HOW TO DRAW COMICS:
INKING WITH A BRUSH pt 1

Continuing the real-life saga of one man’s struggle against his art materials!

Let’s face it, inking is hard. The thought of putting that first ink mark onto a clean white sheet of paper can be terrifying, even to an experienced artist. I mean, what if you make a mistake? There’s almost nothing so permanent as ink on paper. Pencil, you can erase; paint, you can cover over; charcoal, you can rub out. But ink? Once you make that mark, there’s not much you can do to change it without drastic measures. Sure, you can cover it with more ink, but what if it’s a delicate line? With diligence you can erase or scrape the ink off with a razor blade, but you’re also taking a chance you’ll damage the paper. And patching or whiting out? Fine for reproduction, but every time you see the original that correction will scream for attention.

However, if you want to draw comics, sooner or later you’re going to have to ink your work. Ink is more durable than pencil, reproduces better, and there’s just something more professional about it. Which leaves you with the question: How do you start?

First you’ve got to understand that ink is your friend, and like any friend, you have to get to know it to understand it. Once you become familiar, you won’t be as intimidated, and working with ink will become not only tolerable but pleasurable.

But the only way to get to know it is to use it, so jump in right now. Don’t worry about the results, just start inking. Anything. The sooner you put brush or pen to paper, the sooner you’ll realize, “Hey, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be.” And that’s the secret to inking. Confidence.

Of course exercises are important, so I’ll cover those in the weeks to come. But the truth is, nothing provides more motivation than seeing a drawing take shape. So do an ink drawing as soon as you can. But don’t expect it to be perfect. In fact, give yourself permission to make lots and lots of mistakes. Because each mistake you make now is one less you’ll make in the future. Keep reminding yourself with each new drawing that no matter how this one turns out, the next one will be better; and pretty soon it will be! It’s simply a matter of practice and patience.

Next week: I’ll begin discussing the peculiarites of inking with a brush in: Inking With a Brush, part 2!