The Inking Tutorial

The "painterly" style of inking is more concerned with light and shadow than with the shapes and silhouettes of each character. Contrast is supplied by the portrayal of light hitting the subject. The painterly style simply thins the line on surfaces turned towards the light source, and thickens the heavier lines on surfaces facing away from the light. This technique is most commonly seen with a live line, with a slight cursive quality often used to define volumes as well.

This type of inking is more suited to realistic portrayal of the subject, and was a common illustration technique in past years. It survives today in both mainstream superhero comic book inking, and the few remaining adventure comics. There are three types of tools that are best for this sort of inking: pens that give a live line, brush pens, and real ink brushes. However, this is a very hard style to learn. Brush inking, while the highest art, is not quickly learned.

this tutorial
back		home		next

Tutorials
back		Home Page		next