I apologize for the lack of posts, but I've been trying to get this piece done. I've been spending a lot of time honing my coloring skills and as a result, it's taken me a while to finish. (And it's still not done.) Not to mention it's a rather daunting experience just simply knowing your work is being recorded.
I have discovered that with the exception of water, trying to color human skin is one of the most difficult things to master. But with practice, I'm getting better. It's not so much a problem with shading or highlights, but more with actually which colors to use. And I don't care what anyone says, using photo-reference does help, but it's not full-proof. Two things that have really helped me in the last few weeks is having learned how to add 'warmth' to human skin, as well as using a non-white background to work from. Together, they help change the dynamic of the drawing and make it look more realistic, and not so flat and cartoony.
Some day, I hope to have the confidence to be able to record coloring a piece entirely from start to finish. That's my goal - someday. 'Till then, you can enjoy this clip...
I remember the first time I came across a piece of art drawn by Michael Turner. At the time, I hadn't bought a comic book since high school. I kept up with certain story lines by reading stuff about the characters online, but beyond that, I had pretty much disconnected myself from that universe. That is, until I saw Turner's version of the Flash. It rejuvenated my interest in the genre. I thought, holy crap, you CAN make comic characters look cool again! From that point on, I bought up everything I could that he had done, including the Superman/Batman series that brought back Supergirl. He died this past weekend of cancer at the age of 37.
