I like doing my comics by had in ink and pencil, It's a lot more fun that way and I feel like it gives it a retro feel. But then people tell me they like my digital ones much better and I think I need another opinon. Please tell me which you like better based on art style, not content.
Hand drawn: http://likeashoeinspace.keenspace.com/d/20031001.html
Digital: http://likeashoeinspace.keenspace.com/root/20041027.png
Which do you like better?
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Krytos55
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Which do you like better?
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The digital one definitely has a cleaner feel to it. The hand-inked one is a little fuzzier, and you can see some of the pencil lines behind the ink.
I know your dilemma, having just gone through that myself. I've finally settled with inking my strips digitally using Illustrator, and haven't looked back. Occasionally I'll ink a comic or piece of art using Photoshop, but I prefer Illustrator for the most part.
I've never been happy with how my drawings look after I've inked them by hand and erased (most) of the pencil lines. It always loses something. Using the computer, I've managed to keep the drawing looking almost identical to the pencilled version.
I love doing drawings in just pencil, but I've never been able to make it look good for a comic that way. I have to go over the lines too much to make them dark enough to show up on a scan.
Ultimately, it's your call. You'll always notice things like this more than your readers will. Do whatever is more fun for you, because as you keep doing it, it'll improve.
That's just my two cents.
I know your dilemma, having just gone through that myself. I've finally settled with inking my strips digitally using Illustrator, and haven't looked back. Occasionally I'll ink a comic or piece of art using Photoshop, but I prefer Illustrator for the most part.
I've never been happy with how my drawings look after I've inked them by hand and erased (most) of the pencil lines. It always loses something. Using the computer, I've managed to keep the drawing looking almost identical to the pencilled version.
I love doing drawings in just pencil, but I've never been able to make it look good for a comic that way. I have to go over the lines too much to make them dark enough to show up on a scan.
Ultimately, it's your call. You'll always notice things like this more than your readers will. Do whatever is more fun for you, because as you keep doing it, it'll improve.
That's just my two cents.
You need to scan your hand-inked one better. It's best to scan that sort of thing in 2 colors (should be called B&W or bitmapped in you scanner software) and that will only scan things as black or white. Helps to remove eraser marks and whatever without having to remove them digitally.
This will make "jagged" edges but if you convert that image to grayscale or RGB and then resize down to the size you need it will anti-alias the edges and look fine. This will give your hand-inked ones much better look.
This will make "jagged" edges but if you convert that image to grayscale or RGB and then resize down to the size you need it will anti-alias the edges and look fine. This will give your hand-inked ones much better look.
Caduceus
Marianne
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I agree with Stephen; the reason the hand-inked one looks bad's because of imperfect scanning.
Ultimately, though, the choice is up to you. Digital inking has quite some advantages over hand-inking, and some drawbacks as well. So it's just a matter of personal opinion in the end.
Ultimately, though, the choice is up to you. Digital inking has quite some advantages over hand-inking, and some drawbacks as well. So it's just a matter of personal opinion in the end.
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What you do is you use an HB or some lighter pencil and draw your initial linework. Then you use a nice heavy pencil, like a 2B or something like that, and go over them. Then, using an eraser, carefully chip away at your lines until you reach some standard of cleanness that you're satisfied with. Then you scan it and use level adjustment in Photoshop or some similar programme, and bingo! No need for hand-ink, and you still get that hand-drawn look.
Now, to slip back into the shadows, as is my way...
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Listen to me, comrade. You can trust me. Nods vociferously. These others, they will try to mislead you. But you know better don't you?
Now, comrade, this is sssssseeeeeeeecret information. Keep this between you and me and the Old Country, yes?
What you do is you use an HB or some lighter pencil and draw your initial linework. Then you use a nice heavy pencil, like a 2B or something like that, and go over them. Then, using an eraser, carefully chip away at your lines until you reach some standard of cleanness that you're satisfied with. Then you scan it and use level adjustment in Photoshop or some similar programme, and bingo! No need for hand-ink, and you still get that hand-drawn look.
Now, to slip back into the shadows, as is my way...
#~AoD
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CapitanG
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I draw mine with light blue pencil then ink regularly (and here's the part I'm worst at, inking), then scan B&W. This does away with most of the pencilling without any erasure.
Then, I put 'er in Photoshop and adjust the brightness/contrast to get rid of the few straggling pencil marks, and then cart the whole shebang over to Flash, where I use the "Trace Bitmap" and "Optimize(or Smooth)" options. This gives me a nice set of vector lines, so I can work at whatever size I want to when I'm coloring in Photoshop.
Mind you, this is just me...and, like many of the others, I like the digitally colored version.
Then, I put 'er in Photoshop and adjust the brightness/contrast to get rid of the few straggling pencil marks, and then cart the whole shebang over to Flash, where I use the "Trace Bitmap" and "Optimize(or Smooth)" options. This gives me a nice set of vector lines, so I can work at whatever size I want to when I'm coloring in Photoshop.
Mind you, this is just me...and, like many of the others, I like the digitally colored version.
If you prefer doing it by hand, great. I like the more "organic" feel of the first comic - if you clean it up, you'll be fine.
But, please, for the love of all things holy, invest in a ruler and use it to make your panels. Nothing screams "I don't care about this strip" like crooked line panels. (Whether you do or not.) That can be done digitally, too, if you prefer. Straight lines are much easier in any graphics program than they'll ever be with a pen and ruler.
But, please, for the love of all things holy, invest in a ruler and use it to make your panels. Nothing screams "I don't care about this strip" like crooked line panels. (Whether you do or not.) That can be done digitally, too, if you prefer. Straight lines are much easier in any graphics program than they'll ever be with a pen and ruler.
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Day of the Spider
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