Comic Coloring Fundamentals

A concise overview of how I color comics...

Color is intimidating, I know that because when I first started I had no idea what I was doing. It's easy to look at the work you love and get overwhelmed with the insane amount of complexity that seems to go into a single piece of art.

This is here to demystify the process a bit, and give you guys a look into how I think about coloring.

Have you ever thought ...

• How do I get started on coloring?
• I could never color anything, it's too complicated!
• What brushes should I use?
• My colors are muddy! How do I fix this?
• How do I setup whatever program I'm using to professionally color my art?
• My art feels flat, how do I make it have more depth?
• What do 'layer modes' do and how do I use them?

What you'll learn

By the end of this tutorial, you'll have an understanding of...

1. The basics of color, and color mixing
2. How to and the why of flatting before you start coloring
3. A workflow for getting started coloring your art
4. Color relationships and avoiding muddy colors
5. Storytelling with color

What's included

• 1+ hours of lectures
• 2+ hours of demonstrations
• Brushes and color swatches of everything I use in my professional work
• PNG files of line art by Ryan Benjamin to practice coloring

Testimonials

• Kristian Nee: Alex's work on Hush was a big inspiration for me getting into art, and meeting him and hearing him explain his process made it a whole lot easier to understand. He's a great artist and teacher, I definitely recommend him!

Who am I?

Hi, I’m Alex Sinclair, a comic book colorist with a passion for bringing stories to life through color. Over the years, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to work on titles like Batman: Hush, Justice League, and Superman: For Tomorrow, collaborating with amazing artists like Jim Lee and Scott Williams.

Coloring is more than just adding color—it’s about storytelling, emotion, and guiding the reader’s eye. In this course, I’ll share the techniques I’ve learned throughout my career, from understanding light and shadow to making colors pop on the page. Whether you’re just starting or looking to refine your skills, I’ll walk you through my process and help you take your comic coloring to the next level.

I can’t wait to share this journey with you—let’s get started!

What to expect

This course is not a long series of demos, or trying to show off my skills to you guys. This is an overview of all of the techniques I use day to day in my coloring work. There are demos in this course, but they're interspersed with lectures / explanations to add context to what I'm doing in those demos.

I try to explain things in a way that I wish I had someone explain them to me when I was first starting out. This stuff is hard, but I really do believe anyone can learn how to do it if they put the work in.

IMPORTANT: This course is a work in progress, so I will be adding stuff to it as I finish it. That being said, the price will increase to reflect the amount of content within the course.

So if you want it for cheaper, buy it now!

FAQ

• What do I need to get started?
  • All of these concepts covered in this course are applicable to any color work you want to try to do. That being said, this entire course is done in photoshop.
• Do I need photoshop?
  • No, not necessarily. That's what I use but plenty of other people color in procreate, clip studio, and any number of great programs out there. It's important to pick what works best for you.
• Is this for beginners?
  • This is for anyone wanting to learn about color! I do go over the fundamentals, but this is stuff I'm still studying.
• Do you recommend following along?
  • Yes! You will learn best by imitating me. It's one thing to watch these, but a whole thing entirely to do it yourself. Try your best! No one gets this right the first time.
    
• What if I don't understand something?
  • No problem! This stuff takes time, so don't beat yourself up. If you do have any questions, feel free to reach out to me on instagram or comment your questions on one of my posts. Also the benefit of these types of recorded lectures is that you can watch and re-watch at your own pace.