Thought I'd share my list of webcomics that I think have exceptional coloring:


^
Perhaps the poster child of color webcomics today, it deals with a range of details and realism that makes you wonder how insane her work ethic must be to update so much.

^gorgeous, a range of fun colors and a great plot too.


^keeping in mind that the setting is underwater, the authors splashes of color on the murk make it stand out. Terrific story btw.


^deviant art comic, excellent just excellent, delivers cool wolf character designs and story


^good pro quality stuff


^
on haitus but worth mentioning


^
Very simple yet effective, could see this as cartoon.

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So hope my list pointed out some new comics to people :] I am always looking for more if you want to link some, but please keep the thread theme in mind so:
-If you know a comic with a great story but lackluster coloring...please don't post it
-Tinted Comics like lackadaisy cats are great but not really fullcolor

I'd personally like to see some color comics from smackjeeves or deviantart since i haven't had time to scour there :]

On a coloring aspect, Id nominate GRIND my MC Lothar. I swear that guy thinks on a totally different level when it comes to coloring. its absolutely beautiful.

and one of the best proffessional digital colorists is christian lichtner. i dont think hes done webcomics but his digital painting style from ultimates 3 makes me want to learn how to color.

Oh they're not bad. But I rule colour. Forever.

One day, they may reach my level of sheer colour mastery, but I doubt it. Still, they can hope. There's always hope. :)
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Seriously though, most of that is nice and bright, but pretty simple and cartoony when you really look at it. Juxtapose has some nice paint effects on the skin tones but Phoenix Requiem is by far the outstanding champ in colour skill out of all these. Compared to that, they're very well done but more standard workman-like stuff.

I personally don't think it has to have complex coloring like PR to be nice, I enjoy the simple cartoonyness of Roza just as much. :] I'm hoping to see what others have found off that list though-and outside of plugging their own comics...;)

JustNoPoint does some amazing coloring, especially with lighting effects and shine, which works very well for his comic The Devon Legacy . He also did some coloring for Fight (which is usually grayscale).

I also love the colors in Locoma , a completed comic that uses mixed and varying media.

I agree with Skullbie that complex doesn't equal better. I like comics with a simpler look to them in general. Most of the ones I follow have either flat coloring or are grayscale. -- Complex coloring and realism is impressive and certainly worth appreciation, but it doesn't necessarily "fit" all comics. There's nothing wrong with "cartoony" especially when it's done well.

Complex coloring is nice, but I also like comics that use very simple coloring techniques, but where the color is used to more powerful effect.

A good example would be Rice Boy

Heh. Those are some lovely comics! Skullbie, I must say ya tend to recommend some good ones. :)

It's pretty easy for me to be impressed by color work, since I'm kind of retarded at it, but here's one that I dig:



(NSFW- It's not an "adult" comic or anything, but it does have nudity.)

I'm fond of Daisy Kutter and Copper's use of coloured outlines and almost painterly feeling with the colours. Another with good painterly colouring that's on both SJ and DD is Action.

The best example of colour I've seen though got removed from the web. It was a comic about street racing called Drift. The painting work was at least on the level of Phoenix Requiem ( Better even, in my opinion. ), but the light effects that he did with stuff like tailights and rain were just godly amazing. It wasn't like it ended up being photo-realistic, but it was an incredibly cool stylistic touch. The best way I can describe it was if you took the art from a car concept and turned it into a really rich graphic novel.

such beautiful work... I am always jealous of people who can paint because it's not something I do. I will have to pick it up eventually damn it.

Oh poo Skullbie! You're picking all the comics that use the same same ol techniques! Draw figures and objects, CG ink them, color, and put them in a CG colored background. I want to see some creativity in coloring!


Electric Manga Kagerou! Now there's some wacked out coloring! Rainbows, blending, trippy backgrounds and outfits.


Any of Sloo's comics I also love the textures of any of Sloo's comics like Dark Rising and Necrophobia.


10%+ I think some of the last pages in 10%+ of Nature of Nature's Art were very good. Sorry I can't directly link the pages(that's how the site is.) Go to story, then 10%+, then look through the last pages. I think those last few pages of the comic are the best color environment paintings I have ever seen. It really feels like the characters are actually in and interacting with the world.

my favorite colorer on deviant would probably be Amy Hankins . she uses markers and it's just phenomenal!virabant and detailed, yet easy to follow at the same time. LOVE her work. sometimes when im stuck on coloring something i think "what would Amy do?" haha!

i'll put a few peices of gift art she made for me where she has Bones crossover with the Compozers.





and here's a link to the Compozers!
http://www.drunkduck.com/The_Compozerz/

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chekcin out that Aquapunk link, Skullbie! pretty impressive! couldnt resist the Megatron lookin dude in the banner.haha!

No Need for Bushido has awesome coloring.
This page is a good example:
http://www.noneedforbushido.com/archive_comments.php?strip_id=363

Haha, Bones is Awesome in there! :)

Skullbie
I personally don't think it has to have complex coloring like PR to be nice

No, colouring can be in any style. But when you're talking about colouring as a thing by itself and comparing really well done stuff, I go for the complex, clever stuff EVERYtime. Simple colouring examples that are done well aren't rare. I mean, just look at most "pro" comics, they ALL use the same simple style annd in there it's just a little dull.

When you're talking about colouring as something special, people who show REAL mastery in that particular skill, then you have to go for tuff like PR ;)

If you're just interested in colour comics that look good, there's about a bazillion of those. And they're no different from BW comics or greyscale really, in those cases colour is just another part of the elements. But in PR the colour is something a lot different. you can be sure that comic wouldn't look almost the same without that colour or in greyscale, unlike most of the rest of that list.

Definitely makes my coloring look like a pile of puke. I especially don't know how Sarah Ellerton of Phoenix Requiem makes so many pages of sheer awesome so quickly...
She updates this once a week or so too, which is even MORE incredible looking:
http://dreamless.keenspot.com/

Though for Off-White, nugh...WHY THE COMIC SANS FONT? I used to not care about that, and I still don't that much, it wouldn't turn me off a comic or anything, but I've been seeing that a lot lately...even on really pro looking comics. It's just a bit of a turn-off when you look at something in awe, only to see some ugly lettering on it that seems really out of place and just sort of slapped on.

@dreamless

I think she's getting paid like 60$ a page for that, maybe more. It's definitely pretty-i hope the story can live up to it(since to be blunt it's pretty lame so far) but then again it's just started and all :]
I don't think that's comic sans, it has mini serifs and 'a' 'r' look nothing like comic sans....i don't know what it is tho

ozoneocean
Haha, Bones is Awesome in there! :)

heh heh, i know. i love how she draws him!

Kazu Kibuishi's Copper has some good coloring too, it's on http://www.boltcity.com/ I think Dresden Codak has pretty good coloring too. As for Drunk Duck comics that have good coloring, it's not updated in a long time but Para-Ten looks amazing.

The only color comic that has some pretty coloring is Penny Arcade. It's pretty basic though.

I know we're talking about webcomics, but I love when Manga artists use like, Copics to color their pictures/covers and all that. Just the look of it is so fantastic.

i think it's not only the fact they are colored amazingly, but rather the fact that the coloring matches the drawing style and is used appropriately, and i have to say i love the coloring in most comics skullbie listed.

Minus

Although everything Armand does is freaking cool looking.

Mr Lostman
Minus

Although everything Armand does is freaking cool looking.

Wow, best comic out of all the ones listed in this thread. Thanks :D

- - - - -

Looking at Skullbie's list... none of these strikes me as "wow, amazing". They're all well colored, but none of them really hits me visually. Some of them have interesting pallette (like Fungus Grotto for example) and one of them look bad. But I don't know... something's missing.

I can't really think of a webcomic at the moment where coloring would be powerful to smack me in the face the moment I look on the page. there doesn't seem to be anyone who'd have the same impact on me like for example..

Enki Bilal


But maybe it's just me and my weird taste :)

@Enki Bilal

Yes all have different tastes, that page strikes me as below average as far as colors go lol!(the inkwork is nice though) I'm a fan of bright colors and warm moods so murky/dull pages don't sit well with me.

SarahN
Definitely makes my coloring look like a pile of puke. I especially don't know how Sarah Ellerton of Phoenix Requiem makes so many pages of sheer awesome so quickly...
She updates this once a week or so too, which is even MORE incredible looking:
http://dreamless.keenspot.com/

Sarah Ellerton is a master colorist! I seriously hope an artist of her talent is making a decent living off of her work.

Skullbie
@Enki Bilal

Yes all have different tastes, that page strikes me as below average as far as colors go lol!(the inkwork is nice though) I'm a fan of bright colors and warm moods so murky/dull pages don't sit well with me.

Ok, yeah, I guess I didn't choose the best example image. I could flood the thread with better examples, but it's supposed to be for webcomics and not print comics anyway. So I'll just say that I love his art overall and color is integral part of it, heavily enhancing the mood and atmosphere of the story (he mostly writes/draws either political fiction or sf stories focusing on rather bleak future so the coloring is spot on).

*deletes part of the post that refuses to get written properly*
My art/color theory shall follow later, once I rethink it and put it down using proper words.

Great comics Skullbie.

Aurora Borealis

Skullbie
@Enki Bilal

Yes all have different tastes, that page strikes me as below average as far as colors go lol!(the inkwork is nice though) I'm a fan of bright colors and warm moods so murky/dull pages don't sit well with me.

Ok, yeah, I guess I didn't choose the best example image. I could flood the thread with better examples, but it's supposed to be for webcomics and not print comics anyway. So I'll just say that I love his art overall and color is integral part of it, heavily enhancing the mood and atmosphere of the story (he mostly writes/draws either political fiction or sf stories focusing on rather bleak future so the coloring is spot on).

I dig it. I mean, I appreciate beautiful, colorful stuff; but I'm most attracted to really limited palettes: maybe no more than two- three max- color groups, and really heavy inking. No accounting for taste, as they say. ;)

Aurora Borealis

Skullbie
@Enki Bilal

Yes all have different tastes, that page strikes me as below average as far as colors go lol!(the inkwork is nice though) I'm a fan of bright colors and warm moods so murky/dull pages don't sit well with me.

Ok, yeah, I guess I didn't choose the best example image. I could flood the thread with better examples, but it's supposed to be for webcomics and not print comics anyway. So I'll just say that I love his art overall and color is integral part of it, heavily enhancing the mood and atmosphere of the story (he mostly writes/draws either political fiction or sf stories focusing on rather bleak future so the coloring is spot on).

*deletes part of the post that refuses to get written properly*
My art/color theory shall follow later, once I rethink it and put it down using proper words.

Like Hyena, I rather like that example.

The coloring is simplistic, but the color choices are loud but don't clash in a distasteful way. That takes skill. Plus, I think if the artist loaded the coloring with an insane amount of detail it would take away from the really nice lineart.

I love that some of my favorite comics are being mentioned here.

I'm pretty surprised that no one has mentioned Tiny Kitten Teeth yet. They've got some awesome color palettes going on (some of which are inspired by Mission Hill). Unlike most color comics, Tiny Kitten Teeth uses all flat colors to indicate the mood and setting of each page.
My favorite part? It's all done in gouache.

Tiny Kitten Teeth has a lot of style, but their panels and colors are so jumbled sometimes it's hard to tell what's going on. I don't identify characters, I identify recognizable color groups. If I want to start making out facial expressions and body language I have to start studying the panel. People have tried to tell them that before and their defense is "we worked hard on it and it's our STYLE". It's stylish and colorful, but I wouldn't say it's always a very good use of color.

I feel the same way about TKT. I think it gets jumbley sometimes because the tones aren't varied. It doesn't matter how many different colors you use- if they're all the same tone, nothin's gonna stand out, especially if you don't have bold linework or inking to clarify the forms. I'll try to read it every now and again, to make sure I'm just not remembering it wrong- but my eyes hit the page and just glaze over.