The Cooper Apparatus

I'm always fascinated to get a look at other people's studio set ups, especially when it's someone whose work I love. Dave Cooper is one such artist, and his contraption for easy painting set up/knock down/adjustment is as ingenious as his artwork. (Thanks to Jesse LeDoux for alerting me to this.)

Dave Cooper: Teacher of The Year

This has popped up on Boing Boing and the Fantagraphics Flog, but it's too rich a resource to not re-post here. Dave Cooper (who is sadly missed in the comics world) is one jawdroppingly good painter, but he's also phenomenally generous with handing out information and precise documentation of his working process. Click through his images (if you're okay with Rubenesque cartoon baby-women engaging in sweaty, semi-translucent coitus) and get a free ticket through art school.

In the digital realm, Dave wrote a really excellent article on how to color line drawings in Photoshop. I stumbled across this a couple years ago at the San Diego Comic Con. It was in the Summer 2002 issue of Draw! Magazine (issue 4), which can apparently still be purchased here. It's only a four page article, but it's very clearly laid out. And though Dave's method of setting up files differs slightly from mine, I certainly can't argue with the results: he's got some of the best coloring out there today, be it paint or pixels.