Comic book inking process

Traditionally, there are six roles involved in creating a comic book. Comicbook inking resources comicartistresourceblog. The course features a bevy of resources for new comicmakers including tutorials, models, comic industry guest speakers, and exercises. Inking is the process of adding shading and detail to the original drawing, giving it more character. Inking is a refining process that builds on the sketch that you made.

I hope that this adds some insight for you to develop your own process. In this three part blog series, dave describes how clip studio paint played a pivotal role in creating pages in the 2000th issue of 2000ad, the cover for the dan dare book, a collection of his 2000ad strips as well as pages in the 500th issue of doctor. Inking and coloring the comic strip the brads by brad colbow 17 dec 2010. The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a pencil, pen or a brush. Inking david finch batman part 4 reverse inking chinese brush painting basics gold fish how to draw shadows how to shade an entire figure easy step by step drawing tutorial. Inking your comic can further refine your artwork and make your artwork stand out more. The dark ink lines makes the art jump off the page and adds depth and dimension. It is a much easier process, though some would argue it has taken away from the handcrafted beauty of old comic book lettering. With the introduction of software for digital art production, inking methods changed slightly. Douglas paszkiewicz is a world class illustrator of comic books and magazines.

Rachael watercolor illustration rachael watercolor illustration trunnec. How to start inking comics about inking comic books. The comic book process explained layerform design co. Its one of the final steps, where lines are traced more intentionally and artists focus on. The inker is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. Comic inking is the art of preparing a penciled drawing for printing. It covers all the materials from pens to brushes with a clear divide into two sections. The aesthetics of the line drawing are represented by the inks which define them in the final illustration after all. Specialists in bringing vibrancy or moodiness to the page, colorists take blackandwhite comic book art and add hues and tones to each page, and often to cover art as well. It is also an excerpt from chapter six of mastering comics.

Marketing a comic is an ongoing process that happens parallel to the production of the comic. Joe goes through the process of inking an illustration pencilled by dave finch, which is also an available video tutorial on their site. Heres another book by scott mccloud that takes a look into the mechanics of comic creation making comics covers 260 pages of tips, techniques, advice, and visual explanations on making comics for the web or print. Inking comic book art with facial tissue paintingtube. So what matters most when it comes to inking is the quality of the line. Inking over the pencils of professional artists can be a great training exercise for understanding how mood and tone can be changed by the inking process. Sometimes a single person might fulfill multiple roles. The inkwell awards is a nonprofit organization with a mission to promote and educate about the art of comic book. Comic book digital ink brushes v2 photoshop ink brush. Like hill, amrit birdi, an illustrator who has delivered for endclients, such as. The art of comic book inking is divided into three sections. Gary martins two volumes of the art of comicbook inking have been combined into a single valuepriced volume and expanded with new material, including three additional bluelined artboards featuring pencil art by master comics illustrators jack kirby, john buscema, and gil kane.

This first step is to find an image in black in white. Inking is not merely tracing, it is another tedious work in making comics that calls for an inkers skills, patience, and. After carefully selecting his brushes in photoshop, ben begins the digital inking process. There are tons of ways to create a comics page and this is just one of them, submitted for.

Its one of the final steps, where lines are traced more intentionally and artists focus on dynamic lighting and shadows. By and large, the comic industry has relied on bristol board as its paper of. That type of ink is not from the printing process, its related to an unsold copy that credit was given back. The first 70 or so pages are concerned with the basics of inking. There are tons of ways to create a comics page and this is just one of them, submitted for your approval, adoption, or rejection. The art of comicbook inking 2nd edition gary martin. This part is about my process of inking a comics page.

A penciller or penciler is a collaboration artist who works in creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with focus on primary pencil illustrations, hence the term penciller in the american comic book industry, the penciller is the first step in rendering the story in visual form, and may require several steps of feedback with the writer. Following this, you may edit the image to be as light or dark as you wish. Inking was necessary in the traditional printing process as presses could not. How comic book inking is done litho ninja comics printing.

Youll learn the complete production workflow for designing, drawing, inking and coloring three female comic book characters using a combination of manga studio and photoshop. Adding tons of detail to your art comics and illustration style. Along the way ill explain my creative process in detail and show you the exact techniques i use to digitally illustrate high quality, professional looking comic book. In part one i went over my way of doing thumbs and pencils and got through inking lettering and panel borders. The inker once the penciller and leterrer are done with their work at which point they usually collapse into a coma the pencils are handed off to the inker. Perhaps inking itself isnt a dying art, but artists who specialize in inking are becoming more of an endangered species. Hi faust, if i understand correctly, the simple or quick answer is that the blue pencil doesnt show up in the printing process. The writer, the penciler, the letterer, the inker, the colorist, and the editor. Since your jar of ink may have a lot of ink, it is best to conserve by placing just. This digital method of inking proved to be faster and more efficient, as well as being more.

There are more than brushes but i will leave that up to you to figure everything out. There are many steps the mainstream comic book goes through and it can take an army of workers to produce. Learn the basic concepts of inking comics both traditionally and digitally. We sat down with worldrenowned comic book artist and official influencer david gibbons, to discuss some of his latest and greatest projects. The inking was there to mark the comic, similar to when they used to manually cut the top third of the comic off. Moving on, architectus777 shows other methods of inking, including using various. In the foreword, gary martin says the art of comicbook inking is intended for people who want to become inkers working inkers who havent had professional training pencillers who want their work to be more inkerfriendly the majority of editors working in comics today. Some adjusting to the lettering is usually neccesary but then i have the entire book or issue ready to. Inking may be one of the most misunderstood disciplines of the comic art world. Today i share a few techniques for inking with a brush. Noeska smit, a phd who deals with all things medical visualization and other things that are way above my head asked me to write a blog piece on the basics of comic book inking and, more specifically, on the dos, donts and whys of it all. Although many comic book and comic strip artists do most of their inking work with a pen, artists such as bill waterston calvin and hobbes, walt kelly pogo, will eisner the spirit, and jack kirby cocreator of captain america have turned to brushes to create effects not readily made with a metal point or nib. Ive been making comics for a while, but if youre just beginning or simply interested in learning the steps involved, this course will.

In this course, comic creator ben bishop shows two methods for finishing comics in photoshop, using examples from his graphic novel, the aggregate. However, somebodys doing something about preserving the skill, and recognizing the masters of the craft. Adventures of a comic book newbie is the place where youll find a discussion of the fundamental elements of comics and comic culture. Including mad magazine, the tick, image comics, valiant and. This is a fun tutorial that covers the process i use, while showcasing the comic strip i write called the brads. Creating a comic book is a much more complicated process than people expect. And so i did, and it turned into a fullblown essay. The illustration of a comic book or a graphic novel is a subject of enormous breadth and depth, but an overview of the process can be presented in a few short paragraphs.

Dave gibbons describes his comic creation process from. Inking, or finishing, a comic page is a crucial step in the creation of a comic book and is a skill in and of itself. It may seem like you just have to trace over your pictures with ink, but its really an extension of your creative work. The inker sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. It doesnt register as a colour so the artist can pencil over the blueline work which heshe uses to establish the preliminary image and not be concerned that the blue will show up in the final printed version. All it involves is tracing over lines that have already been drawn, right. At least in a few months sabbatical starts and you two will be able to generate more comic books. If youre new to comics or perhaps a seasoned vet eager to get back to the basics, this column will serve as a guide on where to start and what you need to know to get the most out of your comics experience. Instead of messy ink bottles and brushes, artists could now use a tablet and stylus to replicate the same process to a certain extent. Inking is simply another term for outlining or black lining. Visual storyteller comic book creator illustrator surviving artist cat, fish and plants owner.

This book follows the same format as scotts others using comic panels to explain the narrative. At one time, inking was mostly used to prepare the comic page for printing, as the printer would pick up the light pencils, but today, the inker is a vital part of the comic creation process. Inking was necessary in the traditional printing process as presses could not reproduce pencilled drawings. As it pertains to this blogpost, the tutorial comic book illustration vol. Earlier this year i was commissioned to come up with a series of character illustrations for cohort. Afterwards, the shading is left up to your discretion. Comic book inking involves preparing your penciled drawings for printing or coloring. Interestingly, the old school method is step 5 before step 4 because they used to hand letter and the ruler might have screwed up the inks when they were making the lines to letter within. You add depth, form, shading and definition to your drawings during the inking process. Its less about tracing over the pencils, and more about interoperating them in a pleasing way. Hill uses a curated spotify playlist to put him in the mood to tell comic book tales. This video by architectus777 teaches us how to ink comic book pages. The course walks participants through the full process of comic creation, starting at brainstorming and covering scripting, thumbnailing, penciling, lettering by hand, inking, and final assembly. Inking is the stage of the comicmaking process where an.

Mar 23, 20 i have been adding brushes to the list for doing digital sketching and inking in photoshop. The traditional comic book will move through the stages of penciling, inking, coloring, and then the lettering. Follow these steps to successfully ink your comics. I like gnomons videos a lot, the only thing is they are sped.