With colourist training, become a true colour professional who masters new technologies.
The role of the colourist
As their name suggests, colourists are specialists in colour and its practical application. The colourist is an artist with a particular feel for the perception and rendering of colours. The colourist must have an ‘eye’, a sense of observation.
Skills and qualities
Passionate about drawing, the arts and artistic techniques, animation colourists have a dexterity for drawing and colour and an excellent command of digital tools. A perfectionist, they have an acute expertise and sensitivity for colour and video. Rigour is often accompanied by meticulousness, especially when it comes to art.
Colourists know how to adapt their knowledge to the director’s creation and understand the worlds they are supposed to enhance.
They are called upon in post-production to develop visual productions and can therefore work in a variety of sectors:
- Comics, where they determine and then apply colour to the plates supplied to them, while adjusting shadows and light. He works in continuity with the author,
- Print, where he works with the client to design the computer colours required, then ensures the quality of the print,
- Video games, where he has to deal with rendering issues depending on the hardware used, because colours come out differently depending on the media.
- Animated films, where they have to harmonise the colours to make the whole look linear while adding density and effects.
Computer tools are increasingly powerful in this field, and colourists need to master specific software that is constantly evolving. The science of colour requires expertise and adaptability.
Career and development opportunities
Colouring techniques are an integral part of graphic arts training. In fact, artistic careers are based on a solid course of study. The Illustration Concept Art course (over 840 hours of lessons in one year) will give you the keys to this profession when you leave the school, where the course lasts 3 years (certified to RNCP level II).
Whether employed or self-employed, colourists can work in a print shop, in collaboration with a comic book artist or as part of the team on an animated film or video game.
Salary and career opportunities
Getting started can be tough. It’s best to diversify your sources of income (advertising, communications, press, animated films). The salary of an animation or non-animation colourist varies from company to company. As an employee, they earn €1,400 a month at the start of their career.
Over time, a colourist with the necessary training and qualities can also progress to management positions.
