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Had a chat with a retired comic book colorist and it shook my whole workflow
I was at a small con in Portland last Saturday and got to talking with this older guy who colored for Marvel in the 90s. He mentioned that he never used layers or blend modes, just flat colors and careful hand shading. I always thought digital art was about stacking effects, but hearing him say "the computer can't fix bad fundamentals" really hit me. Has anyone else had a conversation with an old school artist that made you strip your process back to basics?
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wren2302h ago
Damn, did you feel like you got hit with a lightning bolt too? I had basically the same thing happen when a retired comic inker told me he learned to make shadows with just crosshatching and a ruler. Made me delete half my brush sets and start practicing with default hard round brushes again.
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Man, I used to think complicated brushes were the secret sauce, but hearing that really opened my eyes to how much I was hiding behind effects instead of learning the real craft. Now I'm wondering what else I've been overcomplicating.
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