digital coloring - help a newbie

[retro002]

i've recently colored my first sketch digitally, and i have some questions. the pic is rediculous crap (too little shading, effects overdone - i couldn't stop ;), the pose sucks & has no meaning), but perhaps some ppl can tell from it were i have most difficulties. i read through a couple of tutorials, but a lotta things remain unclear.

http://free.pages.at/retro002/r22.jpg

what i'd like to know:

1. do you usually always start out with flat coloring and 1 or 2 levels of flat shading? do you use a layer for each shade, or do you shade on one layer only? (i know there are a about as many approaches as there are artists, but perhaps you can tell me the way *you* work)

2. do you start with a background?

3. do i have to use other than cheap printing paper to not have my lineart bleed when inking? or is it just an issue of scale? i dont have to scan with 300dpi then. (this sketch was about 2 inches high)

4. do you usually use selections for shading? i bet one can do looser strokes, if you dont have to worry touching the surrounding parts (that you dont want to shade)?

5. do you use "screen" and "multiply" layers for shading, or do you set your tools to those blending modes?

6. anybody got some more tutorials?

thanks

[Fozzybar]

Sorry, i won't answer one of your questions, because there are enough users here, which are better in doing this, but i wanted to say that i like your robot-design and LOVE the head of it. Very nice...

[retro002]

man - there are so many digital artists here, can nobody help me out?? is the pic or the questions so lame you dont even *think* of replying?

[nacho]

ok, i'll answer these for the way i work...

1. i start with a rough flat shading; how many colors i use depends on the lightsources. i usually do the flat coloring with a big 100% opacity brush. i do all colors on one layer.
2. i start with at least one midtone color in the BG so i don't work too bright or dark (that happens to me when working on a white or black BG).. i'd say it's generally better to start with a BG because then you know the lighting and everything.. adding a background later is hard.

3. i never ink anything. i usually color my pencildrawings which i always scan in 300dpi. i can still resize them..
sometimes i make the drawing digitally so i don't scan at all. i find inking digitally pretty cool, so i don't have to worry about my initial sketch.

4. i work pretty clean so i don't need selections when coloring stuff. i think it might be better if i did.

5. i use a multiply layer for coloring.

6. yes..
adi granov (http://www.sofos.com/adi/tutorial/tutorial.htm)

ryan wood (http://www.dccdesigner.com/Htm/Tutorials/Canhead.htm)

arnistotle (http://www.arnistotle.com/painter.htm)

last two are for painter, sorry.. i only work with painter.

[gallon]

I start with a pencil schetch, ink it with pens or brush, scan it (minimum 300 ppi), in PS I first make flats for easy selection, copy the flats layer, set the copied layer to multiply, hide the original layer and start working with hard brushes and often opacity on the brushes; well that my one-sentence tutorial, enjoy!!

[keyth]

hey retro, try coro's sketchbook demo. it's somewhere in his sketchbook section. the same rules apply for digital painting. it's great for pulling colors and shapes out of darkness.

[killing.people]

:p hey retro!

in a thread asking for help, someone asked for my help ..
.. i put together a kind of in-thread tutorial half way down the page, check it out, if you have any questions post them here and i will try to get back to you.

it looks like you followed a tutorial on comic book style of rendering which is cool, the way i do it is a little different.

here with my digital struggle. (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1653&pagenumber=1) there are alot of images, so it might take awhile to upload.

-killings