Secrets Revealed: Richard Corben's Color Technique Explained!

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[@russworks2882]

It was more insane than even what Richardson writes here. When Corben went freelance he bought a copy camera to shoot his own separations. As the undergrounds went into a slump, he made a chunk of his income by doing separations for the color sections that had begun to appear in Warren magazines, and you can see some of the early missteps in some of the first tries, with oversaturated or overly dark colors on some pages. In the early 80's there was an extensive monograph published called Richard Corben: Flights into Fantasy, with as complete a Corben history as you're likely to get. Within, the color process is explained in excruciating detail: there is a black continuous tone foundation sheet and every color gets four overlays, each a different percentage. They use as an example, for cyan you might have a 90% cyan overlay, a 60% overlay, a 40% overlay and a 20% overlay. Corben would work on each overlay, outlining and then opaquing the dark areas and using the airbrush to blend the edges and areas of gradation. He did this on 12 layers of color and the black base plate. Then the exposed negatives were shot through the corresponding screens. There's more to it than even this, but at this point I feel like I'm speaking in tongues.

[@stevena488]

I'll say this much, Corbens illustration style and his use of colour was one of the best in comics. He's one of my biggest regrets to not actually try and contact the man and maybe get an understanding of his process. This is the next best thing, seeing how his stuff was made. This is probably my favourite episode of Kayfabe.

[@photoboyjet]

I was in the right place at the right time when underground comics were in their heyday. I have all of the Corben undergrounds, Anomaly, Slow Death, Fantagor, etc. When I heard that he did his own color separations, I was stunned (I was a commercial art student at the time and knew some of the color separation basics), especially that he was able to achieve such stunning color effects with just black ink or paint on acetate. Being able to predict the final look was pure genius.

[@henryscurry7611]

"RICHARD CORBEN WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE ARTIST!!!!!!"....."R.I.P. RICHARD CORBEN!!!!!"

[@tommorris2446]

Corben the God of Color!!!

[@dopecomics]

Not only are his boards rendered with pencil or paint, but the addition of the airbrushed forms in the color created such astounding three dimensional pictures. I was absolutely stunned when I saw Den. The mystery of the process was so alluring and fascinating.

[@JeetHeer1]

John Adkins Richardson is an interesting character. He did a lot of underground comix in the 1970s while also working as an art history professor at Southern Illinois University. He's still around at age 92! Might be worth an interview -- I think Gary Groth knows him (interviewed him in TCJ back in the day).

[@MrSamfonseca]

Seeing Richard Corben's colors makes me ponder about all the "basic" colors I do on my stuff..!

[@charlessampson6426]

Richard Corben - the best of the best !!!

[@brianapodaca4222]

Yassss!!! "The Complete Book of Cartooning!" I've been waiting for this one!!!!!

[@angularfpv6572]

I worked in prepress as a digital cooler separation technician in the late 80’s and witnessed the end of the above mentioned camera techniques and the incredibly talented “film strippers” of the day. No one ever mentions trapping which compensates for unlike adjacent colors and these guys could do it with light tables and film. I feel blessed to have witnessed the traditional prepress methods before they literally vanished within a decade. Corben’s knowledge of the 4-color process is astounding, but omg I can’t even begin to imagine the sheer amount of time that would have taken to accomplish.

[@dwaynemuth8775]

Excellent video! I discovered Corben in Heavy Metal back in ‘77 along side Moebius! Den has those gorgeous colors that ya never forget! Please put more Corben under the microscope! The Hellboy stuff especially! Thanks again,guys for ALWAYS keeping it great!

[@jaythomas4536]

Corben was such an incredible artist. His style and colors were so beyond everyone else.

[@aaronsasson5148]

Corben put out a big book of anthology horror stories a couple years before he passed and it's absolutely remarkable. I highly recommend checking it out.

[@danelsen1278]

Thank you SO much for doing this video! Richard Corben is my all time favorite artist and I’ve always been so curious as to how he achieved these amazing colors and airbrushed techniques that blend so seamlessly with the line art. I must confess I’m still a little confused about it, but that’s probably because I still don’t have a clue what color seps actually are. I get the concept of the pieces of color film that are cut out to fit the images, but they still called out the “color separator” in the early 90’s image comics, but I know they were coloring digitally by then, and I didn’t think you’d use those same techniques with the digital process. Either way, what Corben did seems close to magic, and I love the experimentation and trial and error it sounds like he did throughout the 70’s. Even his black and white art from back then had that airbrushed look (Bloodstsr is a good example). Just amazing beyond belief. So cool you guys figured it out and I appreciate all the codes you guys have cracked about all these amazing artists. Thanks guys!!

[@raydillon]

Wow, I had no idea he was working that way. That's incredible! How cool would it be to see him doing that process?! Would you guys ever consider attempting to recreate a technique like that in a video? That would be cool to see.

[@seanvolk4202]

Learned about him through heavy metal cartoon. I found out he also made little sculptures to help get anatomy and lighting accurate. True comic creator.

[@EdBickfordillustration]

can you guys direct me to a Simon Bisley process? ive been looking for his process for painting. thanks.

[@blzimbub]

Thank you! This is so great, I hope you will continue to explore his works and take us all along with you.

[@mergopetrichor199]

The sheer variety and breadth of info you bring daily continues to stagger. Thanks again for an amazing video! As I’m working on making my own stuff and figuring out the nuts and bolts, your videos have been invaluable resources!