A question for the artists of TT

[Janus4385]

How do you ink your art?

I'm wondering which is the prefered method for the artists of TT. I have always done it by hand with drawing pens, but I feel like it doesn't provide the best results. So I'm now trying to find new ways to do it.

I'm hoping to get some good advice on this thread, so PLEASE REPLY!!!!

Thanks in advance to anyone who's willing to give me a hand 🙂

 

[Violetta]

I do a light sketch on paper with a pencil. Usually just a drawing pad or even printer paper and just a good mechanical pencil. Then I scan it, toss it into Photoshop and color it there. Though I've stated experimenting with Corel Painter and using a tablet to color with. Hopefully I'll get around to using the tablet to do the whole drawing someday.

 

[nessonite1]

Sometimes I ink by hand. Lately I've been using Micron pens. The thickest one gives me great results and the thinner ones are fabulous for detail. The best thing about these pens is they do NOT BLEED. There is also a brush tip pen I use for filling in larger areas or for getting some varied line widths. It handles just like a paintbrush though so you've gotta have a very steady hand.
http://www.dickblick.com/zz207/02/

When I ink in photoshop I sometimes use my tablet and ink by hand or I use the pen tool for uber-smooth vector-like lines. I used the tutorial linked to below to learn how. The pen tool is easy once you get the hang of it, but it's really hard to learn if you don't know what you're doing. It's about the only thing in photoshop I had to look up to learn how to use it.
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/21814747/?qo=14

I usually find equal satisfaction with hand inking or photoshop inking. But photoshop does have the advantage of layers and an undo key. I find I get the best looking results using the pen tool in photoshop, though it's easy to get lazy and have it end up looking too "mechanical". It takes a bit longer than using a tablet and way longer than on paper, but it can be done with a mouse (easy on the hand) and you can twek your lines before commiting digital ink to them, so you get something closer to what you really want.

Hope that was of some help. Good luck to you!

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

How do you ink your art?

I'm wondering which is the prefered method for the artists of TT. I have always done it by hand with drawing pens, but I feel like it doesn't provide the best results. So I'm now trying to find new ways to do it.

I'm hoping to get some good advice on this thread, so PLEASE REPLY!!!!

Thanks in advance to anyone who's willing to give me a hand 🙂

People sometimes ask me questions like this thinking I use high-tech, top-of-the-line, name brand items (which I do in some cases), but for inking (we're talking traditional inking with a pen, not digital inking with a tablet in an art program) I use these cheap, fine ballpoint pens. I forget their name...

Anyways, they're not even for art, they're for writing, but I use them anyway.

As far as technique, to ensure a steady line, sometimes I'll draw in daps, rather than one long stroke. If you try and cover an entire line with one stroke you're the chances of it being jagged or bumpy are higher.

It's far more important to take your time with inking than it seems at first, but a good ink job makes for a good setup for a good color job. Of course, it helps if the lineart is nice and crisp as well.

I prefer fine detail points as opposed to thick pens. Even if a bigger one can cover more area faster, I have more precise control with the details and when it comes to areas you need to be delicate with, the fine detail wins out.

There was a short time where I inked the old fashioned way, with pen nibs and dipping them in ink, but that quickly grew tiresome, as I was only doing it to experience what it was like for old-fashioned manga artists to do the same.

As far as inking digitally, the same method apply, generally speaking. I can be faster since you can undo anything digitally if make mistakes.

I haven't drawn any traditional art in quite some time, so traditional inking hasn't been a concern.

 

[nessonite1]

There was a short time where I inked the old fashioned way, with pen nibs and dipping them in ink, but that quickly grew tiresome

massive. pain. in. the. ass.
had to do that back in school. I see no advantage to it whatsoever. There isn't anything you can do with a fountain pen that you can't do with a regular pen since you can get them in every shape and size under the sun. Those nibs hold a surprisingly small amount of ink and it's irritating to have to dip constantly. Plus, one drip and it's all over. arggg...painful memories.

 

[Janus4385]

I do a light sketch on paper with a pencil. Usually just a drawing pad or even printer paper and just a good mechanical pencil. Then I scan it, toss it into Photoshop and color it there. Though I've stated experimenting with Corel Painter and using a tablet to color with. Hopefully I'll get around to using the tablet to do the whole drawing someday.

Thank you very much for the reply, it's always very interesting to hear how other artists do their work. Good luck with Corel Painter and with using the tablet 🙂

Sometimes I ink by hand. Lately I've been using Micron pens. The thickest one gives me great results and the thinner ones are fabulous for detail. The best thing about these pens is they do NOT BLEED. There is also a brush tip pen I use for filling in larger areas or for getting some varied line widths. It handles just like a paintbrush though so you've gotta have a very steady hand.
http://www.dickblick.com/zz207/02/

When I ink in photoshop I sometimes use my tablet and ink by hand or I use the pen tool for uber-smooth vector-like lines. I used the tutorial linked to below to learn how. The pen tool is easy once you get the hang of it, but it's really hard to learn if you don't know what you're doing. It's about the only thing in photoshop I had to look up to learn how to use it.
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/21814747/?qo=14

I usually find equal satisfaction with hand inking or photoshop inking. But photoshop does have the advantage of layers and an undo key. I find I get the best looking results using the pen tool in photoshop, though it's easy to get lazy and have it end up looking too "mechanical". It takes a bit longer than using a tablet and way longer than on paper, but it can be done with a mouse (easy on the hand) and you can twek your lines before commiting digital ink to them, so you get something closer to what you really want.

Hope that was of some help. Good luck to you!

Ness, that was not of some help, that was "GREAT HELP - AWESOME HELP - THE HELP" *period*. That photoshop tutorial is amazing, I'm probably gonna be practicing it all week(or longer). All I can really say to you is:

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!​

People sometimes ask me questions like this thinking I use high-tech, top-of-the-line, name brand items (which I do in some cases), but for inking (we're talking traditional inking with a pen, not digital inking with a tablet in an art program) I use these cheap, fine ballpoint pens. I forget their name...

Anyways, they're not even for art, they're for writing, but I use them anyway.

As far as technique, to ensure a steady line, sometimes I'll draw in daps, rather than one long stroke. If you try and cover an entire line with one stroke you're the chances of it being jagged or bumpy are higher.

It's far more important to take your time with inking than it seems at first, but a good ink job makes for a good setup for a good color job. Of course, it helps if the lineart is nice and crisp as well.

I prefer fine detail points as opposed to thick pens. Even if a bigger one can cover more area faster, I have more precise control with the details and when it comes to areas you need to be delicate with, the fine detail wins out.

There was a short time where I inked the old fashioned way, with pen nibs and dipping them in ink, but that quickly grew tiresome, as I was only doing it to experience what it was like for old-fashioned manga artists to do the same.

As far as inking digitally, the same method apply, generally speaking. I can be faster since you can undo anything digitally if make mistakes.

I haven't drawn any traditional art in quite some time, so traditional inking hasn't been a concern.

I pretty much do the same thing, except I don't use ballpoint pens, but drawing pens. I usually do the lines in daps and not long strokes just as well. I guess our methods are very similar.

I want to give a shot at the digital method, so I'll go ahead and study that tutorial Ness provided.

Thanks for your reply man, always a pleasure

 

[Senshi1]

Actually, my method is pretty much identical to Sammi's. Sketch it on paper with a mechancal pencil. When I'm happy, outline it with the same pencil (but pressing harder) and scan it. Outline it in photoshop and use the filler tool to colour it. Add backgrounds as required. :happy:

 

[nessonite1]

Wow, you're certainly welcome! While I was searching for the same tutorial I had used I saw that there were a lot of others on DA. I pointed you to that one because I found it really straight forward but you may want to check out some others to see how other people do it. Just search for "pen tool tutorial" on DA.

Though you didn't ask I'll mention that I too have recently started using a mechanical pencil to do my sketch work. I don't know why I had been using regular pencils for so long. Pain in the ass to keep sharpened. Now I've got a real nice mechanical pencil that holds a retractable (and replacable) plastic eraser. The white kind that are really great and don't tear your paper up. I still use Derwent drawing pencis when what I want to draw is pencil-only though. For that stuff you do need a range of pencil types.
I'm so glad I was able to help! Hopefully more artists will pop in here and offer some advice. Always looking to learn new ways of doing things. ^^

 

[Janus4385]

Actually, my method is pretty much identical to Sammi's. Sketch it on paper with a mechancal pencil. When I'm happy, outline it with the same pencil (but pressing harder) and scan it. Outline it in photoshop and use the filler tool to colour it. Add backgrounds as required. :happy:

That seems to be a popular method 😀 . Thank you for the reply man

Wow, you're certainly welcome! While I was searching for the same tutorial I had used I saw that there were a lot of others on DA. I pointed you to that one because I found it really straight forward but you may want to check out some others to see how other people do it. Just search for "pen tool tutorial" on DA.

Though you didn't ask I'll mention that I too have recently started using a mechanical pencil to do my sketch work. I don't know why I had been using regular pencils for so long. Pain in the ass to keep sharpened. Now I've got a real nice mechanical pencil that holds a retractable (and replacable) plastic eraser. The white kind that are really great and don't tear your paper up. I still use Derwent drawing pencis when what I want to draw is pencil-only though. For that stuff you do need a range of pencil types.
I'm so glad I was able to help! Hopefully more artists will pop in here and offer some advice. Always looking to learn new ways of doing things. ^^

I'll be sure to check out the other tutorials, but for now I think I'll stick to this one, it covers the basics of it plus a little more and seems to be all I need for now. Thank you for pointing out there are other tutorials on DA too.

I'm not too fond of mechanical pencils, I always break the tips when I use them, or when I used them anyway, don't really do it anymore. After seeing so many people use them though, I may have to give them a try again 🙂

 

[nessonite1]

You may have been using a .5 mm lead. Try using a .7, which is a little thicker and can handle greater pressure. And if you spend a bit of money on getting a good one it'll be much more comfortable to hold than a standard pencil.

 

[Snail Shell]

Two words: Staedler pens. You will never buy another brand of lining pens in your life. They are a little on the steep side though ($15 - $20 for a set of 5).

Snail Shell

 

[nessonite1]

That's barely more than what I pay for Micron pens which are $3 each in the store. I've not seen those you mentioned at Michael's but if they're as good as you say they are I'll give em a shot. I'll do a bit of searchiung to find a place near me that sells them. I just bought a set of prismacolor markers and nothing seems expensive to me anymore. XP

 

[Snail Shell]

It's costs like that Nessie that are the reason I saved my university student card. Most places give like a 10% discount to students.

Snail Shell

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

A good way to save money is to focus on perfecting a technique, rather than relying on expensive quality products. If you have good skills to begin with, you can use even cheap-ass stuff and it will still look good/as good and most people or no one will be able to tell the difference. Also, you'd be saving materials rather that using them up trying to figure out what you want to do or how to use them. Most people blow through their materials quickly because they use them too liberally or don't know how to get the most out of the item while using less of it up. It's about management, and alot of people don't get it so they're always running out of this and that too quickly (often times because theres a lack of experience involved).

Something that still amazes me is the younger artists who get this idea that if you buy really expensive pencils, or whatever, that you'll magically be able to draw better, as if the tools do the work for you.

I still get a good chuckle out of that, because those ignorant kids are going to be pissing away their parent's money until they figure it out.

And then, what gets me, is they get cranky, upset, and angsty when the tools don't perform like they expected them to and then they either get rid of them of never use them again. Little boy, it's not the tool's fault, it's yours.

Learn to draw and color BEFORE you invest in expensive, name-brand items.

 

[nessonite1]

totally...a lot of people run into the same problems when they take up photography. The ads show people doing spectacular stuff with a $3,000 camera, only to realize later that a beginner is still a beginner, no matter what tools you use.
In general I agree that expensive materials do not make enough of a difference for it to be worth it (unless you're really at a pro level doing this for a living and recouping the expenses). I've noticed that these prismacolor markers are notably better than their cheaper counterparts. Being able to fill in an area with truly SOLID color with no streaking at all is really fantastic. That streaky marker look is a big part of what's been keeping me from coloring by hand. Now I'm going to try to do some stuff at least block-colored by hand. being solvent-based is also good. They dry faster, though tey do bleed more than what I'm used to on the paper I happen to be using them on. No biggie.
Today I used them on a wooden walking stick that I had decorated for someone. Normally I would use paints but these worked a billion times better. Paint always gets lodged in the burned-in design and makes a mess.

 

[Janus4385]

Of course technique and skills are always the most important tool, and the most useful one too. But proper materials can help. This is very relative though, too many things to take into account...

 

[juggernaut]

I like to get a nice, tight pencil outline finished. Then I go to my saltwater aquarium and get a squid. I put the squid and paper on the floor and stomp the shi... ink out of the squid. Magically, the ink only sticks to the graphite and I brush the rest of the ink off the page with the side of my hand.

 

[nessonite1]

*runs out to buy a squid*

 

[scavenger]

Ah, an art question! My favourite! 🙂

Well, I myself use a set of fine markers made by Faber Castell. They are quite affordable, and come in 4 degrees of thickness. there are available in black, light brown and sepia.
I use the sepia ones for the initial inking of my pencilled drawing (I use 2B/no.0 pencils -of the cheapest brand I can find 🙂 ) After coloration with acrylic paint, I use the black ones to redo the lines (they have faded a bit under the layer of paint).

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

totally...a lot of people run into the same problems when they take up photography. The ads show people doing spectacular stuff with a $3,000 camera, only to realize later that a beginner is still a beginner, no matter what tools you use.
In general I agree that expensive materials do not make enough of a difference for it to be worth it (unless you're really at a pro level doing this for a living and recouping the expenses). I've noticed that these prismacolor markers are notably better than their cheaper counterparts. Being able to fill in an area with truly SOLID color with no streaking at all is really fantastic. That streaky marker look is a big part of what's been keeping me from coloring by hand. Now I'm going to try to do some stuff at least block-colored by hand. being solvent-based is also good. They dry faster, though tey do bleed more than what I'm used to on the paper I happen to be using them on. No biggie.
Today I used them on a wooden walking stick that I had decorated for someone. Normally I would use paints but these worked a billion times better. Paint always gets lodged in the burned-in design and makes a mess.

It doesn't take someone with a refined sense of a color palete to use big name items like prismacolor, copic, and so forth, but the problem with beginners and even intermediates is that they don't know how to make the quality of the product work for them and the results are just as ugly as if they had used a cheap product horribly too. They end up blaming the product rather than themselves.

So again, while the product can and does make a difference in quality and performance, it's only if you know how to take advantage of it. I wouldn't recommend someone starting off with the expensive stuff. That's just plain foolish unless you know what you're doing.

But, then again, if you've got the money, and it's no object, then hell if it matters. Squandering money is never cool though, even if you can afford to do it.

 

[Janus4385]

I like to get a nice, tight pencil outline finished. Then I go to my saltwater aquarium and get a squid. I put the squid and paper on the floor and stomp the shi... ink out of the squid. Magically, the ink only sticks to the graphite and I brush the rest of the ink off the page with the side of my hand.

That explains the red part in your avatar, IT'S SQUID BLOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Man, I wish I had squid.... maybe Ness can get me one, she seems to now where to buy them :super_hap

 

[Janus4385]

Ah, an art question! My favourite! 🙂

Well, I myself use a set of fine markers made by Faber Castell. They are quite affordable, and come in 4 degrees of thickness. there are available in black, light brown and sepia.
I use the sepia ones for the initial inking of my pencilled drawing (I use 2B/no.0 pencils -of the cheapest brand I can find 🙂 ) After coloration with acrylic paint, I use the black ones to redo the lines (they have faded a bit under the layer of paint).

Faber Castell, huh...? Ness mentioned the Micron pens, I have no idea where to get Micron pens, but Faber Castell I can find. I use Pilot drawing pens, but they don't give me the result I want, I am trying to find another type or brand, the Pilot ones smudge a little sometimes :sad:

Thank you for sharing your methods with the rest of us 🙂

 

[scavenger]

Faber Castell, huh...? Ness mentioned the Micron pens, I have no idea where to get Micron pens, but Faber Castell I can find. I use Pilot drawing pens, but they don't give me the result I want, I am trying to find another type or brand, the Pilot ones smudge a little sometimes :sad:

Micron pens are quite hard to find (around here they are, anyway) I've never worked with them so I can't tell how they perform. I don't know the Pilot brand either.
The Faber Castell pens, however should be quite easy to find (they are called "Faber Castell PITT artist pen" and the 4 thicknesses are designated by the letters S, F, M and B) Their ink is based on indian ink, which dries almost instantly, so no smudging, and no bleeding too. It is also waterproof and does not fade in sunlight.

 

[juggernaut]

Tip.

Some of you probably do things on 8.5x11 to still be able to scan it. Regardless, draw everything as big as possible. It allows you to use a bigger tip, or at least a reasonable non-professional artist one. If you do it a little larger and reduce it, everything tightens up and the lines are a little forgiving. Some of you trying to use a machined, mechanical, half-hairline tip will just end up looking shakier for having drawn it so small. Then when you scan it and maybe enlarge it a little, the imperfections are highlighted.

 

[Timewarp]

Oh so you guys use magic? I'd never would've thunk it.