Help with colouring.

I do some drawing, and am thinking of applying to the guild. However, I generally only do pencil stuff, and it's usually black and white, so I was wondering, what would be a good way to do some colouring? would pencil be ok, or should I use a computer program? and if so, which ones are good, will photoshop do?

Tusserk

A looooot of people use photoshop, as far as I can tell! Digital is great when you're branching out in the world of colour, simply because erasing and starting over is ridiculously easy! It's also cleaner than real media, you can stop and start in the middle of things without a worry, and- at the basic level anyway- generally quicker to see results. You can save multiple iterations, and your house won't get as cluttered with half-finished artworks!!

That said, working in real media (pencil, paint, charcoal, pastels, it goes on...) is incredibly satisfying and will get you results that (at least without exceptional skill and the right programs) replicate digitally... at least, I know that's the case for me. Speaking for myself, getting a DECENT piece of art done in real media is a much larger investment of time and space, but when I put myself to the task and follow through to the end, it's totally worth it.

And to finish-- not every piece needs colour, in the end! Black and white art certainly has its place, too. :)

Judas

Most of my stuff nowadays is black and white. I'm slightly colour-blind, so I've never been comfy with the colour process. There are a few really good examples of straight pencil work on the site, too. Travis Moore's stuff comes to mind.....

CCR

I will only say that photoshop is pretty easy to come by.

Working digitally is a fantastic thing to practice at, especially if you have any desire to work professionally as an artist. Experimentation is safe, and once you get a handle on it, it's often much, much faster than working with traditional media. I agree with Tusserk that there's a great degree of satisfaction in finishing something the old fashioned way, but I think that often times it's ultimately impractical, and you can accomplish looks and techniques in ways that are quite difficult with traditional mediums.

Judas

Maybe you could hire the team of magical elves that Mercy uses.

I think Asok had a cybernetic third arm with it's own independant droid brain attached near the base of his spine.
He claims it's a piggy-tail, but I know better. It's a colouring arm.

I've seen 'em at Sears.