Art & Story – Your Comic From The Ground Up, Pt 6

[private]We’re back with another installment of the Your Comic From The Ground Up series, and this time it’s all about the inks! As with previous episodes, we begin with a theoretical discussion on this stage of the process, followed by some practical strategies to make your comic a reality.

Why use ink at all?
Though inking techniques were developed in order to make art reproducable using old technologies, the types of lines discovered by the past generations of cartoonists have contributed much to the language of comics. Lines communicate tone, emotion, and action–crucial story data in your comic.

When mindfully investigating how to best communicate your ideas through your comic, a careful meditation on how ink lines work will provide you with an even wider array of options and tools to make your story everything you want it to be.

Theory

3 Basic Considerations of Lines
Line Value
Line Style
Line Clarity
Line Value

The variation of line widths that comprise your shapes–tends to give your illustrations a more “subjective” feel
Heavy Lines

• Around curves
• Around “heavy” objects
• Around objects closer to the viewer

Thinner Lines

• Around longer, straighter shapes
• Around “lighter” objects
• Around distant objects

Fixed-Width Lines–tend to feel “objective”

• Used for inanimate objects
• To create an image without an explicit “feeling”–even people

Line Style

The kinds of lines you use will contribute to the tone of the work

• “Contour” style
• Heavy blacks and/or texture
• Brush style (both clean and dry)
• Mechanical style (Rapidographs or Microns)

Line Clarity

The combination of line styles you use will also contribute to the tone of the work–in this way, you can consider the various line styles as “primary” components of your overall style that can be combined into “secondary” components (yes, I know it’s McCloudian to say that!)

• “Contour” style
• Heavy blacks
• Brush style (both clean and dry)
• Mechanical style (Rapidographs or Microns)

Choosing your Inking Method

Pros and Cons when Determining Inking Method:
Pencil “Inks”
Analog Inks
Digital Inks

Pencil “Inks”

Pros

• Don’t have to learn another tool
• One less step in the process

Cons

• Line value is more laborious to achieve
• Might have to use “fixativ” to prevent smudging
• Can sometimes look “lifeless”

Analog Inks

Pros

• Line value is easier to achieve
• Wide variety of effects available to use on the page
• Finished artwork ready to sell
• Happy accidents

Cons

• Many tools to choose from
• Learning a good inking tool takes years
• Certain tools are expensive or difficult to find
• Permanent–difficult to fix mistakes

Digital Inks

Pros

• Easy to fix mistakes–Control-Z
• Using layers means you can throw out entire swaths of work if you don’t like it
• Simple to adjust entire segments of artwork
• No storage of final artwork

Cons

• No final artwork
• You can fall into the “infinite noodling” afforded by Control-Z
• Software/graphics tablets can be expensive

Practical

Inking Tools

• Brush
• Brush pen
• Crow Quill
• Rapidographs
• Microns
• Higgins’ Black Magic

Inking Assist Tools

• Paper towel or tissues
• Glass of water
• Scrap sheet of bristol for tool warm up
• French curves (beveled edge)
• Triangles (beveled edge)

Procedure

• Warming up with the inorganic elements
• Working on a flat surface vs. an angled surface
• Printing out your pencils in “blue line” in case you screw up

Assignment for this episode:

• One chapter of inks completed
• If lettering by hand, ink word balloons and sfx as well

For a lot more on the subjects covered in this episode, check out these past Art & Story podcasts:

• Art & Story 105 – The Big Tone
• Big Art & Story Party Time, Episode 01
• Big Art & Story Party Time, Episode 02
• Mark’s video demonstration of inking with a brush

And here are some links to art supplies mentioned in this episode:

Find even more on the Dick Blick website!

The Art & Story Theme is written and performed by Mike Gilmore & Mike Johnston of The Northwoods Improvisors.

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