Colorists See the Light: Laura DePuy
Laura DePuy is the colorist for CrossGen’s Ruse as well as the art director for Sequential Tart, an outstanding webzine that focuses on comics, including but not limited to the role of women as creators and characters. She has been a staff member at Wildstorm FX and a freelance colorist, working on books like Planetary, Authority, and JLA. Warren Ellis made a point of requesting her in his initial Planetary proposal, and I’m glad he did — her work makes that excellent book shine. Now, along with writer Mark Waid, penciller Butch Guice and inker Mike Perkins, she’s bringing the Victorian-esque world of Arcadia to life in Ruse, a highly entertaining mystery series. (Check out the cover to issue 2.)
DT: What motivated you to get into coloring? What motivates you to keep doing it?
LD: I was in my junior year at college, and as a graphic design major, I was looking at a possible career in advertising, print layout pre-press and/or presswork. Not a bad gig, if you can get it. But deep down inside, I really wanted to pursue something more artsy. Getting into comic books hadn’t even occurred to me, until a friend said, “Hey, you know . . . you could do comic books!” And suddenly, a light bulb went off . . . the world of illustration and digital painting opened up to me.
In some ways, the fine art aspect is what drives me. Digital painting gives me more of a creative outlet than graphic design. Painting is a chore in humility: the more you do it, the less you realize you know, and the more you strive to understand. The same goes for digital painting. I learn something new every day, and it’s never enough.
DT: What are the skills you needed to learn to do the job well? How did you go about learning them?
LD: Someone wishing to become a colorist really should start off with an inherent talent toward art. With that raw talent in place, anything else can be taught and honed with art classes, self-study, and plenty of practice. The first and foremost skill is the ability to visually interpret objects in space: a colorist must be able to create form and depth from a two-dimensional image. A good understanding of color theory is also necessary. And finally, a colorist should have some understanding of the pencilling and inking process, as he or she is not the sole artist on a project and therefore must be able to communicate with his or her penciller and inker to achieve the correct impact. Again, however, these skills can all be taught.
DT: When you first start on a page, what are the first things that go through your mind? What are the initial creative choices you make to set the direction for the finished product?
LD: The first thing I do is consult the script and/or the penciller. I’ll get the basics down: Who are these characters? What happened on the page before? What time of day is it, and where are the light sources? And perhaps the most important question: What mood and impact do I need to convey in this page? I might also seek out reference material if there’s something I’m unfamiliar with. Once I’ve got those pieces of information, I’ll approach the page very simplistically, blocking in the basic colors and establishing a color scheme for the scene. From there, it’s all in the details.
DT: What do you think comics readers should look for when they look at a page, in terms of coloring, in order to fully appreciate the work?
LD: What a great question! There’s so much to be appreciated. First and foremost, I’d like readers to appreciate the time and effort involved. I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard the phrase, “I don’t really pay attention to the coloring.” Ack! That’s like saying, “I don’t pay attention to the spices in the chili. I’m just there for the beans.” How can you NOT pay attention to the color!
Beyond that obvious request, though, I’d like to think that readers can appreciate when the coloring marries the art to the story, and describes the scene properly. Not everything is seen in “local” (natural) color. For instance, a sunset will tinge the whole world in oranges and pinks. A heavily overcast day will pull color out of the environment, leaving it gray and dull, whereas a bright sunny day will saturate the world with color. Colors aren’t “local” when viewed at night or in shadow. That’s the kind of sensitivity to scene lighting that I look for as a reader, and while I certainly don’t expect everyone to have as critical an eye as I have, I’d like to think that the everyday non-art-trained reader can appreciate the differences from one scene to another.
DT: What do you think differentiates ‘good’ from ‘bad’ coloring?
LD: See above. 🙂 All kidding aside, there are two things that separate a good colorist from the pack: one, the ability to create a mood, and two, the ability to define light sources and volume, to create depth and shadow where there was none. The first is based on color theory; the second, on visual interpretation of the black and white artwork. Beyond that is simply a difference in skill levels.
DT: What of your own works are you particularly happy with? What is it about those pieces that you like?
LD: The toughest ones are always the montage images, because there is no background, so there’s no point of reference with which to establish a space/volume relationship between the characters. I have a harder time getting those to “read” right, so when I have a successful piece, I’m quite thrilled. The covers to Stormwatch: Final Orbit and The Authority: Relentless were two of my favorites, as was the cover for JLA: Heaven’s Ladder.
Sometimes it’s a single element that makes the whole piece work. Miranda’s upper back on the cover of Ruse #2 sells that entire piece.
The fun ones are when there’s a very distinct, very harsh light source that obliterates all natural colors. The Authority #7 was a great example of that: one scene is lit entirely in yellows and greens, while the next is harsh reds and blues. It’s jarring, but it was a real lesson in dynamic lighting. That’s probably my favorite example.
DT: What do you need from your collaborators in order to do your job to the best of your ability? How well do you feel comics companies and creators have given colorists the support and respect they deserve?
LD: The best thing that I can ask for is feedback. I want the comic book to be a collaborative effort, where the penciller and inker both have an idea of what I can do in order to help them set up the page initially. Once the page is done, I like hearing back on it; I always learn something new about the penciller’s approach and thought patterns, so that I can incorporate that into the next page. If my interpretation of a scene is completely different from what they had in mind, I want to know.
Support and respect have been uphill battles — no doubt about that. But we’re gaining ground, thanks to some of the newer publishers accepting computer colorists as part of the creative staff. Prior to the advent of Photoshop, coloring was part of the production process. In some companies, that’s still how they’re interpreted. But as colorists improve their approach to both the comic and Photoshop, and creators recognize the difference between styles and colorists, and publishers realize the worth of a good colorist, our position in the comics industry improves.
DT: What impact has the CrossGen working environment had on your work? (Most CrossGen artists and writers work at the company’s Tampa studio, and extra time for artists is built into the production schedule.)
LD: I’d say the impact has been pretty noticeable. I’ve had the luxury of working very closely with other teams (Authority’s Warren Ellis/Bryan Hitch/Paul Neary and Planetary’s Ellis/John Cassaday), whom I got along with famously; but we never physically worked in the same area. Also, we fought the age-old deadline problem: for whatever reason, I would receive the script or the art late, which meant that I would have to work like crazy to meet the deadline. I was proud of the work I did, but I can only sit back and wonder how much better it would have been had I taken more time on each page.
At CrossGen, the proper amount of time was built into our schedules from day one. While I wouldn’t call our pace “leisurely,” as we (Butch, Mike, and I) work hard on every page, I’d say the schedule is much less hectic, leaving us to concentrate on doing the best work of our careers. I know it’s working for me. On top of that, the creative environment at CrossGen allows us all to experiment, to push our skills to the next level. It’s become a friendly, healthy competition among the creative staff; we’re all constantly trying to outdo each other. It’s a beautiful thing.
DT: What work by other colorists do you particularly enjoy? What appeals to you about those artists and those works?
LD: Oh wow, that’s a huge question. I feel bad naming names, because every colorist is an influence on me in some way, and I don’t want to leave anyone out.
Naturally, the CrossGen guys are great. They’re among the best in the field. And I’m not saying that because I work with them — I’ve had my eyes on these guys since they started publishing. They’re constantly experimenting with new media and styles; that’s what is really exciting about their work. I have to fight just to keep up with them!
Richard Isanove (Origins) continues to flabbergast me with his ever-changing approaches. He’s always five steps ahead of everyone. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the work from the Hi-Fi guys (New X-Men) — they’ve really stepped up to the plate and are making the Marvel books look good. I don’t know how the coloring process goes, whether it’s digital or hand-done, but Ladronn’s work (Inhumans) just blows me away. Jeromy Cox (Promethea) has the most pure palette of anyone I know. And he does pretty clouds. And then there’s Snakebite (The Red Star), who is the only colorist so far who (in my opinion) can convincingly blend 2-D coloring with 3-D rendering.
There’s a whole slew of colorists whose work affects me: Chris Ware, Brian Haberlin, Lynn Varley’s work on 300, the European painters for Metabarons and Raptors, and on and on. I really can’t name them all, and I know I’m forgetting someone major, so I’ll just stop here and say that there are far more than I can possibly name in one sitting.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.