COLORPAINT vs BW+INDIRECT COLORING

 Hello artist-stranger who visited this abandoned by GOD blog . well ok no long introductions lets jump right at the topic. I wish to share info about the points i had problems with , so people who have same troubles doing art can find out that they are not alone^^ And this topic gonna be useful PEOPLE WHO FACING PROBLEMS COLORING THEIR BLACK N WHITE pictures.Some people say that real pros doing only colorpaint and doing BW+later coloring is for noobs, some say that BW drawing is a best way to create a strong,correct value painting and is best way of drawing ever. I think it doesnt matter what people says , the only thing whats matter is the result. if its nice- who cares how you did it ? 
Color was a big problem for me since i first time sat infront the wacom tablet. The only was for me to draw a colored picture was draw it in color from the beginning ,because later i met a horrible problem trying to put a color above the BW pic. I knew that many artists easy doing it but all my efforts to cover bw with a color failed. Despite of i watched not a single tutorial about coloring bw pics i kept failing again and again. Seems like i am a bad pupil because i learn better on my own experience instead of learning it from others hehe and eventually i came up to the way of how to colorise my bw paitings. The portrait below was a simple daily portrait in grayscale (cuz lately i dig to bw portraits) i spend a couple hours drawing it (yeah i m sort of a turtle) and after a teabrake i thought "why not put a color on it ?" so i did.

 

 Next couple hours took me doing colorworks. The thing about doing colorworks (drawing in color from the start or coloring later - nevermind , what im gonna say next related to both of this ways, at least for me) is that its pretty hard to do without a solid idea. I almost never drawing anything without a solid idea. It doesnt mean that i planning every detail of a future painting in my head before draw a line. But it mean that when i ru Photoshop i know what i want to get in result: is a portrait of a cybergirl , futuristic vehicle, ancient warrior or a jumping giraffe. If you are doing good getting idea of what u drawing during the process is awesome! Im not gonna say that you doing painting wrong ^^ im just saying that for me is not that easy as for others. So if u have same troubles - dont worry, you are not alone :D (sounds like Optimus Prime "autobots, if u hear this message - u are not alone" ) ok lets continue. I guess i step out of main topic for a while but dont worry here we come close to the tutorial part

 Tutorial part

 Indirect color painting

Im pretty sure its a dozens of ways exist in coloring paintings but i ll share only the info i personally know and use. My friend usually starting color process by laying down gradient maps. For me this step not working and usually took me too much time for deal with maps so i skip it. On a pic below u can see is a pretty big number of additional layers above the original bw image.

 First of all - i dont use Overlay mode for coloring (exception is when i need to increase some contrast) the trick about Overlay mode is that easy changes values , it happens because Overlay mode Multiplying shadows and Dodgin' highlights, for coloring via Overlay u have to pick colors close to middle cross in color window (if u will overlay ur image with a 50% gray - you will see no changes, so pick ur colors on a shor range around the middle point in color window) .
Soft light mode works much more handy to me (despite of this way need more layers). First of all i like it because it makes small changes layer by layer and i no need to take so much care about color im pickin' because SoftLight will not burn my image as Overlay usually do^^
The ability of making light changes allows me to put more sub colors on a image without destructing main colors ( Skintone is a good example - its not same colored over all the face.)
"Doing changes is much more easly when u have many layers"
I use many layers for better controlling my coloring process. Dont try to put all the colors at one-two layers.  I divide it by purpose- layer for shadows,layer for lights,layer for stroke light,layer for lips,layer for hairs and etc. Dont forget to use layer Opacity slider - is also a nice way to establish saturation.
"Bring it back" in layer s list you can see adjustment layers (brightness/contrast and color balance) .
If you see that your colored painting going too far in contrast way from your original painting use Brightness/Contrast or "Levels or Curves for bring contrast and values back. "Color balance" layer is also a good way to make changes -i usually use it for try radical color changes or simply set warm/cold lights or shadows.
Well seems like its all i wanted to say about how i deal with indirect coloring. If  i left some white holes or u met troubles understanding me because of my crooked english feel free to ask me via email mia.digitaldust@gmail.com or my facebook  account  https://www.facebook.com/radioperson
Hope this novel was helpful