June 15, 2006

Morry Hollowell: The Color of War
by Rik Offenberger

Morry Hollowell isn't a house hold name yet but he will be, he is providing the color art work for the hot summer hit from Marvel Civil War. In between deadlines Morry took some time out to explain to Newsarama readers how the coloring process works and how to get work in the comic book industry.

Newsarama: How did you decide to become a comic book colorist?

Morry Hollowell: Ever since I picked up my first comic I've wanted to draw them. I attended the Joe Kubert School of Art to become a penciller. I took on a side job while attending school, McNabb Studios, and became much better at coloring because of it. Repetition is the mother of skill. I still practice drawing my own stuff when I have the time.

NRAMA: How did you get the job at McNabb Studios?

MH: I left Alaska to go to the Kubert School and after my first year I didn't want to travel back. So I asked Mike Chen if he had any jobs for students over the summer. He let me know that McNabb Studios was looking to hire a colorist. So I interviewed for the job and was hired after a friend of mine turned the job down. www.McNabbStudios.com It's a studio ran by Mark McNabb. He taught me a lot about computer coloring. Great guy. He introduced me to his good friend Bart Sears who taught me even more about comics and would later tell me about the job at CrossGen.

NRAMA: What did you do there?

MH: We did lots of work. T-shirts, trading card boxes, etc but I remember doing mostly ad work for Marvel and other Marvel related projects. Like Blade and Wizard X-Men 1/2.

NRAMA: What type of tools are involved?

MH: I currently use a souped up G5 with Photoshop 7 installed. It has 2 monitors so that I have plenty of screen space and I use a Intuos 2 Wacom tablet so that I can mimic having an actual brush in my hand. I'm all about using my computer to mimic actual painting because that's what it is. It's just using a different tool to achieve the same result.

NRAMA: What type of training is involved?

MH: I grew up with a mom who knew how to paint so that was a real good start. Then I attended college for a year to learn more about computers before going to New Jersey to attend the Kubert School. Painting classes really helped me grow as an artist and having my side job at McNabb really helped me understand Photoshop.

NRAMA: How did you get the job at CrossGen?

MH: At the time I was out of school and I wasn't working for McNabb anymore. Because of finances I had taken a job fixing Apple computers for a living just to be able to stay in the Jersey area. I was very unhappy that I wasn't working in comics but I constantly went to conventions and drew backgrounds for people in my spare time. I later met Bart Sears at a convention in Chicago and he introduced me to CrossGen.

NRAMA: What did you work on there?

MH: Mainly Meridian. But I occasionally did work on some of the other books.

NRAMA: How do you land a job at Marvel?

MH: After some years at CrossGen the company came to an end and Steve McNiven who had already made the leap to Marvel asked them to get me on board. Marvel already had their eye on me so it was no problem hooking me back up with Steve again.

NRAMA: Can you take us through the coloring process? Do they send art, or digital files?

MH: Marvel sends me Digital files. Black and white scans of the artwork are placed on an FTP so that I can access them. I digitally paint them and send them back for print.

NRAMA: How much time do they give you to color a comic?

MH: That varies depending on the project. Plus I'm almost the last in line to receive the page so if anyone else falls behind It means I have less time but still need to meet deadline. But typically overall the penciller, inker, colorist and letterer have a month to do an issue.

NRAMA: How many hours go into a page?

MH: Again that varies depending on the pages content. I'm pretty slow so I'll spend anywhere from 10 - 16 hours on a single page.

NRAMA: If it takes you 10 - 16 hours to do a single page, and you have to do 22 pages a month, do you work on a page a day until you finish, or do you work 7 days a week?

MH: I have no set schedule so I just work when I can. Especially now that I have a beautiful daughter that's 7 months old. She needs lots of hugs so I schedule myself accordingly.

NRAMA: How do you make sure all the obscure heroes that show up in Civil War a the correct color, do they provide guides for some of the more unknown characters?

MH: Well there are very few characters that I don't know. I'm a huge comic collector. I'm at the comic store every Wednesday to pick up my stack, half of it is Marvel. So I usually know exactly what color the characters are. But in the rare occasion that I don't I just Google the character or send Molly or Tom, my editors, an e-mail.

NRAMA: There are a few titles that have the colorist work directly from penciled art and digitally ink the page during the coloring process. Does this provide a better look?

MH: Better? That depends on the artists. Some can make that look come across flawlessly. Some can make that look like they're missing an inker! It's personal taste I guess. I know a few people that swear it's the worst thing to happen to comics. I've seen a few things that would back that statement up but I've also seen some work that's blown me away.

NRAMA: What type of challenges does this present?

MH: Well when Steve has given me pencils they've been REALLY tight. So I don't really need to do to much clean up. When you get looser pencils you have to spend a lot of time cleaning them up. Getting rid of smudges, scratches and finishing anything that looks unfinished. Doing work like that can take me more than a day. You really have to pay close attention to everything you put down or it can come across sloppy.

NRAMA: Do you prefer working for penciled pages or inked pages?

MH: I prefer working on inked pages. I'm able to get more work done that way. Plus I've worked with some pretty great inkers. But you never know things may change one day...

NRAMA: As a colorist do you find there is much recognition for you work?

MH: We're starting to get more recognition that's for sure. This interview for example! Also I have my name on the cover of my books. But this really should be standard practice for comic companies now. Especially since coloring has reached a point where we're on equal ground with inkers. A colorist can really make or break a book these days.

NRAMA: You are working on the mega hit Civil War, does working on such a successful title increase demand for your work?

MH: I'm sure Civil War will but right now I'm just focused on working on the pages doing the best work I can. It's intimidating looking on the web and seeing how popular this is. I'll be able to answer this question better when it's done.

NRAMA: Any successful project is a team effort, how much credit are you given for a successful project?

MH: Hmmm. Good question. This is a team. Quite a few comics don't work that way but everyone on Civil War keeps in close contact. Which I think makes the book better and it shows. But as far as how much credit I get.... I'm not sure how to answer that or measure that rather. Whether I get to much or to little I'm really not sure. At the end of the day what really matters is that I've put out a good piece of art.

NRAMA: What do you have lined up after Civil War?

MH: A breather hopefully! I'm not sure what Marvel has planned. Hopefully it's something as cool as Civil War if not better! Can you imagine?