Monster Mania Artist Commentary - Coloring Technique

I have a strict set of rules that I follow when creating a Monster Mania drawing but those restrictions still leave plenty of room to experiment and evolve. The most notable change has been my approach to coloring the drawings. 

The early drawings were colored in a more painterly style, and I used a variety of watercolor and chalk brushes to color the drawings. I would start by laying a foundation of splatters and drips and textures, creating an abstract painting that served as both a background and an underpainting for the drawing. I would then proceed to color the line art using flat colors. Then I would use chalk brushes to paint the shading and highlights. I would often play with opacity levels and layer effects to allow bits and pieces of the abstract underpainting to show. The end result was messy and haphazard like a real painting. 

In 2018, Clip Studio Paint became available on the iPad, and I started doing the majority of my inking and coloring on my iPad. The iPad changed how I approached inking and coloring my drawings, and my drawings became more refined and detailed. I abandoned the painterly approach to coloring, and embraced a process that was more akin to traditional comic book coloring. I started to “draw” the color rather than “paint” the color. I stopped using watercolor brushes to create splatters and drips, and started to hand draw the splatters and drips. I stopped using chalk brushes to render values in favor of flat shading the drawings. I also started using a form of pointillism, drawing little amorphous shapes, to create gradient effects. 

MY CURRENT PROCESS

I draw the line art using Clip Studio Paint. Then I color the line art using flat colors. Then I flat shade the drawing. Then I bring the drawing into Adobe Photoshop and apply textures to the drawing to add some grit to the color. I like having subtle imperfections in the color. I also use Adobe Photoshop to make final color adjustments. 

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