The Art Of Comic Book Inking Pdf

[Mei Li Wu]

Cool post Jim. I think inking is like the Bass player of comics. Underappreciated but usually incredibly talented. I point to the work of Steve Leiloha on Fables for an example of what inking can do. I never appreciated the art of inking until really seeking out how his work has enhanced the work of others.

There are pros and cons to the use of each. Basically it comes down to the look you want to achieve, and your own preferences in inking. I like both and use both together, but primarily I use a pen because I like the rougher, more imperfect line of a pen as opposed to the very smooth line of a brush. I think a pen has more personality. I use the brush for big, sweeping curved lines that a pen would not be able to accomplish in one stroke. I also use a brush to lay in solid blacks and for use in certain circumstances like long hair and feathering I want to look smooth.

When the nib is perpendicular to the page, there is only a tiny amount of nib, and therefor, ink, in contact with the page. This means that when you pull the nib along the page, only a small amount of surface tension is pulling at the ink in the reservoir. So a thin line is the result.

PS: I draw with a RULING PEN. It looks like a sort of caliper, with a little roller that opens and closes the gap. It works very much like a brush, and also offers very tight control of fine lines. Not good for changing direction though. It gouges into the page very easily. But I love it. It gives me the loosest, dirtiest line I could want (when I want it), and a very tight line if I need it.

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There are a lot of other nib sizes you can get to ink with but the 102 was the nib of choice and to this day still is. Quill pens are used mostly in calligraphy but can easily be used for comics and cartooning. If you are going to use a quill pen you will need the other component which is the ink. As an example I am showing Dr. Martins Hi Carb Black Star ink, but there are several on the market such as Pelikan, Higgins Black Magic, Speedball Super Black India ink, Koh-I-Noor Black India Ink, Blick Black Cat and Daler Rowney Pro inks.

Now the other tool, which is my favorite of the two and one which I think every artist should own is a brush. The most popular brush for comic inking that I always saw mentioned by pretty much every inker ever interviewed is the Windsor Newton Series 7 No. 2 brush. It is a natural sable hair brush, meaning the hairs are from a small mammal called a sable, or can also be from a weasel. Both are small animals that are similar to ferrets. The fine hair of the brush holds a good amount of ink and is capable of making the finest thin lines to very thick expressive lines. Also when you have to fill in large areas of black you can do that easily with this brush.

Other brushes in this category that are equally as good are the Raphael Kolinsky No. 2 and the Isabey 6222 No. 3. Both are equally as good as the Windsor Newton. These type of brushes vary in price depending on where you buy them. They may seem a bit pricey, but if you take care of the brushes they will last quite a long time.

One thing to keep in mind, inking with a brush requires a lot of patience and skill, so like the crowquill, you have to put in the time to study and practice your technique. Once you get the hang of it the brush will be your best friend!

A similar type of pen to the Pocket Brush pen is the Pentel Fude Brush Pen. This pen has a similar brush tip to the Pocket Brush pen. The long handle is a softer plastic that you can squeeze to feed ink into the brush tip. These are similar to some degree to Sumi Brushes. Again, an excellent tool for spotting blacks or doing fine line work.

Next up we have brush tip pens, but these have flexible nibs as opposed to actual brush hair tips. There are several brands on the market each with their own feel and performance. I would encourage you to try out a bunch of them and see which ones you like the best. After all, the best tool for the job is the one that makes you feel comfortable using it. These area bit cheaper than the hair brush tipped pens and can be found online or at any art store. I will say that most of these seem to come out of Japan, so kudos to Japan for making really cool art tools! I guess we should thank the Manga artists as it seems that is the market in Japan that these pens are made for. Anyway, here are a few you may want to check out.

The Sakura Pigma Brush pen is a a nice option. The pen tip is capable of making nice thick and thin lines and the nib glides smoothly over the paper surface. You can find these in a Hobby Lobby for about $3-4. They do sell sets of 6 pens in various colors for about $10-12.

These are Copic Multiliners, they come is an A set and a B set. These technical pens are refillable and you can get replacement tips if they wear out or break. Plus they are made by Copic. Everyone knows that Copic makes the best markers and their pens are no slouch either. The fact that you can buy replacement tips, nibs and inks for their pens and markers make them an attractive piece of kit. These come in other sets with more sizes, this is just the one I have on hand.

Prismacolor Premier pens are another brand of technical pens that are popular. These are not refillable so once they die out you have to buy more. You can get sets like this or individual pens. This set also comes with the standard sizes .005 through 1.0 and a brush and chisel point nib. There is another set similar to this called Prismacolor Premier Illustration Marker Set for Manga which is geared toward manga/comic artists, but they are essentially the same type of pens, though the manga set may have a few different pens in addition.

So now that you know what type of tools you can buy to make awesome ink illustrations, what happens if you make a mistake? Or a big blob of ink falls off your crowquill onto the paper. Or, what if you want to make those cool rain lines or splatters that Jim Lee does on all of his drawings. Well, this is where your trusty brush comes in along with the aid of a bottle of Pro White.

Pro white is a paint like substance that can be used full strength or can be thinned out. If you make a mistake inking you can just paint over it with pro white to essentially erase the erroneous ink mark. In addition to masking out mistakes, you can use pro white to paint areas of white, flick some off the edge of a business card onto your drawing to make grungy splatter effects and use it to outline objects in the drawing to make them pop or separate. This is useful stuff so keep a few bottles on hand, you will need it!

Many people of all ages are very fascinated with comics compared to other printed media. Kids and teenagers will immediately be impressed with all the illustrations that literally bring the story and its characters to life. Comic book artists that have years of experience seem to have no problems in rolling out future publications and the quality of these comic books show. One advantage that many of these artists have is the use of computers to come up with digital versions of comics. These comics can not only be printed with amazing detail but also posted online. This is probably a good path for you to start, but you risk skipping significant comic procedures like the inking comic process.

Comics have been around far longer than graphics applications so it certainly helps to know how to make your own comics the traditional way. The process in making comic book illustrations actually has several phases but do not let it intimidate you. Once you learn the ropes in creating comic books, you should have an advantage of bringing out your creativity in digital or using the marker and that gives you the most flexibility. First, you will start with the sketching and you can quickly do that with a pencil and paper. With these two basic materials, you can practice different designs and make erasures if necessary. Your creativity goes to work already and once you are done, you can proceed to the next big stage, which involves inking comic sketches.

Inking is a refining process that builds on the sketch that you made. At first, you might consider this as tracing since you are making the penciled edges more visible but this inking comic process involves so much more. Inking gives you a chance to make certain areas of the sketch stand out more and can double as a guide to coloring the rest of the highlights. The more defined comic book illustrations have lighting and depth and inking also gives you the opportunity to create that depth and perspective.

Some creative comic artists make use of colored pencils because they give them finer control over coloring. They are commonly used for tracing so you can predetermine which areas should not have any coloring. If you have erasers and white out at your disposal, you can quickly make the correction and proceed with your comic inking.

Since your jar of ink may have a lot of ink, it is best to conserve by placing just a little bit of ink in a smaller container or cap for easy dipping. Before working with the India ink, you must first dip your instrument in water. Have a paper towel ready because you are going to absorb any excess water. Once finished, dip your pen gently to get some ink and use the same paper towel to absorb the excess ink.
This is where the actual inking comic process begins and you can come off to a good start by focusing on the larger areas first. Sketches look pretty lifeless because of the areas that have a lot of white space. Focusing on those areas first really give you progress and guides you on what areas you should tackle next.

Take the opportunity to figure out where the light source is because this step will involve the necessary shading to give your subject a sense of perspective. To get a better grasp of the concept, it is best to try this out with a comic book character. The idea is to draw additional accents and lines on areas where the light source will hit so you can then determine what shading needs to be applied.

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