REMEMBER Committed Comics will NOT review any digital submissions (web sites, jpg attachments, or any other type of attachments). The only time a digital file will be reviewed is if a digital colorist sends us a CD of additional work (A digital coloring submission must still contain printed copies of the work).
Mail all submissions to:
Committed Comics: Submissions Department
16541 Redmond Way #326
Redmond, WA 98052

Good digital colorists are in very short supply and Committed Comics is always open to looking at sample packets. The colorist should have a basic knowledge of what colors complement each other and which ones contrast against each other. In addition to using pleasing colors, the colorist should also understand that their colors are applying clarity and mood to each panel.

As a colorist, you also are responsible for making sure everything in the panel is clear. When coloring characters and objects, it is important to make sure the reader can understand what each object is. This does not mean that every single object must be rendered in its "natural color." Sometimes to make an important object stand out or to clarify the difference between two objects, one object must be colored unnaturally.

Once you understand the importance of coloring things clearly, then you must place in the mood. The best way to get mood across is by using different color schemes. If the story is getting darker in tone, then make sure to reflect that in the colors. Along those same ideas, if the story is cheerful, make sure that the colors match. There may be times where you will have to combine the two ideas. For example, if a brightly colored super hero is entering a dark moody situation, make sure to reflect that with out losing the colors of the hero's costume. Just make sure that the hero's costume still corresponds with the lighting and shading in the situation.

Printers print from CMYK files and many of the special effects used in coloring will not carry over correctly from RGB to CMYK. Therefore, when you finish coloring a page, it is best to change the mode from RGB to CMYK. Even after doing that, the final print may be slightly different then how it looks on the computer screen. This is due to the fact that the computer screen is back lit and when the images are printed out there’s a variety of ink saturation on the page.

Again like the inker and the penciler constancy is very important. You must make sure that the colors you choose are the same from panel to panel and that nothing changes to the point where it makes no sense or is too harsh on the eyes. Make sure you do not over render your characters as well. Over rendering makes your characters and items in the panel makes them look like they are either made of plastic or wrapped in Saran Wrap®.

Digital colorist also need to work with the letterer to ensure that the color pallet they choose is not too similar or contrast to strongly. Colorists are also responsible for making sure that the files they give to the editor are going to print well. That means they have to be trapped correctly and the saturation levels are correct. That also means flattening out the artwork and removing any unnecessary channels or layers. If you do not know how to achieve this then you need to purchase this book: Digital Prepress for Comic Books.

A digital colorist submission packet must contain the following: Six (6) pieces of sequential work and two (2) cover/pin up samples. As mentioned above a digital colorist may send in a PC formatted CD of their work along with the printed copies. Please ensure that all of the files on the CD are in Tiff format and that they are all sequential pieces. No pin up/cover work will be review digitally.

SAMPLES: God Among Men, Hardcopy, Haunting Refrain