Taz & Lola

Sure, cut's can work well with a style like this... they can work well with any style as long as you know how to intergrate them both.

Personally, I think your CG's looking great, but comic color purists might ask for more contrast between rendered base tone and the 1st and secondary cuts (especially on the darker fur). Comic book readers in the US for example are big fans of the 'sculptured rendering'. It was something I was advised to consider after the last comic con I visited, but do what you think looks good and that you're happy with.

Can you define what you mean by "rendered base tone"? Are you referring to the flat color which the highlight and shadow is based on? In saying that color purists might ask for more contrast between that and 1st & secondary cuts, do you mean that the highlights should be much lighter and shades much darker than the base color? Would that approach be similar to colorations by LiQUID?

Glad the coloration looked good by your standards. Keep an eye out for the link I provided; I'll replace the graphic when it's finished.

Another artist friend let me color the picture below (more cartoon nudity )

Bats in the Belfry:

Canni ask you something about this picture? I really messed up in rendering the strands of her hair - there's not enough highlight to speak of. I had used the smudge tool to get the existing strands, but that didn't work well when it came to adding shine. Could you suggest another approach?

Thanks!
Jaleel

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Can you define what you mean by "rendered base tone"? Are you referring to the flat color which the highlight and shadow is based on?

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Yup - When making a pic everyone always starts off with a base or flat tone. Then once you have that down, you render it to give it more dimention, THEN you'll add your cuts. Lazy people might just add a cut onto a flat base tone, but I will add a cut after I've rendered my base tone

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In saying that color purists might ask for more contrast between that and 1st & secondary cuts, do you mean that the highlights should be much lighter and shades much darker than the base color?

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Basically, yes! In most cases, the more contrast, the more depth and when it comes to western comics I'm told your CGing is better if you can see the seperations between each individual cut v. clearly..
I think is just a case of being confident to place strong highlights and not cop out by being to suttle. For example the Spyboy Sequentials I did a while back!

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Would that approach be similar to colorations by LiQUID?

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Looking though Battle Chaser #7, Liquid's cuts aren't too powerful compared to other works I've seen. The good thing with liquid (and and other half decent colourist) is, when they use cuts, they'll use varying amounds of contrast depending upon the texture or surface ie. Metal contrasts more than wood..

Bats in the Belfry-

That's great work too! For hair shine, it's all about high contrast highlights. Best thing to do is look at how other artist's tackle it, since I'm no expert. I suppose a good example that I've done, might be the School Time Nikki pic? One thing I'd do to your pic, is add more black to the center parting- it might help for a start

I see your point about rendering your base tone before adding cuts. The airbrushing often adds subtle depth that cuts often can't reproduce. In the case with Taz & Lola, do you feel the airbrushing is overkill?

Your second point is exactly what I've been afraid of Still being new to using cuts, I'm afraid that the cuts I do will not only overpower the image but not resemble the right highlight & shadow. It's much easier to fudge decent lighting conditions with the airbrush tool. From what I have so far, where would you add more (and stronger) highlights?

Will definitely have to keep textures in mind when doing cuts - thanks for mentioning that.

Thanks for the kudos on the bat coloration. I saw your School Time Nikki pic (which kicks royal a$$ BTW) and understand where high-contrast highlights come into play. Will give this a try; I'm a bit more confident in doing it now.

Again, thanks for your help, Bomu. This picture's coming along - just wish there was a larger block of time available to finish it. On average, how long do you think it takes you to finish coloring a drawing?

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In the case with Taz & Lola, do you feel the airbrushing is overkill?

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Nah. I think it works alright. I reckon the amount of airbrush to the ratio of cuts is all a style issue and no-one can really say it's technically good or bad unless stating from personal preference.

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where would you add more (and stronger) highlights?

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At the moment you can faintly see taz's fur cut, but pertahs, if those fur cuts on his shoulder and arm were a bit clearer and more defined, it might add to helpping the texture. Maybe also add a cut around all the underside of the characters and fill it with a secondary light like blue? I see you've already put in some 'underglow' kinda effect with the airbrush.. The existing air brushed tones are pretty strong though so there isn't as much need for 'cutting'.

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This picture's coming along - just wish there was a larger block of time available to finish it. On average, how long do you think it takes you to finish coloring a drawing?

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How come you only have so long to work on it?

Well, I finally finished coloring the drawing:

Taz&Lola

Looking at it, I'm not very happy at how it turned out. This is partially because it took nearly 2 weeks to finish - an hour or two each day. You said you could manage something like this in 3-5 hours?? Dang - shows just how much I still have to learn...

You made some darn good points about increasing the contrast between cuts in this picture. The particular cut on Taz's shoulder would definitely benefit from it. unfortunately, I accidentally painted on the flat color layer and couldn't undo the mistake without losing about 2hrs work.

The time constraint was due to finishing it before starting a next one for a contest. That one is due on Valentines day, and is much more complex than Taz & Lola- I'll have to show you this one - you'll probably tell me not to bother trying after you see it.

Again, thanks a mil for your help, Bomu. It really does show how much I need to learn before becoming a good (and relatively fast) comic-style colorist.

I noticed you finished up by colouring the lines themselves- nice little touch And yeah, I'd be interested to check out this next one you're doing for Valentine's day ^_^ Where's the contest at?

The contest is available at a Yahoo club called TDKToonhentai:

TDK ToonHentai

An artist is to draw a tentacle hentai scene featuring popular toon chars. Sploot hasn't posted his entry yet, but you can see it here:

WBGirls Experiment

Getting it colored in less than two weeks is definitely going to be a challenge, but I appreciate any suggestions you might have.

Thanks again, Bomu!
Jaleel

PS: I had a feeling it was a SF hurricane kick - I love SF!

For saving time, the best things do do is get to know PhotoShop and learn exactly where everything is and how to do everything you want. Experimenting takes a lot of time, but at least you've had the Taz and Lola pic for good practice

Oh, and do you have a graphics tablet? If not, I'd consider investing in a decent one such as a Wacom Intudos. That can greatly decrease time spent on a pic with a little practice! Yeah, I know... Always practice, practice, practice, but it's the only good time saver I can think of!

Will check the contest entries in a few weeks then. Work hard and I'm sure you'll get it done in time

And yeah, gotta love Street Fighter! Ever played JoJo's Bizzare Adventure b4? I bought it today since it was going real cheap and my thumbs are already sore.. bloody DC control pad

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Yeah - I've definitely played JoJo's before - quirkiest fighting game I've ever played, too. Can't stand those DC controllers for fighting games, so I bought a Playstation gamepad converter. Works pretty well, too - especially for Capcom vs SNK2.

Thanks again for the suggestions, Bomu and for the kudos, Bugsy! You both have some kick ass artwork on your sites.

Will have to try using cuts much more for his second picture, since it under a tight deadline. Will hopefully show something as decent as the first.

Thanks again!

Taz-Lola w/nipples