I found one book i still heartily recommend, called the art of comic book inking by gary martin, which is to date the best book on the subject. In this class, you will learn about the various ways that i implement style into my inking process. The dark ink lines makes the art jump off the page and adds depth and dimension. Martin focuses on his genre superhero and the inking techniques he describes are best suited for that. The art of comicbook inking gary martin, steve rude. The illustrations would be used to help the rest of the creative team cast the roles for the. Aug 01, 2012 comic book inking and coloring tutorial. Earlier this year i was commissioned to come up with a series of character illustrations for cohort pictures new film project. What youre about to learn is my entire production workflow for drawing, designing, inking and coloring powerful comic book women from start to finish. There was a clear stylistic distinction between good and evil, and superheroes were nothing more than happygolucky dogooders that battled and always defeated villains motivated by money or world domination. Inking comics can be fun, frustrating, or a mix of each. I do like that comic book art has many aspects of traditional art and graphic design. Digital inking for comics create amazing line art 4. Digital inking for comics create amazing line art udemy.
I describe my process on a desktop system, as well as on the ipad pro. At one time, inking was mostly used to prepare the comic page for printing, as the printer would pick up the light pencils, but today, the inker is a vital part of the comic creation process. The art of comic books during randys one hour presentation he offers a comparison of the comic book process, including script, pencils, letters and finished inks to the basics of animation production focusing on how planning and storyboarding techniques in animation relate to storytelling in the comic book artform. My name is clayton, and ill be your instructor for this course. These topquality art presentation books are excellent for carrying and presenting original art, photos, and prints.
Its certainly possible to ink comics with a brush pen or a finetipped marker. Apr 28, 2015 when i turn the page and read the pages from any graphic novel i can instantly recognized the art and the artist that drew in each comic panel. Max does all of the digital inking, for two reasons. Gary martins two volumes of the art of comicbook inking have been combined into a single valuepriced volume and expanded with new material, including three additional bluelined artboards featuring pencil art by master comics illustrators jack kirby, john buscema, and gil kane. Overall, this was one of the best books on comic book creation i have read, for example, better than the basic dc comics guides. Resources for inking a comic using traditional tools, or digital, to achieve standard comic art black and white composition. Comic art commissions dragonberry comic art links directory. By writing this book, i hope to demystify a very important part of the comic book creative process.
The art of comicbook inking 2nd edition gary martin. As we get towards the end of the project a days work could include pencilling, inking, and coloring. The first 70 or so pages are concerned with the basics of inking. Comic book artists do not just settle in shading their works using pencil. There are notes on equipment, inking with pen and with brush, shading, feathering and crosshatching, contouring that is, edging an element of the picture to help define it in some way facial shadows, backgrounds. Gary martins two volumes of the art of comicbook inking have become the industrystandard manuals for aspiring inkers seeking to take their work to the next level or for working professionals looking to broaden their skills base. Anyway, long story short i had a lot of trouble finding any sources of learning how to ink.
For the chapter i inked four comicbook pages, using a variety of tools and techniques. Hey, hey, doing its clayton here from hagel comics dot net if youve ever wanted to illustrate powerful comic book women. After were done with the rough draft its time to cement our idea in ink, using sharp, slick, energetic line art. Mar 02, 2020 while were finishing the pencils, max is also scanning the completed pages for inking and starting that process. I had a previous version of this book, and this version includes sections on digital inking. Along with pen, brush, and stylus, no inking tool is more useful than the art of comicbook inking.
Inking may be one of the most misunderstood disciplines of the comic art world. Nov 04, 2016 the golden age was truly an idyllic time. Kubert art store blank blue line pre ruled comic book paper. Generally, a brush or pen is used to ink comic book pages, but some inkers use both.
Youll learn the complete production workflow for designing, drawing, inking and coloring three female comic book characters using a combination of manga studio and photoshop. We track everything with a big checklist thats tacked to the studio wall. Blue line pro serving comic book and animation creators for. Another really good reference book for inking is dcs guide to inking comics by klaus jansen this book came out in 2003 an is part of a series of subsequent dc books. The art of comic book inking tpb third edition learn the techniques, tools, and approaches of some of the finest inkers in comics, and use the included eight fullsized bluelined art boards featuring pencil art by top comics illustrators for practice or as samples to show editors. No ink bottle to tip over, no washing of brushes or crowquill pens, and i can start and stop on a moments. This book contains good information on inking by industry pros. See more ideas about comic art, comic books art and art.
The art of comic book inking is divided into three sections. I am really proud of the information i was able to include in the book. To me looking at sterankos art work of various comic book covers is like watching a 1960 and 1970 political thriller. Before anyone cries outrage at why george perez and walt simonson are not on this list, despite continuing to produce amazing work, please remember that were just talking about seminal works from the last 25 years. If youve purchased this book solely for the art by our spectacular roster of contributors, youll get your moneys worth. When i turn the page and read the pages from any graphic novel i can instantly recognized the art and the artist that drew in each comic panel. They use ink to incorporate dynamic lighting, and add shading and textures which may be lacking in the penciled work. To celebrate the last 25 years in comics, were looking back at the greatest comic book artists from the last quarter century. Blank premiere art boards strathmore 300 regular 14.
Steranko ranked 4th because he was one of the most influential comic book artist that push away the comic books code restrictions. The traditional comic book will move through the stages of penciling, inking, coloring, and then the lettering. Gary martin the art of comicbook inking 2nd edition. But the art of comic book inking is mainly intended for. Portraying the mass, depth, and form of your objects. After an introduction into the art itself thats probably better suited as a quick refresher for established artists who havent been inking in a while, the main part of the book presents four pencil pages by steve rude, each followed by inks done by martin and some guest artists who describe what they did and how they did it. Preruled, preprinted comic book guide lines on high quality strathmore 400 series bristol professional quality for professional use. Learn these different styles and comic book art techniques. Gary martins the art of comic book inking is a professionalgrade guide to inking comic books. During this one hour presentation, randy takes children on a journey of how animation is conceived through early inspirational and character sketches, then is storyboarded much like a comic book following the strict cinematic. Im a professional, freelance comic creator that has been published in a number of indie books, and am always looking to take on new projects.
This digital method of inking proved to be faster and more efficient, as well as being more. You want to know how to ink your illustrations and comic book projects. Ive been making comics for a while, but if youre just beginning or simply interested in learning the steps involved, this course will take you through the tools and techniques i use to. Inking over the pencils of professional artists can be a great training exercise for understanding how mood and tone can be changed by the inking process. Inking comic books by hand surely has its rewards especially if you plan to do the entire comic book project by yourself. Now, these two textbooks have been combined into a single valuepriced volume and expanded with new material. Seasoned semipro with a diverse range of styles form traditional lined comic book art and coloring to black and white more dramatic illustration style to painted, or unique whit. Instead of messy ink bottles and brushes, artists could now use a tablet and stylus to replicate the same process to a certain extent.
This is a fun tutorial that covers the process i use, while showcasing the comic strip i write called the brads. But actual way to begin my new super heroines course might be just what youre looking for it will show you the complete process for drawing inking and coloring female comical characters from start to finish the biggest challenge. The inks should add clarity and propel the artwork off the page. An intriguing look at comic book inking techniques. Noeska smit, a phd who deals with all things medical visualization and other things that are way above my head asked me to write a blog piece on the basics of comic book inking and, more specifically, on the dos, donts and whys of it all.
You can consider inking as a precursor to the actual comic book coloring where you will still need to have a steady hand when using the markers and other drawing instruments. Each lesson is concise and to the point, cutting out the fluff and leaving you with a clear guide thatll reveal how its all done. With the introduction of software for digital art production, inking methods changed slightly. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Some comic inkers and comic artists now seek for the convenience of using computers in creating comics, opting for a faster and easier approach. Before the internet, trying to find out what comic artists used to draw was a bit of a chore unless you knew a comic artist. A number of graphic editing software can aid in comic book inking, adobe photoshop, illustrator and many others.
Inking, or finishing, a comic page is a crucial step in the creation of a comic book and is a skill in and of itself. Along the way ill explain my creative process in detail and show you the exact techniques i use to digitally illustrate high quality, professional looking comic book. Back in the late 80s early 90s we had wizard magazine which came out monthly and would always have a small howto section in the book featuring an artist in the industry. Comic strip tutorial, best inking methods, inking tools. What you need to know about comic book illustrations. The illustration of a comic book or a graphic novel is a subject of enormous breadth and depth, but an overview of the process can be presented in a few short paragraphs. The northern mist, a suspense horror set during the roman occupation of briton.
All it involves is tracing over lines that have already been drawn, right. See more ideas about comic art, illustration art and drawings. The 25 greatest comic book artists from the last 25 years. The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a pencil, pen or a brush. The illustrations would be used to help the rest of the creative team cast the roles for the film, aid in costume design and provide a bit of. Learn the digital inking for your illustrations and comic books. Inside the art of visual storytelling, dcs guide to coloring and lettering comics and dcs guide to drawing comics digitally. And thats exactly why the comics of this age caught like wildfire.
There used to be a great website on inking with input from many great inkers but i think its defunct. First i capture my ideas down in a quick stick figure sketch on typing paper. Learn tips and techniques to do so with this course. Well begin by outlining the primary contours that define the character design, applying line weight variation for a more dynamic, visually appealing contour. Ive had the honor to write a chapter on digital inking for the new edition of the classic howto book by gary martin the art of comic book inking. Scad creative essentials fundamental tools and techniques for sequential artists kindle edition by lowe, john paul.
Artstation the art of comic book inking, vitali iakovlev. The illustrations would be used to help the rest of the creative team cast the roles for the film, aid in costume design and. Inking was necessary in the traditional printing process as presses could not. The others being dcs guide to pencilling comics, dcs guide to creating comics. Steranko is featured in the will eisner comic book hall of fame and became a comic book historian. However, he is really talking about classical, traditional inking styles and in that sense, he is talking about comic book art as a whole. Feb 01, 2015 this is the last video for this series. It would have been nice to see artwork from a different group of artists, such as joe mad or alvin lee. A second presentation randy offers is the art of storytelling in animation and how it relates to the comic book medium.
Reading comic books and graphic novels for 15 years of my life span i would like to list my top ten comic book artist on. The best inking methods, tools, pens, brushes, and paperorso, how do you create these cartoons. His primary comic book inking experience includes big bang comics for image, david hahns serena published by an. Learn how to use your graphic tablet and your creative software to ink your illustrations. The inker sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. Comicbook inking resources comicartistresourceblog. In this tutorial, well walk through the steps of creating a comic strip using illustrators pen tool, custom brushes and masking features. Working in vector has additional advantages, from not having to worry about resolution to being able to change the line art weight with the click of a button. Graphic novels and comic book art is an engaging introduction to the process of creating graphic novelstyle sequential art course topics will include story development, storyboarding, page layout design, inking, lettering and colouring. And so i did, and it turned into a fullblown essay. We will look at some different ways in which you can ink a comic character with adobe illustrator. Specialists in bringing vibrancy or moodiness to the page, colorists take blackandwhite comic book art and add hues and tones to each page, and often to cover art as well.
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