Tribal Council Meet & Greet with Alex Sinclair

This week we’re bringing you a very special edition of the Tribal Council. I got the opportunity to chat with Alex Sinclair.  You may know his art from any number of a mountain of books that he’s colored.  Amazing titles like Superman, JLA, BatMan, Astro City: The Dark Age and quite possible the most viewed piece of comic book art ever…the DC Superheros Google Homepage Image. I’m thrilled to have had the chance to speak with him and am equally thrilled to share it with you.

Tribal Council: The question I always like to start with is…whats your favorite color and why?

Alex Sinclair: Navy Blue-It’s soothing and authoritative at the same time. Strong in value, but not overwhelming. Can stand on it’s own. And it’s COOL (get it?)

TC: For those of you who don’t know you or your work, tell us a little about yourself and what you do.

AS: I was born in Mexico (City) and moved to San Diego as a teen ager. I still live in San Diego with my beautiful wife Rebecca and 4 equally beautiful daughters Grace, Blythe, Meredith and Harley.  Back in 1992-93, Homage Studios (now WildStorm) ran a talent search in the back of WildC.A.T.s #2. I sent some coloring samples in and got a phone call a couple weeks later with an invite to try out as a colorist. 16+ years later, I’m still coloring comics for a living. I’ve worked on pretty much every character in the WS and DC Universes. Astro City put my name on the map, but it was Batman: Hush that thrust me in the spotlight. I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of working with incredibly talented people (some of them my favorite artists and inkers of all-time) and some great editors as well. My other artistic love is drawing and painting wildlife. I was able to translate that into a great opportunity a few years ago when I started teaching art classes and creating art for the San Diego Zoo’s education Department.

TC: What got you into comics and when was it?

AS: My brother and I shared a love for comics ever since we were very young. We grew up close enough to the US border so we subscribed to a bunch of books (FF, Uncanny, Amazing Spider-Man) and raided 7-11’s racks every time we drove to Tucson. We also bought spanish translations of many books all of which we would read and then try to draw after.

TC: Do you have any techniques you use to decide what types of color pallets to use?

AS: Yes and no. For the most part the script will dictate the lighting based on the setting and/or time of day. Sometimes an artist will ask for a specific effect here and there. Other than that I just go with what feels right for a scene (never just a page or panel). Sometimes a color scheme comes to me just by looking at the art. There’s also times when I skip scenes because it’s just not “saying” anything to me. In Superman:For Tomorrow, I decided to let the characters dictate the color schemes–Superman always brought purples and indigos with him, the priest golds and yellows and the villain reds. There’s also times that I just get tired of a color and refuse to use it (see All-Star Batman and Robin #10 and guess what color I hated after that one)

TC: How do you think colors help tell a story?

AS: Mood and continuity. Nothing can kill a story worse than a poorly colored scene. I strive to inject mood into every scene I color so I watch a lot of movies and draw inspiration from that. As colorists, we also have to play a small editorial role in making sure we don’t disturb the continuity of the story. Gets confusing if the costumes or settings don’t match something that appeared before.

TC: Do you have any advise for aspiring colorists?

AS: Listen to any advise artists give you–not just the criticism, but listen out for the stuff they DO like so you can continue to show that. Definitely look at what other colorists are doing in the business, but don’t limit your inspiration to just that. I use movies and interior decoration magazines to come up with new schemes. Oh, and Don’t give up!

TC: If you had to condense the entirety of your job down one sentence…what would it be?

AS: Photoshop DOESN’T have a “render” button or filter.

TC: Everyone can find your work at your DA site (http://sinccolor.deviantart.com/) but what else do you have coming up?

AS: I am about to start Batman and Robin #5 and Blackest Night #4. Volume 4 of Astro City the Dark Ages is starting soon and I am working with Sam Kieth again on a Batman Graphic Novel. Oh and I hear some guy named jim Lee has been drawing All-Star BnR pages!

HUGE thank yous to Alex for taking a few minutes out of his day to talk to us. Be sure to check out his work and if you see him at a convention give him a hand shake for me!