Courtesy photo LEFT: The cover to a ‘Starship Troopers’ comic that Alfredo Lopez Jr. colored. MIDDLE: Lopez colored the cover for ‘Femme Noir #3,’ which is being produced by Ape Entertainment. LEFT: A gory scene drawn and colored by Lopez for the VisitDeadEnds.com online novel.

WHO: Alfredo “Freddy” Lopez Jr., 35

MEDIA: Mostly digital; also acrylics and watercolors

BEST KNOWN FOR: His work as a colorist for printed and Web comics. Comics are generally written, drawn, inked and colored by different people. While it may sound easy to simply color in someone else's drawings, there is in fact an art to it. “Even though I do it on the computer (using Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter), I try to make it look like a painting” with ink spots, fades and different textures, Lopez said. “The reason I get paid to do this is because it looks more painted, a little grittier.” He worked on comics by Joe Staton (“Scooby Doo”), Nate Piekos (Blambot Comic Fonts) and other biggies in the mainstream and indie comic scenes.

Lopez also does fantasy and horror illustration work for RPG games. He has had his more traditional paintings of West Side scenes displayed at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center and Centro Cultural Aztlan. He's also a staple at local live art shows.

BACKGROUND: Lopez grew up on the West Side, attended Holy Cross High School and studied art at San Antonio College.

INFLUENCES: Comic book artists Ashley Wood and Alex Ross, fantasy artists Boris Vallejo and Frank Frazetta and, surprisingly, Norman Rockwell (“I grew up studying his artwork and trying to achieve that realism,” Lopez said) and Claude Monet (“The way he captured color was just amazing”).

DAY JOB: Multimedia developer for SRA International.

PERSONAL LIFE: Lopez  is engaged to fellow artist Alejandra Gomez.

CHECK HIM OUT: Dragon's Lair Comics and Fantasy, 7959 Fredericksburg Road, and Bob's Comics, 11781 West Ave., are currently carrying “After the Cape,” a series of comics by Howard Wong, with covers colored by Lopez. Lopez will be at Bob's Comics for Free Comic Book Day on May 3. Or go to lopezstudios.com.

Jessica Belasco | 210SA Contributor