Meet Carl Dutch” Dutchin | Professional comic book flat colourist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carl “Dutch” Dutchin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carl “Dutch”, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
I am a professional comic book flat colourist. Most people are unaware of what a flat colourist does since mainly we are subcontracted to do the “heavy colouring” but the next colourist who renders the art, or makes it look nice, is credited on a comic. What a flat colourist or flatter does, once the line art is either pencilled or inked, is make selectable colours for every thing drawn in a panel. Some panels are simple and easy if there are one or two characters. We try to use the natural colour when a person or item isn’t being lit by ambient light etc and make everything a true to the characters costume. E.g. for Superman, I would chose a blue that wasn’t too dark or oversaturated, outline that, and then breakdown the rest of his costume (reds, yellow, etc.) If it is a sense where a person is at their desk, everything on it from the phone, lamp, pencils, desk, would be all broken down. It takes a lot of time to do so. That way when it is sent to be rendered, the next colourists can use their magic wand, select blue in Superman’s suit and add lighting and shadow to it. They don’t have to fill anything in. Maybe adjust colours or set the mood to match the script. Many people, even those in the industry thinks only one person, the colourist, colours it.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am inspired by artists like Adam Hughes, Steve Rude, JC Leyendecker for their naturalistic art style. My art style is to get the likeness of a person or make a character look as realistic as possible without that hyper realism. One of the things that sets me apart is I draw people as they look. Superheroes with realistic like bodies especially women. I love when people come up to my table at conventions and admire how natural they look. Nothing over-sexualized or too unrealistic unless it is called upon (tastefully.) I do that because I have two daughters and want to give them good feeling about themselves on appearance and for other kids as well. What I am most proud of is starting my own creator owned comics, The Wayfarer, TRIBE, and Demon Hunter Jose (the last two TBD when they’ll be released.) It was and is hard to come up with a script, then to do the line art and get it to look like I want it to, and then colour it. My first issue Kickstarter was successfully funded with the first 48 hours and getting read to gather material to launch my second Kickstarter for issue 2. But it took starting as a flat colourist with HiFi to help me understand the creative process of the comic book industry. Once I was established and proved how quick I can turnaround a page or an illustration for various artists and colorist, word spread about me. It wasn’t easy but it did fit into my business and vision plan that I laid out for my freelance illustration business. One of the main lessons I learned is to charge what I am worth be it as a flat colourist or doing an illustration for a client. Luckily I did some home work before I began this and the readers should know that too. Go to a convention and talk to many artists, from small to big name artists to find out what to do. What their business model is and lesson they learned from their many, many failures and take note. Many people think you can just show up at a convention or a farmers market to sell their work but you need to have a business license for the city you are showing in. What does that cost and how do you file your taxes. What are the costs for getting a table? If you travel to another city, you’ll need a license there or tax form to fill out as well as hotel, travel costs. Then it is pricing your art. One of the big things I find troublesome is you’ve done all this work to get setup and you sit looking at your phone the entire time. You have many other artists to compete with as well as to work together to help one another make money, but if your head is down or you look uninterested, many people will walk by. I get approached by parents asking how their talented kid can do this and they say “she/he/they are an introvert, so they probably can’t sell anything.” Which, I in turn, disagree with them. Many people think I am an introvert but it’s really that we creatives expend so much energy on our art, that at the end of the day, we are tired. We “vomitted” our creative energy and takes time to recharge. When you are at a table, you aren’t drawing all the time so that creative energy has to go out somewhere and it begins by saying to people as they walk by “Hi or good morning/afternoon. How are you doing? Please … feel free to look through.” Comment on their costume or shirt. And if they buy or don’t buy something, always say “Thank you! Comeback again. Here’s my card and have a great con.” Same thing when you ship something someone buys from you, thank them. Encourage them to comeback. As for my brand, I believe in my motto of “Visuall storytelling through illustration.” That I will listen to what you want drawn, sketch something out for your approval , and once that is given, start the work. I want you to be happy and to comeback again. That I am reliable and have integrity like a verbal NDA (non disclosure) so your art won’t be shown by me unless given permission to do so but only after it has been released.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
When a friend visits, I would take them to downtown Chandler to enjoy the Perch and other restaurants in the area. The next day would be to visit downtown Gilbert and enjoy many of the restaurants like Liberty Market down there. Usually most people would want to go to the Grand Canyon but I would drive to Payson or Prescott to enjoy the cooler clime that is reminiscent of my home state of MN or even the red rock of Sedona. I am still exploring Arizona and really amazed at how you have different temperate zones in one state, especially Sedona. I loved just exploring the town and going to slide rock. Most of us in the midwest who’ve never left always thought this was desert and would be happy to show them otherwise.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to thank my NLP therapist, Geoff Danes at Inspires LLC to helping me get rid of my low self esteem issue and to my parents for supporting me. I’d especially like to thank Brian and Kristy Miller at the HiFi Colour Design for giving me a chance as a colourist and starting me on this foray into the comic book world.

Website: https://artworkbydutch.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dutchwho_arts/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artworkbydutch/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtworkbyDutch

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyWW4bWs_KghcS8ztQHLF8Q

Other: Youtube handle is @artworkbydutch

Image Credits
Black Cat ( Marvel comics), The Doctors and Sea Devil (BBC Corporation), The Wayfarer is credited to me, Carl Dutchin