Any Recommendations for inking tools?

ZOMBIE USER 11832 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 11832** » Thu Oct 17, 2002 10:14 am

As of right now on my comic, I've been simply scanning in my pencilwork with the gamma set to dark, but it doesn't give me the desired effect. Mainly, the lower portion of the picture always turns out lighter than the top. In addition to that, my scanner crushes the image laterally to half it's physical size, requiring an irritating resizing procedure.

I plan on starting to use inking tools, but am unsure as of what sort of materials I will need. Would the humble Bic or Papermate ballpoint pen work, or would I get better results with a different tool?

McBean · Post by **McBean** » Thu Oct 17, 2002 2:33 pm

Pigma micron pens seem to be a favorite among some artists, namely myself. They come in a variety of sizes from .20 mm to .50 mm. They're nice and effcient, especially on marker paper.

JTPokie · Post by **JTPokie** » Thu Oct 17, 2002 4:17 pm

I've found that felt tip marker on cardstock has worked great for me.

it sounds primitive.. but works great.

Tim

Taiwanimation · Post by **Taiwanimation** » Sun Oct 20, 2002 11:17 pm

I go total old school with india ink and a duck billed fountain pen. Ya know, the kind you got to dip in the ink well every now and then?

I used to use felt tip marker, but I was going through too many of them and I needed a cheaper alternative. FTM works quite well and has better control though less "flow".

Pigma micron pens are excellent for lettering. I can't letter with an ink pen at the size I work with (which is dictated by the size of a 9x12 piece of paper)

an advantage that india ink and micron pens over FTM is that they don't smudge (usefdul if you're working right over the pencil and it's not non-repo). Micron pens dry in <10 seconds, ink tkaes about 10-15 minutes for the really heavy parts and <1 minute for light touches. So watch your hand. Ballpoint pen doesn't dry well.

Brush is for the really confident and skilled only. Though it can look really nice, with even more thickness variation than ink pen.

A tip for inking: DON'T ink over pencil, go straight in with the ink. Although this can be intimidating at first, over time you will not only save a lot of time, but you will also draw better. Each of my daily black and white comics takes about 15-20 minutes to do.

I_Ragnarok · Post by **I_Ragnarok** » Fri Oct 25, 2002 4:52 am

It's very hard to recommend an inking tool,
often a thing that works perfect for one, won't work for other.

my suggestion is: try a lot of diffrent stuff,
regular markers, ball-point pens, fountain pens, brushes ect.
and then you'll pick one.

or, you can stay with pencils, an fix them with a tiny bit of CGing:
"curves adjustement layer" in Paint Shop or Photowhop
works wonders.
(check here http://www.polykarbon.com for a tutorial)

one funny thing is, that if you set the ardjustement layer as shown there,
and then *blur* the penciled drawing beneath, it will actualy look *sharper*

if you need more info, just ask.

Kev of the Apocalypse · Sat Oct 26, 2002 12:10 pm

I use Sakura brand Micron pens. Black of course. I get the set with .005, .01, .02, .03, .05, and .08 tips. For really thick lines, I use a 1.0 tip. Very good investment I'd say. The current comics on my site are done by a guest, but if you dig through my last few comics you'll see.

ZOMBIE USER 10424 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 10424** » Mon Nov 04, 2002 3:52 pm

I've used felt tips and pall boints and everything.
My fave is the old standard steel crow quill and india ink well.
You can get such AMAZING control outta that little tip its incredible!
It gives the comic a more organic feel. which is neede3d since I color and letter with the computer!

Karlie · Post by **Karlie** » Mon Nov 04, 2002 4:35 pm

i use quite a variaty of tools to ink. prefrences for inking tools really depends on your stlye. (mine being shoujo manga)
my current facination is the brush pen, you can get some really neat line effects with it. it takes some practace, but once you get it down it's great.
i also do the old school thing with india ink and funntan pen. (iusualy use a school nib)
also, don't rule out the simple ball point, it can look really cool if you do shadeing in ink.

Taiwanimation · Post by **Taiwanimation** » Mon Nov 04, 2002 5:24 pm

yup, got to agree, ballpoint shades much better than any other ink.

Gothboy · Post by **Gothboy** » Fri Nov 22, 2002 4:13 am

Pen and ink aren't as difficult to use as everyone seems to think. Just try it. It gives a better feel than felt-tip or micron pens, I have found.

The only problem with ink is that you need to let it dry every now and again. And flip over your ruler before you draw the frames, or the ink runs under the ruler and smudges horribly.

Also, using hairspray makes some inks run hurribly, but that's probably a problem unique to me...

Willie - hairsprayed to perfection

Kev of the Apocalypse · Sat Nov 23, 2002 9:12 am

gothboy wrote:Pen and ink aren't as difficult to use as everyone seems to think. Just try it.

My friend, if you're using pen and ink, you have my uttmost respect right off the bat. I've tried to use it on many an occasion, but I just get these lovely blotches that make my art look like a psychology exam.

Micron is just my personall favorite. Especially since I do most of my work on my lunch hour at work and pen and ink would just be completely out of the question there.

Karlie · Post by **Karlie** » Sun Nov 24, 2002 3:33 pm

a great advantage of the felt tip pen or micron is that they travel well. carrying arround pen and ink is not always the easitst thing (ink leeks)
just a random observation. =)

MixedMyth · Post by **MixedMyth** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 4:13 pm

Mmm. Micron. Personally, I use a mix. At first I used black gel pens, but then I switched to an artist's pen with replaceable cartrages. Now I use very small micron pens with the artist's pen for thick, bold lines and filling. Gnaaaah. Love 'em good. The other thing to consider is paper, since the result will look a lot better on, say, bristol board than on somethin' else. Eh heh, though I still use printer paper. Hey, bristol board's expensive.

BunELovecraft · Post by **BunELovecraft** » Wed Dec 25, 2002 7:30 pm

Well I'm really old fashioned and I still do it the old skool way like Fred Perry and all of those guys.

I use dip nip pens (g-pens for outlines, school pens for medium, crow quill and hawk quill rounders for details and all that) with black india ink. Ink quality is really important, I've looked long and hard for an indian ink that didn't bleed, fuzzy, stink, or whick and the best one i've found is Dr. PH Martin's Bombay Black! I'm in love with it!!

I also use broad brushes to do washes in sepia or whatever and some details and whatnot are done with thin brushes as well. Whites are done with Process Pen White by PH Martin (you have to have PEN WHITE, white ink is NOT the same thing!) and some white out too.

Paper is important. Feel it before you buy. The smoother, the better your inks will go but you want so tooth for pencil only drawings. Bristol board is nice but you might want a sketch book with smooth pressed pages to keep it all together. That's what I use.

Yes these things can be expensive (nibs are like a dollar a pop o.0;) but the finished work will have a more smooth and finished quality than something done with sharpie. That's what I started with and I do use ink pens and sharpies for OHAX. My best advice is find what's best for you. If you have time to sit down and hand ink with a pen and brush, mo' power to you! If yer on the go, ink pens work fine. Just find yer style and it'll be fabbity fab fab

Happy inkin' ya'll!
Bunz

Karlie · Post by **Karlie** » Wed Dec 25, 2002 8:09 pm

speedball superblack India ink is very good stuff.

PezHed · Post by **PezHed** » Thu Dec 26, 2002 3:14 am

Hey, a good old fasioned Sharpie is great. Especially if you want a nice solid black. (Micron tends to yellow)

Cheap(the best part). Easy to use. Not scary like dipping pens can be.

ZOMBIE USER 11268 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 11268** » Sat Dec 28, 2002 10:52 pm

Why is it that Micron pens, which claim to be 'archival ink', screw up after such a short amount of time? God help me, I like to keep my pictures black...

I've got a picture by Stephan Pastis drawn in Micron, yet even in a frame, its become orange-black over the short year I've had it.

-chris 'c'

Karlie · Post by **Karlie** » Sun Dec 29, 2002 10:09 am

a great little trick i recently was told of- tape a few pennies to the underside of your ruler. it holds the ruler up just enough that the ink won't get under it and smudge

just thought i'd share^_^

as for sharpie. they're good, they're cheep and make sure to use them in a well ventelated area *heh heh....)

ZOMBIE USER 12476 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 12476** » Mon Jan 13, 2003 7:26 pm

I always think that the best tool is different for everyone. All we can do is point someone in the right direction.

I use Black India ink with a small sized watercolor brush (I sucked for a looooong time with that, but I think it's worth it) most of the time, sometimes switching to a Kuretake Brush Pen (like a brush, but needs no refilling and makes finer lines) for small, amorphous details, and some Rapidograph pens that I got for X-mas for lettering, line borders, very fine details, and precise things like buildings... It looks better if a building is straight and solid, no? \

Anyway, try experimenting with many different things. And if you are just starting out, it takes a while to not suck so much. I'm just getting past the sucking hard part, and now I just plain suck

Taiwanimation · Post by **Taiwanimation** » Wed Jan 15, 2003 5:19 pm

The trick to good inking with pen and ink is to work big, about 50% larger than you would with pencil.

By the way DiEgo, what's that avatar of yours?

Comic Genesis Forums

Any Recommendations for inking tools?

Any Recommendations for inking tools?

I've been thru them all...

Inkage