Home
Star Wars
  Star Wars Misc Art
  Star Wars Insider Art
  Star Wars Sketchbook
  Star Wars Comic Book Art


Star Trek
  Star Trek Misc Art
  Star Trek Comic Book Art

Film & Television
  Film and TV Misc Art

Comic Books
  Comic Books Misc Art
  Doctor Who
  X-Files
  Farscape
  GI Joe
  True Blood
  The Phantom
  Spike Vs Dracula

  Star Wars Sketch Cards
  Bounty Hunters
  The Mandalorian Season 2
  The Mandalorian Season 1
  Women of Star Wars
  Star Wars Rebels
  Masterwork
  Return of the Jedi Widevision
  Perspectives
  The Empire Strikes Back Illustrated
  A New Hope Illustrated
  Galactic_Files_Series_2
  Galactic_Files
  Galaxy_Series_8
  Galaxy_Series_7
  Galaxy_Series_6
  Clone Wars Season 2
  TESB_30th_Anniversary
  Galaxy_Series_5
  Clone Wars Season 1
  Galaxy_Series_4
  Clone Wars 08
  ANH_30th_Anniversary
  RotS
  Heritage
  Clone Wars
  Misc

  More Sketch Cards
  The Walking Dead
  The Avengers
  Marvel Beginnings Series II
  DC Comics Women of Legend
  Indiana Jones
  The Hobbit
  The Lord of the Rings
  The X-Files
  Heroes



Become a Patron!

Shop at my official Art Store

Become a fan on Facebook

Follow me on Instagram

Watch my stream on Twitch

Subscribe on Youtube



Lucasfilm Ltd.

Disney.com: The official home for all things Disney

Discover more at Hi-Fi Design.com!



Gentle Giant Ltd.

IDW Publishing - The home of Star Trek, X-Files, GI Joe and more!



My Art on eBay


Comics 101
Art tips and techniques, reviews and interviews from my studio. Archived here and at World Famous Comics.

Comics 101 Archives

Comics 101 for 05/27/2004
Advice on Lettering and Coloring Comics, Star Wars Fan Art and More Bill Bronson Artwork
Hi Joe,

"What would be the best computer program for comic lettering and colorization of the pages?""

I was asked this by an up and coming artist and he is trying to do the entire book on his own. Do you have an answer for this?

I hope you are well,
Alex
Hi Alex

Here's the short answer you can pass along to the artist:

For lettering - Use 'vector art' programs like Illustrator or Freehand since they work well for this along with setting up page layouts for printing while you letter your pages (similar to Quark XPress).

For computer coloring - Photoshop all the way! You have to have this program if you're going to color your comics digitally amateur-wise or professionally these days. You can also use the Painter program too though. I always use both together, hand in hand, to create my digital full color comic book and illustration work for a variety of effects and techniques.

The difference between vector art programs like Illustrator or Freehand and the programs Photoshop and Painter are that those two art programs are 'bitmap' programs. Bitmap programs use tiny little dots (anywhere from hundreds to thousands depending on your resolution) called pixels to create the tones of color in your digital art. These programs allow your art to look more traditionally illustrative than vector art programs do. The main difference is that vector art programs do not use pixels or rely on resolution. The term 'vector' refers to 'a line defined by its end points, or by the current position and one other point'. So vector art is art created by a series of lines and shapes from one end point to another which make these more mechanical programs better suited for graphic art and lettering applications.

Take Care, Alex!

Also, this week in Comics 101 I thought I'd share some more fan art that was sent my way by two very talented pals of mine. This first, Star Wars related artwork is from Frank Frelier...
Hey Joe,

Hope you're doing well! I finally had a lull in my college activities and a few hours to spare on some art of my own. I'd just been out clubbing in Hollywood, and drew this up a while later.

Clubbin Twi'lek

I penciled and inked the Twi'lek first, scanned her, then colored her in Photoshop. I used some photos taken at the club for background characters, and as a basis for the architecture. I doctored up another photo of a guy dancing, and turned him into a Rodian. Motion blur was applied to super-saturated copied layers, and the un-blurred image was placed on top. Through in a few blue and red spotlights, some zig-zagging light waves, and flattened the image!

Let me know what you think! Any critiques and suggestions would be much appreciated! I think I'm going to do one more "Clubbin'" image - of a male Zebrak. I'll make sure and keep you posted!

-Frank
This is great! Wow, the Twi'lek babe is hot! Great work on this piece, especially the rendering on her. The colors are very nice too, it definitely feels like a Coruscant nightclub you might find on one of the upper levels of the planet. I love your dancing Rodian too! I like how you composited the photos together cohesively. And the blur is nice touch to help it blend which also gives the characters and the background that extra energy that works for the scene. I'd love to see the other piece whenever you get it done. Keep up the great work!

Next up are three new pieces by my good buddy and 'Marvel zombie' Billy 'The Squid' Bronson. Be sure to drop by his official website at www.BillBronson.com to see more of his fabulous fine art.

The Leader Typhoid Mary Cloak and Dagger

See ya next week for a new Comics 101 feature!

-Joe

<< 05/20/2004 | 05/27/2004 | 06/03/2004 >>

Recent Columns:
NEWESTTeeKay-421 Magazine #65: A Star Wars Interview (09/05/2013)
10/28/2010My Top Five Favorite Horror Films, The Horrors of Canada and Movie Review - Dellamorte, Dellamore (a.k.a. Cemetery Man)
09/09/2010Movie Review - Machete
07/08/2010Celebration V: The Empire Strikes Back 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Print Artwork
11/05/2009Star Wars: Clone Wars Season One Widevision Artist Sketch Cards - Step by Step
11/06/2008You Have the Comic, Number One: A Star Trek Interview
10/25/2007Download Zombie Prom for FREE at iTunes, My Top Five Favorite Horror Films and The Horrors of Canada
09/06/2007Movie Review - Rob Zombie's Halloween
06/21/2007Star Wars: Celebration Europe 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Print - Photo Reference, Finished Pencil Art, In Progress and Final Color Art and Comic-Con International 2007
05/03/2007Star Wars: Celebration IV 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Print - Photo Reference, Finished Pencil Art, In Progress and Final Color Art and Free Comic Book Day 2007
03/08/2007Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Space Between #5 Cover - Rough Sketch, Finished Pencil Art, In Progress and Final Color Art
Archives >>

Comics 101 Archives


Home | News | Comics 101 | Stuff to Buy | Bio/Credits


© 2024 - , 153 Sheffield Way, Sandusky, OH 44870
All other ® & © belong to their respective owners.
World Famous Comics Network