Often times, I tend to have to go back over some line (several times on some occasion) to either give it some variety or thicken the stroke (most artists do this to create the illusion of depth in their work). When using a brush all I have to do is to vary the pressure I exert on the brush I’m using and I get the desired variation with one motion.

Brushes are also excellent tools to use when drawing organic subject matters such as human beings, animals, foliage, and the likes.

Granted, it takes quite a bit of time to master the use of a brush. I highly recommend however that you take the time to practice and learn the necessary skills needed to wield one. The experience is very rewarding artistically and will add character to your work.

My favorite however, has got to be Chinese ink.

Chinese ink tend to be very even and very black which, as any inker worth his salt will tell you, is a rarity nowadays. It’s like most ink manufacturers just suddenly up and decided to stop producing really black ink (cost cutting maybe?). Chinese ink also happen to be quite cheap and is available at most National Bookstore branches here in the Philippines.

One problem with this type of ink however, is that they tend to coagulate. Well, it also somewhat smells bad but it’s a very minor issue at least for me.

But I digress…

Aside from making your line work more unstable the strain you expose your wrist to on a long term basis can make you more susceptible to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) or also known as median neuropathy.

It’s a medical condition in which the median nerve is compressed at the wrist, leading to paresthesias, numbness, and muscle weakness in the hand.

When illustrating or inking, the best practice is always to follow the natural curve of your hand.

Going against the natural curve creates wobbly and unstable lines which can be really frustrating (unless it is part of your style as an artist). Lines executed in this matter are pretty unpredictable and rendering in this manner require more effort and energy on your part as an artist.

You have the basic pencil-ruler-eraser setup of course but it’s always interesting (especially for other artists) to get a peek at what the other guys are using. It’s our weird way of socializing I suppose since creating art is mostly a solitary activity and, like most craftsmen, us artists love to talk about our equipment.

I know. It sounds so wrong. Anyway…

Here’s what you’ll usually find on my drawing table.

(1) Compass with a screw lock so it can hold pens as well as pencils securely even if they have minute differences in terms of thickness.

(2) UNIPins technical pens in varying line thickness (0.1, 0.3, and 0.5). I usually use the 0.1 for most of my detail work, the 0.5 for creating panel borders, and the 0.3 for anything in-between.

(3) I use Sakura brushes to do most of my linework especially if the subject is organic in nature. I prefer using the no. 1 and no. 2 for most detail work. The no. 4 is my general purpose drawing brush.

(4) Staedtler clutch pencil refills. I use these for artworks that are not meant to be inked.

(5) Faber-Castell red-orange clutch pencil refills. These are for drawing stuff that is going to be inked later. I use red lines for sketching so I can easily cancel them out during the cleanup process in Adobe Photoshop. It makes linework cleanup a lot easier, faster, and painless.

(6) Staedtler clutch pencil. A clutch pencil is somewhat like a mechanical pencil except that the graphite is much thicker. Excellent tool for sketching and the cap doubles as a sharpener. I prefer clutch pencils because ordinary mechanical pencils’ have much thinner graphite and it tends to break easily as I tend to be heavy handed when I’m drawing.

Unfortunately I failed (miserably, I might add) so I guess you’re stuck with the above mentioned (and somewhat long-ish) title.

Anyways, welcome to what is going to be the first in a series of comic creation tutorials.

Nowadays, pencilled comic book page do not necessarily need to be inked especially if the artist is a tight penciller. Advances in technology has made this possible though a lot of publishers, creators, and fans still prefer the crisp and polished look of an inked comic book page.

There are times however, when it is desirable to preserve the original pencils for one reason or the other (such as if you’re planning to sell it on e-bay or something).

This can be done in a number of ways…preserving the pencils, I mean. Not selling it on e-bay.

The inker can use a graphic application program to digitally ink the piece. Some of the more popular software being used by industry practitioners include Adobe Photoshop and, to a lesser extent, Adobe Illustrator. Another method is laying tracing paper over the original pencilled artwork to enable the Inker ink over it without actually touching the original linework.

I’m not particularly adept at using technology for something like inking (call me old-fashioned). I like the feel of a brush in my hand and seeing the ink flow over paper. Tracing paper is a bit cumbersome to use especially if you’re going to black-out a lot of areas because it will almost inevitably warp. A better alternative is to scan the artwork, print it on good stock paper, and then ink over that.

And that’s what we’re going to do today.