Digital vs. pen and paper -- a.k.a tools of the trade

[MattRo]

That's a really good point. I sort of miss that as well... showing people something I've done because I'm able to carry it around instead of having them get on their computer and go to a website and click some links... maybe I will start sketching some stuff out again. You might've started something here lol.

[DeadCaL]

To me, there's a clear difference with regards to digital inking and colouring, compared to doing it on paper. But I don't see any advantages in doing prep work wholly on your PC rather than on paper, unless storage space really is an issue. Plus if you get famous, you can't sell your sketches on Ebay

[MattRo]

LOL That right there is the best reason to do it

However, I don't think I'll ever be famous for my stuff. Hell, I don't think I have any fans of it yet and it's been around long enough to gain AT LEAST one lol.

[Redtech]

I waited ONE WHOLE YEAR before I even publicised my comic outside of Comic Genesis forums. Two before I'd associate with other comics.

Be patient young padawan!

[MattRo]

Ah, I see. Well then I guess my instant gratification problem will be put on hold. Because I do enjoy what I'm doing and I think that SOMEBODY out there will probably like what I do. Thanks for the "welcom back to earth" speech lol.

[Phalanx]

Hmm, ok I will ask i would love...love to save the time of pencilling full then inking then scanning, attaching everything yadda yadda..

Anyone have any home brew secrets as to how they got used to sketching with the wacom?

What someone told me was "Get an Intuos3 6x8". >.> something about the size being a sweet spot.

[Samuli]

Undo button is God.

No, I'm pretty sure it's the Devil - so innocent looking and useful but deviously undermining my artistic integrity by always allowing doubt. When I ink with the brush I never screw up... And when I do I have to paint it over with white and do it again, which leaves a telltale sign on the original.

Not having an undo-button makes me work quicker because I have to know what I'm doing beforehand (not implying digital artists don't, mind you, this is very subjective) and then get it right the first time. So for me, it's a conscious workflow decision to not have the undo-button. Also, I get to obsess about paper quality and brush hairs.

For the record - I use blue pencil for sketching, 00 or 0 sable brushes and Pentel brushpens for inking. I prefer the backside of movie posters as paper, since the Pentel seems to mush up on every bristol or marker paper I've tried.

[W M]

Undo button is God.

No, I'm pretty sure it's the Devil - so innocent looking and useful but deviously undermining my artistic integrity by always allowing doubt. When I ink with the brush I never screw up... And when I do I have to paint it over with white and do it again, which leaves a telltale sign on the original.

Not having an undo-button makes me work quicker because I have to know what I'm doing beforehand (not implying digital artists don't, mind you, this is very subjective) and then get it right the first time. So for me, it's a conscious workflow decision to not have the undo-button. Also, I get to obsess about paper quality and brush hairs.

For the record - I use blue pencil for sketching, 00 or 0 sable brushes and Pentel brushpens for inking. I prefer the backside of movie posters as paper, since the Pentel seems to mush up on every bristol or marker paper I've tried.

What kind of Bristol paper are you using? (weight? 2- or 3- ply? hot or cold press? brand?) Because, unless you're smothering the paper with ink, Bristol should be taking it just fine. Also, if you have a little money, you might want to look around at all the different kinds of illustration boards; you can work wonders with ink on them.

Also, are Pentel pens decent for lineart? I've never really used them much (I'm more of a Copic/Staedtler kind of guy).

[Samuli]

What kind of Bristol paper are you using? (weight? 2- or 3- ply? hot or cold press? brand?) Because, unless you're smothering the paper with ink, Bristol should be taking it just fine. Also, if you have a little money, you might want to look around at all the different kinds of illustration boards; you can work wonders with ink on them.

Also, are Pentel pens decent for lineart? I've never really used them much (I'm more of a Copic/Staedtler kind of guy).

I've used Canson, Strathmore and Schoelleshammer bristols - the last one being the best but they stopped importing it. I live in Finland and we don't have the "ply" classifications but all of them have been around 200 g/m² with plate surface. I've also tried a couple of different marker papers aimed at manga-artists but none of them were much better than copy paper. The surface of film posters is coated and that causes a nice effect - ink just sits on top of the surface until it dries. Perfectly clean lines . I'd actually love to have illustration board but again... not in Finland.

I use the Pentel brushpen because it's the only one around here which has actual brush hairs. The rest are merely felt tip pens which are tapered. Those last 10 minutes in my hands. The problem with the Pentel brushpen is, that the ink is thinner than actual indian ink and it runs pretty fast. That gives a nice black line but also massive amounts of ink on the paper if you don't draw like lightning. The ink also dries super slowly. Here's an example from my blog of what I've done with the Pentel in terms of line art: http://squaresketchbook.blogspot.com/20 ... vitus.html

[W M]

What kind of Bristol paper are you using? (weight? 2- or 3- ply? hot or cold press? brand?) Because, unless you're smothering the paper with ink, Bristol should be taking it just fine. Also, if you have a little money, you might want to look around at all the different kinds of illustration boards; you can work wonders with ink on them.

Also, are Pentel pens decent for lineart? I've never really used them much (I'm more of a Copic/Staedtler kind of guy).

I've used Canson, Strathmore and Schoelleshammer bristols - the last one being the best but they stopped importing it. I live in Finland and we don't have the "ply" classifications but all of them have been around 200 g/m² with plate surface. I've also tried a couple of different marker papers aimed at manga-artists but none of them were much better than copy paper. The surface of film posters is coated and that causes a nice effect - ink just sits on top of the surface until it dries. Perfectly clean lines . I'd actually love to have illustration board but again... not in Finland.

I use the Pentel brushpen because it's the only one around here which has actual brush hairs. The rest are merely felt tip pens which are tapered. Those last 10 minutes in my hands. The problem with the Pentel brushpen is, that the ink is thinner than actual indian ink and it runs pretty fast. That gives a nice black line but also massive amounts of ink on the paper if you don't draw like lightning. The ink also dries super slowly.

So you let the ink sit on top of the coating until it dries? The fear of smearing would drive me crazy! (but I bet it looks amazing when dry though, since it doesn't dissipate into the paper).

Here's an example from my blog of what I've done with the Pentel in terms of line art: http://squaresketchbook.blogspot.com/20 ... vitus.html

Wow, that's really good! I love the texture created from your brush strokes. (by the way, what size is that picture?)

[Samuli]

Wow, that's really good! I love the texture created from your brush strokes. (by the way, what size is that picture?)

Thanks! That's an A4 picture. Actually on one of the manga papers I so disliked

[IceFlame1019]

How many of you would recommend drawing entirely with a graphics tablet and pen. So far that's what I've been doing for my webcomics.

Also if I use a paper and pen, what kind of paper, what kind of pen works best to scan the image into the computer and then colour it? I ask because, most of you seem to be pros in this line and I'm just doing it as a hobby.

I don't want to buy expensive kits to feed my hobby, but some advise on usage of pens to ink the cartoons and the use of paper would help me out, particularly when I want to draw something complex which is not convenient to draw with a tablet and pen..

So far my comic is totally digital; the first few actual pages of it were sketched on pencil and paper then scanned and redone in GIMP.
It's all personal preference really; some stress using paper, pencil/ink and a scanner, then retouching digitally; others say it should really be finished entirely traditional and then only scanned->resized->uploaded; some say a basic pencil sketch with the bulk of work done digitally. I've had this discussion with graphic artists for career interviews; they stress paper copies, but emphasize that it's really up to you and what you're comfortable with. My early pages were sketched by hand using (omg major artist freakout approaching ) a mechanical pencil and printer paper, with a kneaded rubber eraser. Very simple, because they were done on the run, waiting in between classes or done in snatches of free time at work.
Now that I've gotten a Wacom Graphire4 6x8 tablet after having it stressed that tablets are almost a godsend in image creation nowadays, and with going to college online, I rarely sketch on paper. Very rarely. It's easier and cleaner for me to stick the tablet and laptop into my backpack, without worrying if I forgot or misplaced a pencil or eraser or trying to make sure the paper doesn't get mashed up.

My college toolkit included a full set of sketching and inking pencils and pens, with sketch pads, tracing paper, etc... so far though, all I've needed is the sketch pad with my trusty mechanical pencil

[MSPcomix]

I'm a very old-fashioned artist. I don't think I'd ever get used the tablets. I've seen some excellent all-digital work, and I can see the advantage of being able to immediately and easily correct a mistake if something goes wrong during the inking stage, rather than painstakenly removing the error with my mouse. I try to alter my artwork as little as possible. I don't want to take away from the warmth of traditional art. Digital art often looks cold to me.

[Theamazingsquad]

ive changed my method many times over the years, though i always draw with pencil and pen then scan onto computer. i used to draw on the entirety of an A4 page, before adopting my newer technique of drawing large size on A3 sheets, which can then be reduced down to standard comic sheet sizes.

i dont really worry about what type of pens or paper i use- though i understand the benefits of using thicker paper. id like to learn to use brushes for inking but can never get a good line, and they ink always seems to fade to a watery grey when i use them- any ideas why this is, or how I can avoid it? i assume its just down to the quality of paper & ink. i trained as an architect so im used to using technical pens with fine hard nibs- the problem is that these give no line variation and the thinner ones can look very jittery on paper. some people can incorporate this into their own style but i prefer good bold sharp lines.

i recently aquired an aiptek 600u tablet (A4 size- 70 pounds on amazon.uk, quite good quality) and whilst i still draw on paper, this has made colouring a lot less laborious. again if i were to attempt drawing directly using the tablet my lines would come out very jittery and amateurish

[Harishankar]

I recently tried using the paper technique.

Used ordinary A4 size bond paper, drew using pencil, inked using a Sheaffer pen with thick nib and scanned it at high resolution. Only colouring was done digitally.

I must say, I'm much happier with the results. Take a look at this one for instance - seems better in my eyes at least. The lines seem bolder and better too. What do you feel?

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

Oh I like that a lot! It puts together the clean-cut precision and control of computer art with some of the irregularities of nondigital work- best of both worlds, at least in my opinion!

[Harishankar]

Oh I like that a lot! It puts together the clean-cut precision and control of computer art with some of the irregularities of nondigital work- best of both worlds, at least in my opinion!

Thanks

[Bookwyrms2]

I still prefer inking by hand, but I've been experimenting with using a tablet and other forms of digital inking. I find the line work with a tablet somewhat artificial, but have had some success using the pen tool in photoshop (which doesn't really require a tablet at all). The tablet does work very well when coloring or retouching an illustration - so that's how I tend to use it.

[Samuli]

id like to learn to use brushes for inking but can never get a good line, and they ink always seems to fade to a watery grey when i use them- any ideas why this is, or how I can avoid it?

1. use waterproof Indian ink

2. Always shake the ink bottle before use - the pigment tends to settle on the bottom.

3. When you get a new bottle, leave it open overnight.

4. Paper might have something to do with this but mostly paper dictates how clean lines you can get. Plate finish bristol board is good. Schoelleshammer drawing paper is my favourite.

There can be a reverse problem when you are almost through a bottle - the ink can become really thick and difficult to use with a brush. To prevent this:

5. Use a small ink-well where you pour the ink you use while inking. Close the bottle.

6. If the ink still gets too thick, mix a few drops of water in it.

I hate nibs but what people normally use is the hairline nib which varies line width with pressure.

[Phalanx]

id like to learn to use brushes for inking but can never get a good line, and they ink always seems to fade to a watery grey when i use them- any ideas why this is, or how I can avoid it?

1. use waterproof Indian ink

2. Always shake the ink bottle before use - the pigment tends to settle on the bottom.

3. When you get a new bottle, leave it open overnight.

4. Paper might have something to do with this but mostly paper dictates how clean lines you can get. Plate finish bristol board is good. Schoelleshammer drawing paper is my favourite.

There can be a reverse problem when you are almost through a bottle - the ink can become really thick and difficult to use with a brush. To prevent this:

5. Use a small ink-well where you pour the ink you use while inking. Close the bottle.

6. If the ink still gets too thick, mix a few drops of water in it.

Or you can avoid all this by getting an inkstone and inkstick and have pretty much a lifetime supply of ink that almost never goes off because you only make just enough to use each time. And you can control the thickness or thinness as desired... and best of all it has all the properties of india ink (well india ink IS made from chinese inksticks actually)

<3 my inkstone and inksticks. Switched from india ink to them and never want to go back. Nothing says awesome like a smooth yet viscous pure black ink that is so thick it doesn't even bleed on crappy paper <3

For brushes I still love my bamboo wolfshair brushes. I actually have sable brushes, but I find them less flexible and don't hold as much ink. And the handle is teeny.

I never saw the point of bristol board. It's nice I suppose. The price is not nice. And honestly for unless you're a pro, some decent drawing paper is good enough for amatuers like me and easier on the pocket.