectively on dark fabric). On the copy layer, I use the white pen to separate the colored areas. In this illustration I separated the boxing gloves, flesh, belt into separate layers.
Step 4
Copy the color separation layers and then place each element (by element or color) onto its own layer. I set a layer for gloves, flesh, earing&bandaid, and belt. Select the layers and color them accordingly. Or don’t color them, and shade them in different shades of gray. If you a perfectionist you can then make the colors butt together. But your contour inks should cover up the areas where the colors meet.
Step 5
Finish the background --- if needed. (This project used a photo because of time and effect. You may can see the finished piece on my blog in a few days.) Save your work (300 dpi should do it). Make color notes for the colorists. Now the colorist can add those super smooth airbrush effects to your art and make you look are Marvel or Image Comics-like. Good luck…more later.
Let your Art be the Proof of His LOVE & His GRACE!
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