art of color

Comics coloring has come a long way since the "four-color" process of yesteryear. As printing and technological innovations allow for greater artistic improvisation, colorists today are blessed with a wider palette, easier research, and the (deserved) recognition that they're an equal part of an artistic team. Muntsa Vicente is one of the few colorists working in comics today who's able to evoke the limited color schemes of those old comics, without letting her own style be subsumed.

Javier Rodriguez's coloring work first came to my attention during his work on Daredevil, alongside Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera. It's interesting that a comic starring a blind superhero should have such vibrant, noticeable colors, but Rodriguez's work refuses to be ignored.

The purpose of this Art of Color series is twofold: to highlight some of the best colorists working in comics, and to explain what it is about these artists' work that makes their comics better. With Cris Peter's work in Casanova: Luxuria, we have someone who perfectly exemplifies both criteria.

Comics coloring is one of the most unappreciated aspects of the medium, despite enhancing the thematic subtext of a work and just making it look better. In this series I’m going to shine a spotlight on some of the best and most interesting colorists in comics. Sloane Leong colors horizons better than any other colorist in comics. Any artist worth her salt knows that you can't just plop down a single color for the sky and sit with your feet back, but Leong has a particular knack for punctuating the emotions of a scene with a unique gradient.

Comics coloring is one of the most unappreciated aspects of the medium, despite enhancing the thematic subtext of a work and just making it look better. In this series I'm going to shine a spotlight on some of the best and most interesting colorists in comics. Rico Renzi is one of the most recognizable colorists in the business. Whether he's working on Marvel comics like Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, She-Hulk, and Howard the Duck, or a Vertigo title like FBP, it's easy to spot a Renzi-colored comic. Renzi always employs a striking color palette. His backgrounds and spot colors take advantage of the fact that comics don't always need to be realistic. While Marvel and DC comics are often colored in a more orthodox style, Renzi employs bold contrasts even there.