HOW TO DRAW COMICS:
INKING WITH A BRUSH pt 4

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

Let me back up a little and talk about the kind of brush to use for inking comics.

Unlike oil or watercolor painting where you use a variety of brushes on a single painting — from flat to round, large to small — on a comic book page you can do all your inking with a single brush. In fact I typically do. Which means choosing the appropriate brush is fairly important.

Choose a good rounded watercolor brush (not the flat kind) that comes to a fine point. You can tell the difference between watercolor and oil brushes by the size of their handles. A watercolor brush has a shorter handle, about six inches long.

Most professional comic artists use a Winsor and Newton Series 7 brush or a Raphael Kolinsky 8404 brush (the 8408 brushes are used for fine detail work). Though pricey (the WN Series 7 #3 can run as much $40 from a local art store) they are handmade from kolinksy sable (the tail hair of a species of Asian weasel) and of the finest quality. If cared for properly, they will last for years. (Here’s WN’s process for making their brushes if you’re interested.)

The size of the brush you use is a matter of personal preference. Sizes start at 000 and go up to 16, getting larger (and more expensive!) as you go. All come to a fine point, but the larger the brush, the more ink it can hold in one dip, and the wider the stroke it can make when borne down on.

The advantage of the smaller brush is, since it holds less ink, you can more easily achieve a consistent line. It’s simply not as sensitive to pressure. A little more force doesn’t tend to make the line much thicker using a size 1 brush, but the same amount of pressure will give a much thicker line with the size 3. And the 16? Huge difference! All of which means, unless you have really steady hands, it’s more difficult to achieve a really consistent line as the brush size gets larger.

Most artists I know use sizes 1 through 3. I personally like the size 3 because, after months of practice, I can get just as thin a line as with the size 1. And it holds plenty of ink, which means I can work for anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes sometimes between dipping in ink. The size 1 often requires dipping after working for less than a minute. Notice the sizes of brushes the pros use here (I’m guessing Jeff is using a size 1 and Chad a size 3).

If you haven’t used brushes before and want to build up your confidence, I recommend starting with a size 1. Why? Because its small size lends itself to the most control and feels the most like a pen. As I mentioned earlier, inking with a brush requires a certain amount of confidence, and this brush will get you nice results that build confidence quickly.

Once you’re happy with the results of that (or if you want more of a challenge), I recommend moving up to a size 3. Ultimately, this brush gives you greater options in terms of line weight without sacrificing detail. But be warned: compared to a size 1, you’ll need to practice more with it because it’s harder to control. But when mastered, the results the size 3 gives are spectacular.

I personally use a size 3 almost all the time, though I know of artists who use even larger. Once you learn the techniques of inking with a brush, every size will be useful, so don’t limit your explorations.

Next Wednesday: More about brushes in: Inking With a Brush, part 5!