[The following is an edited copy of my first entry at the 'Introduce Yourself' thread over at Millarworld.net - I like how it came out, so decided to use it here as well.]

Hi everybody! My name is Ian Sokoliwski, and I'm a professional comic book colourist.

I've been working professionally in the industry for over seven years now (first as a Digital Artist over at Digital Chameleon, on just about every major title at one time or another, then as a freelance colourist associated with All Thumbs Creative), most recently on Volumes 1, 3, 4 and soon-to-be-released 5 of the Dark Horse reprint series 'The Chronicles of Conan', plus some other upcoming projects.
I'm also writing and pencilling my own stuff (who isn't ), with one mini-series being shopped around to publishers right now, and another one in the works (I'm having a local author do some editing on the script while I sketch the character designs; I'm hoping to begin pencilling in the next week), and another short story submitted to a prominent magazine.

Something James Cameron (the movie director, as opposed to the pizza delivery boy) said a while ago really stuck with me. He said that he didn't think he was the most talented director in Hollywood, and that nothing he did would ever fundamentally change how much raw talent he had. About the only thing he really could control was how hard he worked. So, he decided to be the hardest-working director in Hollywood.

That is how I tend to approach all my artwork. Other people have more talent, more raw genius, than myself; that is fine, I can't control that sort of thing. I can, however, continue to improve my work, apply myself, and work as hard as I can and to the best of my ability on each and every project (whether contract, commission, or for myself), and be the hardest-working colourist (and artist) around. This, I believe, has led to the success I've been enjoying, and I'm hoping it will propel me forward in my career.

...wow, that was a bit of a self-actualizing speech there:) Sorry, didn't mean to get quite so Tony Robbins on you all. It's just that that kind of focus and resolve has worked for me for the past few years, and I'm wanting to continue on with it.

Anyway, I'm attaching a few pieces of my work here from time to time

Here is another piece - I won a graphic design award with it in November 2003

That's some very nice work, Ian. I really like the "repulsor rays" in the second piece.

Ian,
Welcome to IMWAN
Great work. More artistic contributions to this area are encouraged and welcomed.

Leo

P.S. I administratively put a space in your user name. You can now sign in as "Ian Sokoliwski" and then your password.

Hey, welcome aboard, Ian! Glad to have ya here! And while
we're on the subject of Millarworld, may I ask if you found us
through the link I posted in that thread? I'm sorta keeping
score on who I bring in, y'know?

Anyway, it's good that you're here, hope ya like it, feel
free to post any artwork ya want (& if ya know any other
artists invite them too).

BTW, those art pix are unbelievable. But you need to
put a link to your website in your signature.

Ian,

Nice stuff! Is the second one an original character of yours? More, please!

Yup that is how I found the place

And I'll be updating the signature soon

Thanks everyone for your welcomes and kind words - here is another pic of mine

Oh, and yes, that robot character up there is an original of mine, it is 'Agent Hermes'

Who are those guys?!?! They look like candidates for HeroClix, if ya ask me!!!

Those are the Raven Brigade, the main characters in my webcomic 'Tales of the Tower Raven', which is on my website.

Here is another one - a commissioned piece.

Here is one that I'd kinda developed for a little while.

Basically, I was trying to get a particular action sequence of Black Canary - particularily, the bit where she is grabbing onto the back of the truck and whipping herself around to smack the bad guy in the face with her boot. Just that sense of motion and heaviness, of the force of the blow.

Nice. Ya ever think about pursuing animation work?
For some reason it looks to me like your style would fit
well in that field.

That isn't something I've thought too much about - I'm pretty set on continuing my career in comics (though with a few side gigs from time to time outside the industry).

My style of illustration used to be more crosshatch-heavy, with more detail on the figures. Since I've been doing the colouring thing, however, I find I prefer to let my figures become more open, less cluttered, to allow the colouring techniques to come through more.

But on that subject, here is a pencilled piece that I've done recently - when I have some spare time, I'll be colouring it up as well.

Well, it was mostly that Black Canary piece that made me think
of animation. If not that exactly, then I could definately see you
drawing one of the cartoon adaptation books. That Black Canary shot
looks like it could be straight out of Justice League Adventures.

The barbarian looks good, too. I'll be interested in seeing
how ya color it in.

Here's another one - a commissioned piece, but of a character type that I really enjoy working on - did I mention that Iron Man was one of my all-time favourite characters?

Now, from a technical perspective, there is a reason that the background is so sketchy and rough (without even a ruler used to line up the windows) - I was more interested in bringing focus onto the character (and the smoke/mist he generates), so I deliberately left the background dodgy like this.

I don't rely on this technique too often, but once in a while, especially where it creates a dramatically different texture (from the hard, shiny foreground character), I find it can really work.

Now, here is the coloured version of that Barbarian picture

So Ian, what made you go from just pencilling to also coloring?

Well, honestly, it was opportunity.

See, there used to be that comic colouring/separating company here in Winnipeg (Digital Chameleon) and, the idea of actually being able to work on comics in a studio setting (being able to learn from a lot of other people on a daily basis, getting to work on a variety of titles all at the same time) was extremely compelling.

Plus, at the time, they (Digital) were more interested in people who could illustrate well rather than who were particularily proficient in computers or computer colouring in particular (figuring it is easier to teach an artist how to use Photoshop rather than teach a computer jockey how to decide things like light sources, colour theory, things like that).

So, after lots and lots of samples sent in, one interview and test (that didn't get me the job) and another one eight or ten months later (which did get me the job the same day), I got started on working on comics (my very first job was laying down basic flat colours on an issue of Hellblazer). I soon found I had the 'knack' for colouring (and even for digital inking, which I've done a huge amount of over the years, although none prior to my position at Digital), and began exploring more and more how to improve my work in colouring, digital inking, heck even troubleshooting printing problems.

Now, here it is, seven years later, and I'm freelancing, getting my name in books, and looking for new opportunities all the time. I'm even writing my own stuff (I just had an outline for a story critiqued by a friend of mine who is a published author, and he thinks my stuff has a real shot of being picked up) and looking at getting into pencilling.

Now, I know my pencils are the weakest part of my art, and constantly need improvement (for instance, I've had this 'Baldwin the Barbarian' picture critiqued and ripped apart on a number of different boards - all valid criticisms, and I'm happy to get the response - I'm wanting to improve my anatomy skills in pencilling), so doing pro pencilling in someone elses' book is a long-range plan at best, but it is still something to shoot for.

That is very nice stuff. I like the last few more than the first few. Keep at it, guy!

It is interesting how everybody has different tastes - most folks tend to prefer the first few pics I have up on this thread to some of the later ones - I like finding people who like different ones from the more popular pictures.

And thanks

Speaking of 'different' ones, here is a piece that is done entirely digitally - normally, I draw the pictures out in pencil (and sometimes then hand-inked) then scan them in to paint in Photoshop. This one, however, was originally drawn freehand in Photoshop.

I really like Goth stuff, and keep meaning to do more stuff like this.

Here is another little piece.

Here is one I just finished - I'm not too sure about it (it was kinda an experiment...)

Y'know, for some reason I just reread that & I realized what a truely profound comment that Cameron made, & what a perfect attitude that is to have. And I agree totally. I've seen plenty of people with natural talent in all sorts of things, be it art, writing, some sort of sport or playing music, but they never do anything with it. And at the same time, I'm sure we've all seen people in all sorts of creative fields who we think aren't that talented, yet they're successful anyway. So really, all you can do is push yourself to do your absolute very best at what it is you want.