Kelly Fitzpatrick is a comic book colorist and illustrator who has worked on hundreds of comics since 2013. She's worked on some of the most popular franchises, over at Archie and Image.
Her work has been nominated and won numerous awards. In such a short period of time she has quickly climbed the ranks and is one of the best colorists in the industry.
With such a buys schedule, she still made time to do this excusive interview with us. Keep your eye out for future projects by following her on social media or her site, www.kellyfcolors.com
COMIC LOUNGE: When did your love for the comic book medium begin?
KELLY FITZPATRICK: Around middle school. I didn’t really have access to comics growing up.
CL: What prompted you to start a career in comics?
KF: The stories inspired me. I loved what you could do with comics that wasn’t possible in any other medium. I also loved the movies and cartoons that were inspired by comics. There was so much creativity and I could relate to the stories being told.
CL: What about coloring drew you to that side of the business?
KF: I actually accidentally fell into it? Originally I thought about being an inker or potentially a line artist, but as I started coloring- I realized it was an extension of my painting background and I fell in love with it. There’s so much story telling in coloring! I had no idea how far I could push things until I started coloring. Sometimes I still don’t know how far I can push things. Ha.
CL: How do you approach each scene when deciding the color palette you want to use?
KF: I don’t just think about things scene by scene. I think about the whole tonality of the book, how the coloring will suit the line art, and how to have the most emotional impact. Sometimes it’s subtle coloring that can further a story and sometimes it’s really vibrant, loud coloring that will suit the story. It is all situational.
CL: What tools do you primarily use for your work?
KF: PHOTOSHOP! I also have an old intuos 3 that’s my very old, precious wonder. Seriously, I have no idea how this thing is still kicking. I got it as a high school graduation present because my parents knew I would need one for design school back in 2006.
CL: Are there any other mediums you like to work in?
KF: I do my own illustrations that are either in ink wash/ ink or watercolor. I really like working traditionally in my off hours.
CL: Do you have any desire to do anything else in comics, such as penciling or writing?
KF: Nope! If anything, I’ve thought of becoming a yoga teacher.
CL: Are there any books you're currently working on that you can talk about or tease?
KF: I’ve got two graphic novels that I’m half way through with that haven’t been announced yet! They will both be around 180 pages! Both have AWESOME teams and I’m excited for them to be announced. LIVEWIRE just got announced this morning and I’m working on the next arc of QUINCREDIBLE and ARCHIE V PREDATOR 2!
CL: Are there any dream projects that you would like to work on?
KF: OF COURSE! There are so many people in comics I’ve never worked with- let alone properties. My dream gig would be to have an all woman team working on Batman.
CL: How important do you think it is for publishers to feature a more diverse group of creators?
KF: It’s massively important. I often related to white, male figures in comics growing up because of unrealistic story telling of female characters, or just a complete absence of them. They were always the cooler characters and weren’t sexualized in the way the women were. As someone who is ace- I also further identified with that.
CL: What does being an artist mean to you?
KF: It means I am trying to bring something honest into the world; sometimes something beautiful; sometimes something inspirational; but always I am creating something- be that as part of a team or independently. I strongly feel that if I’m not giving back to create something then what’s the point?