1. How long have you been coloring? I bought my first Wacom tablet in 2002 to learn how to draw and color digitally, but didn’t start coloring professionally until 2011. I’ve been drawing since I was 3 years old though, so art’s been a part of my life from the beginning; I don’t remember starting.


2. How did you get into coloring? I frequented online forums, job boards, Facebook and Twitter to find writers and artists at my experience level who wanted to make comics. I worked for very cheaply for a while just to build up my portfolio. I started getting hired semi-regularly to work on pitches, short stories in anthologies, etc. The practice from doing those and the connections with people I met on the projects helped lead to work on bigger book titles with wider exposure. I also worked a day job as a registered nurse until December 2019 when I went full-time as a freelancer colorist and online instructor.


3. Which books have you colored? Recent books include Money Shot, The Plot (volume 2), End After End, and Brandon Sanderson’s The Dark One. DC’s Love is a Battlefield (featuring Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy). I’ve also worked on Judge Dredd, Hack/Slash, Postal, and many others published by a wide variety of publishers from Heavy Metal and Playboy to Image and DC.

4. What is your favorite comic? A Long Halloween -- the Batman story.

5. Who are your favorite colorists? Moreno Dinisio, Marte Gracia, Alejandro Sanchez, Matt Wilson, Jordie Bellaire, Dave Stewart, Dave McCaig. 


6. What do you use for coloring? (The links below are affiliate links which means I might get a small commission if you purchase through these links.)

Tablets:

  • Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 – This is my main tablet these days. https://amzn.to/33QIPd0

  • 12.9” iPad Pro 2018, 256GB (3rd Gen.) – I use this primarily for Procreate. Runs independent of a desktop computer. https://amzn.to/2DKT33R

  • Wacom Intuos Art Medium – The old standby. Tried and true, I can always pull this out when a newer tablet stops working.https://amzn.to/3afOU3w

Software:

PC:

(Always been a tech nerd. Used to work in IT. This is way overkill for coloring, but I do video/audio/gaming/VR with this too.)

7. What do you use to stream video online?


8. Which coloring software do you prefer?

All three programs I use for coloring are in my arsenal for one reason or another. All in all, Procreate is the most fun, but Clip Studio Paint Pro has more features that are useful for coloring. Photoshop is still the industry standard for now, and is necessary to use at times due to the CMYK support, even on a project colored primarily on Procreate or Clip Studio Paint Pro. 

More details on each program:

Procreate: This is an iPad-only app. Between the small size, light weight, and amazingly fast screen refresh rate of the iPad Pro on which I run Procreate, this has the best drawing experience of all my tablets. It comes the closest to the actual physical feel of putting a pen/pencil/brush/etc. to paper. However, the program does not have an aliasing option for the brushes, for some reason, nor does it have a non-contiguous magic wand feature. This makes it extremely difficult to create or effectively use flats when coloring in Procreate. I typically use Photoshop to set up each project before exporting it to Procreate, including creating selection layers to get the areas that would otherwise be difficult to select in Procreate. Because it does not do CMYK conversion, I have to finish each project up on Photoshop, as well.

Clip Studio Paint Pro: After initially disliking it and its user interface, I started learning more about the program and using it more frequently. Now, I actually really like it! For the titles I’m currently coloring, this software works great. One of my favorite features is the ability to designate any layer as a “reference layer”, meaning that you can select flats without having to switch between layers. As with Procreate, I still have to finish each page up in Photoshop because Clip Studio Paint Pro does not have a good CMYK convertor built in.

Photoshop: As much as I’d like to replace it entirely with Procreate and/or Clip Studio, Photoshop is currently still the “industry standard”, and the only one of the three programs that is capable of exporting files in the CMYK profile I need for turning in printable pages. CSP “does” CMYK, but not really. The results are not the same for me as Photoshop, so I can’t really get around PS for the moment. I’m still waiting on the perfect art app!

9. RGB or CMYK? I almost always create in RGB, but then convert to CMYK at the end. I’ve developed an eye for it over the years, but you should always preview an RGB work-in-progress in CMYK from time to time to make sure the colors you picked will print properly.


10. Which brushes do you use? I am not the kind of person who gets fancy with brushes, and I don’t make my own. I have some that I’ve downloaded and use from time to time but, for the most part, I stick to a default soft, round airbrush for pretty much everything I do. For CSP, I bought the megapack from here: https://store.frenden.com/ It has a lot of options. 

11. How long does it take to color a page? This varies considerably, but 2-4 hours is probably the average if it’s already flatted first. My work is almost always separated by an assistant first. Some pages take a lot longer.


12. What kind of tablet should I get? Any tablet you can afford. Seriously though, if you’re just starting off and don’t want to lay out a lot of money yet, there are perfectly good tablets, such as the Wacom Intuos, which can often be found for under $50 used. It doesn’t have many bells and whistles, though, so, if you’re ready to spend more, there are many fun and useful—but not necessary--features on tablets at higher price points.


13. What is your advice for someone who wants to get into coloring? Like I did, find writers, pencillers, inkers, etc. at your same career level through social media groups and other networking, and create with them. Doing this job requires lots of practice at the job, and it’s hard to practice without just doing it. 


14. Where can I find line art for practice? There is a lot of great line art on Deviant Art, (here’s a page that even included flats: https://www.deviantart.com/flats-for-colorists), as well as the Twitter pages of your favorite artists. You can also find art on Google Images by searching for something as simple as “comic book art” then, under “Tools”, set the color to “black and white” and the size to “large” to help limit the results to usable art. Although most artists in the industry do not mind others coloring their art solely for practice or portfolio use, it’s always a good idea to try to contact them for permission before you do.

15. What is the most important thing about coloring? Contrast. Contrast is everything in art, but a lot of folks just assume this means lightness and darkness, but that’s just the value contrast. Contrast is just the difference between different art elements. You can have contrast with values, saturation levels, hues, edge sharpness, and shapes. Layering them all together creates impactful visuals. 

Dave McCaig used to say that focus, mood, and depth are the three pillars of good coloring. Lighting is secondary to story.


16. Can you recommend any books to help me with coloring? 

  • For composition: Vision: Color and Composition for Film by H.P. Bacher & S. Suryavanshi - https://amzn.to/321yWqm

  • For rendering: How to Render: The Fundamentals of Light, Shadow and Reflectivity by S. Robertson & T. Bertling - https://amzn.to/3h5iAmI

17. When and where do you livestream? I currently live stream to the public every Wednesday morning at 11am EST (4pm GMT). I also do monthly private streams for members of my Discord group (Patreon and YouTube members), in which we go deeper into topics and I offer feedback on your work. 


18. Do you have online courses? Yes! https://learn.comiccolor.com I have courses on coloring with Photoshop, Procreate, and Clip Studio Paint.


19. Where else are you online? 

20. Where can I get feedback on my [art, colors, flatting, etc?]

There is a channel for feedback on the Color with Kurt Discord. I go through the art posted there during the live members-only class each month and throughout the month in Discord whenever possible. You can become a member through Patreon or YouTube membership. See #21.

21. How can I support you and your tutorials? You can sign up through any of the services below or consider one of my courses. See #18.

    1. https://www.patreon.com/kmr

      1. Early access to new YouTube tutorials

      2. Members-only live stream each month

      3. Layered PSD file each month

      4. Access to the Color with Kurt private Discord and all member channels

    2. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCps08eOJfFRm00TE5LStIIg/join 

      1. Members-only live stream each month

      2. Access to the Color with Kurt private Discord and all member channels

      3. Special badges for live stream chats and comments on YouTube

      4. Access to an archive of previous YouTube streams