New inking test
Here is the result of a new inking test.
I have been going through this indecision for quite some time now, trying to find the right combination of pencils pens and paper to make comics with. On one hand I think this is a very silly distraction from making comics buton the other hand it is crucial to making the comics I want to produce to the level of quality I want. For a number of years now I have stuck to using my trusty .05 tech pen with a combination of no pencil or HB pencil. And more recently (2008) I started using a light blue col-erase pencil to good effect. However my work started changing and I wanted to draw on a larger scale and my tech pen wasn't making the cut (Examples, Hemp, old man, Star gazing, which were ok but I felt they could be better)
Then I have started trying to make myself use a nib for my more recent published pieces, which you can see here and here. However this just seems to take an awful amount of time to complete one page, something about it just feels a bit laboured.
I have also dabbled with brush pens, but the one draw back I find (other than constantly buying new pens) is that the line the create doesn't hold up well to erasing, that is to say the line just gets washed away into a spottled grey line that ultimately would need re-inking/double handeling.
Add to this a paper dilemma. I have always used these cheap sketchbooks which have worked great with my tech pen but not great with a nib or brush pen. I then discovered Fabriano Academia paper pads thanks to a (master class held by Dylan Horrocks) This paper has a great feels to draw on and the most versatile surface for ink I've seen in paper for ink. Another plus is it's fairly easy to order through your art store; For North American readers, bristol board can be hard to consistently locate in Australia.
Anyway to cut a long story short, the image above of Charles Darwin, is drawn on the said Fabriano paper using a 'Tombow' brush pen and an 'Pilot Color Eno' (Light blue) both pictured below. The pencil is light enough not to have to erase. I am happy with the result and I am going to try and use this combination for some comics in the future.
I still have a comic to finish with my tech pen as well and I have a feeling it will be a case of using the right tool for the matching story. Also after writing this post and linking back to older pieces done in tech pen, I start to think that the tech pen is not as bad as I think in my mind, and it' is more to do with the scale of the drawing in question.
'Tombow' brush pen and an 'Pilot Color Eno' (Light blue)
All the different papers and pens and brushes and inks are the best/worst thing about making comics.
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