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Description
I’ve been getting some technical questions about how I draw and all, and, well. Let’s see if I can clear some things up. It’s no secret, after all. ^_^ I’m sorry I couldn’t make this a fancier tutorial, but I’ve got next to no time on my hands right now… T_T

Drawing Tips 2: Direct Inking

I always ink by hand. I can say straight out I don’t have the skill to digital ink, at all. I tried and it never really… I don’t know. It never got across what I wanted it to. The lines were either too even or too clean. T_T I’m not saying that digital inking is not cool and can’t look nice, though… it’s more that my arts teacher gave me a whole other philosophy to follow.

“Every line your hand makes is unique and can never be completely copied.” He straight-out hated under-drawing and my drawings went into the trash if he so much as saw a trace of it (he could tell if I erased them! O_O) so I had to come up with something and fast, if I wanted to get good grades.

Now, I wasn’t the first person to think of this, far from it. I’m talking about pre-drawing… or whatever you want to call it. X_x; Basically, you throw all of your concepts onto paper, drawing them out of your head as you remember them (see middle pencil sketch).

Then you try focusing on the idea you want to achieve. For example, some time ago Troll asked me to do a ‘scary’ portrait of him, so I first put down ‘his full figure’ along with things I thought represented him (Darky’s cloak, his bass guitar). Taking those elements I did more sketches (really messy ones that only I can decypher so I’m not publishing them… with different variations of his form; ¾ portrait with bass, bust with/without the bass, face… until I figured the scarier was the variation on the left, especially if drawn in complete chiaroscuro.

At that point, I took a fresh paper and, looking at the final sketch, drew down what you see up there with a ballpen. It’s important NOT TO put the sketch under the final paper! Because as you go along drawing, you’ll find out flaws and potentials the initial sketch can’t bring out because it’s a mess. Think of it as ‘upgrading’.

I did the same for the picture on the right, only used shading and detail more, because there was no higher concept to follow. Well, there sort of was (there always should be)… but definitely not as defined as the first.

You don’t need to ink with a ballpen, far from it. I did ink with ladypens (those really thin pens you dip into ink?) in school, in fact. Or there’s always felt-tips and markers of innumerous kinds… but essentially, any of these needs to ‘fit’ in your hand before it can help you do your best. Any inker has its flaws and its benefits that you don’t, and can’t know, before you find them out.

So if you’re gonna go buy any of these, I suggest you pull out some three sheets of paper and just try them out drawing random twirls and lines. Change the angle of the strokes, the pressure used, stop abruptly in the middle of the line and change direction- think you’re in kindergarten again and have a big white sheet of paper in front of you that’s just waiting for you to fill it. Draw to music if it helps you switch your brain off.

When it’s done, analyze it. Take a marker of another color and circle the effects you like, be it fades, be it bolds, traces or random shapes. Then pull out a new paper and try re-making them. You’ve just unveiled some tricks your inker was hiding – you can now use them when inking your things to avoid even technical lines.

Also, while inking, give your drawings energy. For example, if you’re drawing a wind that pulls hard; show how hard it’s pulling! Press your inker hard against the paper and let it blow off to where it’s pulling, lifting that pressure. Chance is you’ll probably ‘ruin’ a drawing or two in the beginning, because you won’t be able to synchronize with the way you want your pen to move… but it comes with experience. Don’t be afraid to ruin anything you’ve drawn. The next time you do it it’s gonna be twice as better.

Bottom line is, by the end of the semester, I was top of my class with this technique. So it is possible and it does work, I guarantee. ^_^ It also helps a lot with general underdrawn inking.

Previous entries:
- Drawing Tips 1: Skeletons and Figures

Description
I’ve been getting some technical questions about how I draw and all, and, well. Let’s see if I can clear some things up. It’s no secret, after all. ^_^ I’m sorry I couldn’t make this a fancier tutorial, but I’ve got next to no time on my hands right now… T_T

Drawing Tips 2: Direct Inking

I always ink by hand. I can say straight out I don’t have the skill to digital ink, at all. I tried and it never really… I don’t know. It never got across what I wanted it to. The lines were either too even or too clean. T_T I’m not saying that digital inking is not cool and can’t look nice, though… it’s more that my arts teacher gave me a whole other philosophy to follow.

“Every line your hand makes is unique and can never be completely copied.” He straight-out hated under-drawing and my drawings went into the trash if he so much as saw a trace of it (he could tell if I erased them! O_O) so I had to come up with something and fast, if I wanted to get good grades.

Now, I wasn’t the first person to think of this, far from it. I’m talking about pre-drawing… or whatever you want to call it. X_x; Basically, you throw all of your concepts onto paper, drawing them out of your head as you remember them (see middle pencil sketch).

Then you try focusing on the idea you want to achieve. For example, some time ago Troll asked me to do a ‘scary’ portrait of him, so I first put down ‘his full figure’ along with things I thought represented him (Darky’s cloak, his bass guitar). Taking those elements I did more sketches (really messy ones that only I can decypher so I’m not publishing them… with different variations of his form; ¾ portrait with bass, bust with/without the bass, face… until I figured the scarier was the variation on the left, especially if drawn in complete chiaroscuro.

At that point, I took a fresh paper and, looking at the final sketch, drew down what you see up there with a ballpen. It’s important NOT TO put the sketch under the final paper! Because as you go along drawing, you’ll find out flaws and potentials the initial sketch can’t bring out because it’s a mess. Think of it as ‘upgrading’.

I did the same for the picture on the right, only used shading and detail more, because there was no higher concept to follow. Well, there sort of was (there always should be)… but definitely not as defined as the first.

You don’t need to ink with a ballpen, far from it. I did ink with ladypens (those really thin pens you dip into ink?) in school, in fact. Or there’s always felt-tips and markers of innumerous kinds… but essentially, any of these needs to ‘fit’ in your hand before it can help you do your best. Any inker has its flaws and its benefits that you don’t, and can’t know, before you find them out.

So if you’re gonna go buy any of these, I suggest you pull out some three sheets of paper and just try them out drawing random twirls and lines. Change the angle of the strokes, the pressure used, stop abruptly in the middle of the line and change direction- think you’re in kindergarten again and have a big white sheet of paper in front of you that’s just waiting for you to fill it. Draw to music if it helps you switch your brain off.

When it’s done, analyze it. Take a marker of another color and circle the effects you like, be it fades, be it bolds, traces or random shapes. Then pull out a new paper and try re-making them. You’ve just unveiled some tricks your inker was hiding – you can now use them when inking your things to avoid even technical lines.

Also, while inking, give your drawings energy. For example, if you’re drawing a wind that pulls hard; show how hard it’s pulling! Press your inker hard against the paper and let it blow off to where it’s pulling, lifting that pressure. Chance is you’ll probably ‘ruin’ a drawing or two in the beginning, because you won’t be able to synchronize with the way you want your pen to move… but it comes with experience. Don’t be afraid to ruin anything you’ve drawn. The next time you do it it’s gonna be twice as better.

Bottom line is, by the end of the semester, I was top of my class with this technique. So it is possible and it does work, I guarantee. ^_^ It also helps a lot with general underdrawn inking.

Previous entries:
- Drawing Tips 1: Skeletons and Figures