Every single day I get asked by an artist on how to draw a certain thing, and/or whether I could critique their portfolio. My inbox is so backed up with these requests that, while I always try to respond and help, I'm usually never caught up. This tells me a few things:

1. Comic book/storytelling art is as popular and more accepted than ever. When I was young, comic books and comic book art were generally (with some exceptions) discouraged, especially in the art classroom. Nowadays, as I occasionally play guest speaker to classes, it is obvious how much more mainstream it is to both boys and girls. Especially with the explosion in popularity of graphic novels--it is now not unheard of to have them supplement certain classes in their curriculum.

2. Due to this mainstream popularity, there are now aspiring artists of all levels (a startling number of them just starting out) eager to improve their work as quickly and efficiently as they can.

3. These aspiring artists don't have the proper resources in their schools (or any place else convenient) to learn from. Art schools can be very expensive.

4. The internet has allowed an easy way for aspiring artists to connect with other artists, and especially connect with pros who can give practical, no-nonsense advice. This is especially useful for those who cannot make it to comic book conventions to show their portfolios to pros in person.

Nowadays, books, videos, online courses, and even Android/iPhone/iPad apps have exploded onto the scene with very detailed and great information on art technique. A lot of this is thanks to the digital age as each medium can promote each other for yet further information. In this entry (Part 1 of 2), I would like to highlight Hi-Fi Colour Design.

If you're any type of regular comic fan/reader, then you know the name Hi-Fi Colour Design. Headed by Brian and Kristy Miller, they and their team's vibrant, painterly color art have graced too many top comic book titles from many publishers to name. I myself have had the honor and pleasure of working with them over the years in my work.

They also have excellent learning resources for those who want to learn (or get better at) digital coloring for comics, or just learn a few more Photoshop tricks that can apply to any digital art form: Hi-Fi Color for Comics (now sold out--read on...), Master Digital Color, and How to Paint Comic Books with the iPad.

Going back to their now out-of-print hit Hi-Fi Color for Comics, Brian and Kristy launched a Kickstarter about a month ago (you may have read about it already from various media outlets--it has gotten quite a bit of buzz!) to help fund a revised and updated Hi-Fi Color for Comics! Not only will it include brand new teaching material, but a slew of exclusive new artwork from industry pros (including yours truly--check the link for a list of names) to help with coloring tutorials.

Although I meant to help promote this sooner, the Kickstarter has already been wildly successful and funded with 3 days left to go! Now the goal is to unlock another killer Stretch Goal (as of this writing, 2 have been unlocked, and we need to hit the $25,000 mark to unlock the next one!).

I am very excited for this book and can't wait to get my copy; Hi-Fi are true professionals with stellar work and knowledge to learn from. I have personally backed this project already, alongside my side business (segue into Part 2 later...) Art Samurai drawing workshops as we believe in and support affordable art education that should be available to art lovers everywhere. Again, if you're any type of artist looking to get cutting edge coloring techniques (this knowledge also applies to traditional art/painting, too, folks!), I encourage you to chip in a few bucks to support this project, and once you get the book, I guarantee you'll be blown away by the art and information!

Hi-Fi Color for Comics Kickstarter page and information.

Hi-Fi Colour Design Official Site

Hi-Fi Colour Design Facebook Fan Page