Should a colourist (or "colour artist") get royalties?

[BlackKnight]

^^^ So you think you over Did the Knight's Lantern Boxes ?

[Brazoo]

Without any disrespect intended, I'm with MegoScott. I'm amazed that some of you guys think that computers can actually colour a comic!

As far as I understand it these days, most colouring (and digital inking) is contracted out on a work-for-hire bases - they're relinquishing authorship, royalties etc. when they get hired. It might seem contradictory, because most comics are collaborative, I usually don't think of colourists as being "creators" or "authors" of the work. I'm not against thinking that they could be, however.

I'd be surprised if there wasn't a single comic colourist (or digital painter or whatever) that isn't in such high demand that they couldn't negotiate for reprint royalties.

It is an interesting thing to think about.

[The Toyroom]

^^^ So you think you over Did the Knight's Lantern Boxes ?

Obviously you don't understand the process but it's not the same thing ....I don't use any filters or techno mumbo jumbo on your boxes...True I use a computer to color but it's usually straight coloring ala crayons and a coloring book

[BlackKnight]

^^^ If I understood the Process ..., I'd do it myself.


What can I say ..., I love Eye candy ..., and stuff that Pop's with colors..., that's really all I need to know.

[The Toyroom]

They could still color "old-school" but have everything "pop" with the modern technology, it can be done...especially since the paper is better today than the newsprint of old...

[Random Axe]

I really don't know of any artist that actually gets roaylties. That idea is new to me.

THe artists, pencillers, inkers, colorists and letterers get page rates. I worked in the field and I know the process, or at least how it used to be. Unless things have drastically changed, standard pencillers would get around 150-200 dollars per page for a mid-major title. That was in the 90's. I'm sure with economics being what they are the dollars amount might be more now. Some make more, some less. Inkers have a lower rate as do color artists and letterers. Maybe some artists have a lower page rate in order to collect royalites, but that seems odd as there is no guarantee something is going to be a blockbuster.

Coloring is definitely a lot of work to be sure. I was old-school doing Doc Marten watercolor and marker. Even if someone uses programs and software as a tool, it still is a major talent to use it correctly.

Scott

[samurainoir]

So do most folks really believe that computer based coloring is simply feeding pages into a computer and a program spits the coloured pages out? That no human "hand" is actually involved in guiding where the colour goes or which colours to use?

<edit> oops, it appears Scott and others have already jumped in with the other side of the discussion on the 2nd page of the thread.

[samurainoir]

So without us getting into whether or not we like the aesthetics of computer colour or not, can we really deny that there are many cases these days where the colourist is an integral part of the art-team?

Jae Lee as a penciller for instance isn't really known for backgrounds, and if you look at Dark Tower, it's Richard Isanove who's "painting" in many of the backgrounds, creating atmospheric effects like the clouds and sunrise, as well as all the range of subtle lighting choices and figure/facial/clothing/texture modeling and gradations outside of the solid black and white contrasts that typify Lee's pencils. He's also the one "pulling focus" (to use a cinematic term) onto the figures, using the gradations to subtly differentiate the foreground and background (that were formerly all but non-existent) where the leaves and billowing skirt reside.

[samurainoir]

As far as I understand it these days, most colouring (and digital inking) is contracted out on a work-for-hire bases - they're relinquishing authorship, royalties etc. when they get hired. It might seem contradictory, because most comics are collaborative, I usually don't think of colourists as being "creators" or "authors" of the work. I'm not against thinking that they could be, however.

By the same respect though, keep in mind that writers, pencillers and traditional inkers can also choose to do work-for-hire, but that doesn't disqualify them from receiving royalties for their work on mainstream titles for Marvel and DC.

I'd be surprised if there wasn't a single comic colourist (or digital painter or whatever) that isn't in such high demand that they couldn't negotiate for reprint royalties.

Off the top of my head, Richard Isanove and Laura Martin are both at the top of their fields as colour-artists/colourists and incredibly in-demand from both editors and creative teams. I would think that if anyone were in positions to negotiate royalties, it would be them. Just imagine the amount of $$$ that could mean for their work on titles like The Ultimates, 1602, Wolverine Origin, Astonishing X-Men, Stephen King's Dark Tower etc., which are continuing to sell as collected editions and most likely be kept in print for many many years (not to mention translated and published word-wide).

[samurainoir]

Just for arguments sake... do folks think an inker deserves royalties?

[boynightwing]

Computer coloring isn't as easy as people think. I do it all the time and I'm very proud of my coloring. When I draw I think ahead as to how I am going to approach the colors. Its part of the finished look and presentation.

Should they get royalties? That I have no clue about. If they pioneered a certain look that now stays with the character/story or whatever, then yes.

[Brazoo]

By the same respect though, keep in mind that writers, pencillers and traditional inkers can also choose to do work-for-hire, but that doesn't disqualify them from receiving royalties for their work on mainstream titles for Marvel and DC.

It's true. I actually don't even know a lot about reprint royalties for comics - so I guess what I'm saying is that in my mind it comes down to authorship. Though the question of authorship can be kind of a slippery thing in a collaborative process. Like, a movie might be revered for it's costume design, but is the costume designer a co-author of the movie? In some cases maybe they are - mostly I wouldn't think of them that way.

When it comes down to it, to me, if the comic is going to succeed or fail it comes down to the writing and the penciler (who controls way the story is told). To me they're the authors and everyone else is a collaborator. I can easily see how this might not work for every project and every style - but generally speaking that's my take.

[thunderbolt]

Really depends, is the colorist just following the direction of the writer or artist? Really, a modern colorist is the analog to a FX dept for a movie. ILM did the stuff for lots of movies outside of Star Wars, but do they get royalties off the characters they work on? Or do they just get a cut of the movie?

[The Toyroom]

Just for arguments sake... do folks think an inker deserves royalties?

Again, no....nothing against the skills or talents of inkers/colorists/letterers but royalities should be reserved for the CREATORS of the book, i.e. writers/artists (pencillers). Not to say that inkers/colorists/letterers don't add to a book or enhance it, but as it's been pointed out their names will not sell more copies of a book. A writer or artist's name WILL sell more copies of a book. Plus, I highly doubt most inkers/colorists/letterers are involved in the original creative process of a new character or title or story. If anything, they are given the pages to do their thing AFTER the writer and artist have done theirs. And it's the original creative process that translates into the story which becomes popular and collected into trades and sells a bazillion copies which justifies the royalities. The inkers/colorists/letterers may make things look nice but I'm sure you could swap them out with other inkers/colorists/letterers on a book and no one would bat an eye. The same can't be said for writers/artists.

[The Toyroom]

Now if you've got someone like Isanove doing Jae Lee's backgrounds, then that may become a different matter entirely as Lee is apparently only doing half the work.