Boys and Girls I am really excited about this interview. I had the pleasure of talking with Brian Miller from HI-FI, only the best comic colorists that are out there right now. Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself. The proof is in their work. So without further hesitation, lets get this party started!
1. Who are you and where are you from?
My name is Brian Miller and I’m originally from the Kansas City, Missouri area and grew up in the amazing art & comics scene there which is heavily influenced by Hallmark greeting cards and for many years one of the major comic strip syndicates. My wife, Kristy, and I moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 2001 where there is also a huge comic scene including creators like Todd McFarlane & Brian Pulido as well as animation
greats like Don Bluth.
2. I am a big fan of your company. In a few words, would you please tell our readers exactly what Hi-Fi colour design is known for.
Hi-Fi is a digital color studio. We color & paint comic books as well as artwork for children’s books, toy companies, video game developers, and the occasional film or television project.
3. What titles are you currently working on?
With the New 52 things are always changing. We just finished up a bunch of villains month titles and at the moment we are coloring Justice League 3000, Pandora, and Batman: The Dark Knight for DC Comics. We are also coloring Rocketeer for IDW as well as some of the variant
X-Files covers illustrated by Joe Corroney. Speaking of Joe, we color some really amazing Star Wars art of his for Topps trading cards and Star Wars Insider magazine. I’m also really proud of the work we have been doing on Sidekick for J. Michael Straczynski as well as the occasional comic project with amazing creators like Terry Moore and Billy Tucci.
Recently it was rumored that Disney would announce a Space Mountain graphic novel at New York Comic Con and our name was associated with it. I can not confirm nor deny those rumors but I think everyone is in for a big surprise come NYCC.
Beyond mainstream comics the team at Hi-Fi has the pleasure of working on some amazing children’s projects. We are currently coloring many of the stories for Spongebob Squarepants comics as well as painting the Marvel Origins storybooks for Marvel Press. These are fully painted storybooks detailing the origins of your favorite marvel characters and teams and is one of the most amazing projects we have had
the honor to be a part of.
4. I am familiar with Hi-Fi’s work with some of the New 52 titles as well as some Star Trek stories. Do you have a favorite project?
I am asked that question often and I think when you work in the entertainment industry the answer is constantly changing. I would also imagine each of my studio mates would have their own personal favorites. When we were working with Christy Marx and Aaron Lopresti on Amethyst that was my current favorite. Today I’m coloring a J. Scott Campbell illustration and it is so much fun I can’t think of anything else, tomorrow there is an amazing Batman project illustrated by Ethan Van Sciver to get started. Every day brings something new and exciting to dive into at Hi-Fi which is what makes this job as a colorist so rewarding.
5. Where can my readers see more of your work?
The best place is to LIKE Hi-Fi’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/HiFiColourDesign
We also have a website at hifidesign.com where you can see samples of Hi-Fi’s color work as well as our art instruction books and tutorials.
6. When did Hi-Fi get its beginning and what was the first project?
I had been coloring small press and indy comics freelance for about 5 years when I started Hi-Fi and at first we were doing a lot of inking and coloring for small press books and showing our portfolio at conventions. One day I received a call from Rob Liefeld asking if I could color a few Cable pages. It was a big fight scene with Cable and Wolverine battling to the (near) death. I colored the 5 or 6 pages overnight and the next day I received a call from Marvel. I thought I was in trouble or has screwed something up. Luckily they were so happy with the color work they offered me the regular coloring gig on Cable. Within a few months Marvel had brought Hi-Fi onto X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and Wolverine as well. The studio grew with more talent and we slowly shifted our focus away from the inking side of things and focused 100% on digital color and the rest, as they say, is history.
7. What are your plans for the future?
I am very passionate about art education and that is something that carries over into Hi-Fi. We are very open about the tools and techniques we use and even have authored a few books and ebooks on the subject of digital coloring and digital painting. If you look at universities in Asia and South America they are really at the forefront of digital art education and sadly many schools in the U.S. have a large blind spot when it comes to digital artwork, especially as it relates to comic books. Art schools are just beginning to become aware of digital coloring and painting for comics as an actual profession. We have seen them beginning to offer programs to students and sometimes using materials created at Hi-Fi as part of their curriculum. We have been at the forefront of this movement to train the next generation of talent and are working hard to create updated and revised art education materials for use in schools and by individual creators. The comic book industry and fans have been supportive of Hi-Fi since the beginning and the best way we can repay that kindness is to help aspiring comic book colorists learn and perfect their craft.
