Help with Coloring?

Well, I'm not to good with coloring. I usually stick to black and white and have done so, but I'm majoring in graphic design and I know sooner or later (probably sooner) I'll have to deal with color.

Recently I did a sketch and have been trying to outline it on GIMP. The outline came out great, but when I started applying colors, I completely ruined it or didn't know how to approach it

Ex:



I've only colored the eyes, but they are far from done. I was also told SAI is a good program to color, but I have yet to download a free trial version and try it out for myself.

So, does anyone have adivse as to how to color the above with Photoshop, GIMP, or SAI? I would like some help...>_>

I've never used GIMP or even seen what the interface looks like, but SAI is an excellent program to use. If you want to buy it legit it's around $50 but we all know there are ways to get around that.

If you're using SAI or Photoshop you can set your line art to one layer, set it to multiply and then create a layer beneath that and start your coloring there. That way you won't undo any of the line work you've done already. There are some great tutorials pretty much anywhere. Here's a few good ones:

http://e-nat.deviantart.com/art/Basic-Coloring-Tutorial-SAI-131479751
http://tooaya.deviantart.com/art/Toa-s-Quick-drawing-tutorial-99634204
http://fongmingyun.deviantart.com/favourites/#Tutorials

Many thanks for that! I'm willing to try out SAI.

The line art is a problem when coloring, and I guess this could really help me out.

Well before you do that, is your outline on a layer by itself? I personally don't like using multiply to color. Ummm... lets see

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/500172

That is for photoshop but GIMP is close enough to PS that it should give you a general idea.

Actually, it's 3 layers: The original sketch, the outline, and a transparent layer. I could get rid of the original and outline for it though.

Thank you for that tutorial. Just browsing it for now, but it seems helpful. I'll be sure to go through with this.

I mostly use that for way for when I color. Personally, I think the hardest part of coloring is getting the shading right. Can never quite get the hair done right. For me the eyes are the easiest >_>

I think the whole coloring part is hard for me....-_-

Well practice makes perfect and all that. Besides, if you can't color yourself, just do the lineart and let other people do the coloring. You don't need to be good at everything.

I'd like to be >_>....

gismo pm me if you want copy of SAI I don't mind lending you a copy.

In order to get better, you gotta use the P`s of art...


Practice, Practice, Practice...


I would color things for days on end at times, tho not so much nowadays...

but yeah, keep practising...

Yea practice is absolutely necessary. I wouldn't know about tutorials, since i'm too lazy to watch them myself. But I've found some rather cool coloring techniques just by trying stuff out on my own.

Also, I'm refering to the use of SAI. Get it, it's awesome.

Practice always helps!

Not getting SAI yet as I'm sort of busy here.

Another question: Would a tablet come in handy in this case?

I'm sure it would be helpful but not needed. I use a touchpad and I can color just fine. Do whatever works for you

mouse, touchpad or tablet can color well, as long as U know how to use it !! I used to use Mouse to color my works and using Tablet just save my doing CG time, not much different on quality !! Ruu...

Don't tablets recognize pressure? I mean, that could be handy when coloring and using different shades and what not, no?

Aye they do, and yes they can be very very handy. It's a fine investment if you enjoy drawing and want to improve. And a necessary one if you want to take your stuff a step further.

Now I just got to tell my professor where he got his.
Apparently he got his Cheap (30 bucks I think) and it was brand new.

I got as far as clicking on the hair, but when I went to color the hair, it came out Grey instead of the flat blue on GIMP. >_>

Do yourself a favor and get a good Wacom one. Bamboo Fun should be okay, Intuos is even better. They cost around 100-200 dollars, but it's worth it if you're serious about drawing. :)