Pencils and Inks
Thought it might be fun to post a comparison of my pencils versus the final inked page. Click on the image for a larger version.
I draw with blue pencil, since it feels less final to me than dark graphite, which leaves me more open to “finding” the right line. I can build up the shapes and curves until they feel right. When I feel I’ve got enough information down, I scan the page and send it off (with balloon placements) to my editors. Before I ink, I take a kneaded eraser to the page to lighten that blue (it’s not non-photo blue, so it will show up in my scans).
I’ve left a large part of the drawing here for the ink stage. In general, anything organic (like trees, rocks, grass, or in this case seaweed), I don’t bother penciling in with any detail. Those are things I’d rather do with the brush. Line-weights, and sometimes even spotting blacks are game-time decisions for me, as I like to be able to react to what I’m seeing and putting down on the page. As a result, I’m never exactly sure how the finished piece will look, but I like being surprised when it comes together.
I used to pencil on separate sheets of paper and lightbox the drawings onto the board (see the extras section of the Human Target:Living in Amerika trade paperback), but these days, I just draw straight onto the page. If something is particularly complicated (buildings, perspective, etc.), I’ll lightbox it just so the page isn’t a blurry blue mess. There was a time when I would have been horrified at working this way, but as I’ve gained more experience and confidence, my methods have changed. Hopefully for the better!
April 11th, 2007 | Posted under Comics, Shop Talk
Comments: 6
Comments
Comment from Angel Devil
Time: April 12, 2007, 8:32 pm
Your pencils are so… clean! Wow. It’s a great page in all its inked glory, but the sea horse is best! Nice detail! Of course, I like ships and sea creatures anyway.
Interesting, I see more blue line pencils these days, though I’m still doing my sketchy outlines in graphite and then cleaning up with a line pen before I go into the details. Makes me wonder if it’s time to rethink that approach. Oh, and light boxes? It’s been so long since I used mine, I think my father took it with him when he moved. I hope I won’t need it suddenly or something.
Anyway, even if your methods are changing (and isn’t that the way art works?) it sure seems to be working out well!
Ooo, I love shop talk.
Comment from Admin
Time: April 13, 2007, 6:31 pm
Re: blue pencil, I think more artists are doing their own scans and production work, and the less erasing the better. Both Dave Gibbons and Barry Kitson, for example, draw their pencils on a separate sheet and then print their pencils in light blue on bristol and ink straight over that.
I think a lightbox is pretty indispensable. You might not need it very often, but it’s a good thing to have around.
Comment from Angel Devil
Time: April 14, 2007, 6:31 pm
When I first came back around to comics two years ago (after a long break) I took a pretty minimal approach to materials simply to keep from getting overwhelmed, but you know, it may be time to go back to drawing boards and light boxes, and the blue pencil makes sense considering I do scan my own pages… thanks!
Comment from knot
Time: April 25, 2007, 3:13 pm
Wow, never knew that cartoons was such….an art!
Comment from RP
Time: August 14, 2008, 3:23 am
Hi Cliff, I must say you are one of the very few artist in comics that I really admire today… Had a couple questions, what kind of blue pencil do you use and how large are your cover and interior pages? Would love to hear/see more about your inking process as well…
Wonderful work! Ruben
Comment from Cliff
Time: August 14, 2008, 4:15 am
Thanks, Ruben, that’s very flattering! I’m a big fan of your work as well. I use Col-Erase 20044 dark blue pencils on standard DC comic pages (roughly 11×17). The pencils are a bit waxy, but I’ve gotten used to them. Not sure how to begin talking about inks, since I tend to just jump in without too much planning. I know some guys work on their backgrounds first, or spot large areas of black. I tend to start with the figures, and adjust my approach to the BG as I go, which usually means simplifying it. I should do a more detailed step-by-step of the inks at some point.
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