SkunkyArt | Tutorial-Tech — Inking 101- Part 1

A large art pad , at least twice as big as normal paper. Any paper you are familiar with is fine. Such pads can be found cheap at the toy store as refils for the Little tykes art easel. the most you should pay for 100-200 pages is $10-$20.

An 8'x11" pack of bristol smooth paper. What ever feels the smoothest to you is the best. this is the final product paper, what you use when you have decided everything and have it all ready. This paper can get expensive, up to $20 for a 20 page pack. Its best to buy online, the prices are lower, but be wary of huge shipping and handling prices.

A ruler, one with a metal edge or a pad beneath it. the little metal edge on wood rulers is an inking line, that way you wont ruin the ruler or your line. make sure its a safe. metal rulers can cut you easily, especially ones with inking edges. you can buy one for a few cents. French curve rulers are a little harder to find, but still relatively cheap. they make uniform and hard to-do curves much easier than free hand. This comes in handy when drawing numerous call-outs.

Different grades of pencils. They come in different softnesses and hardnesses. THe softest is 9B and the hardest is 9H. HB is in the middle. you can buy a pack of them for about $24. Derwent is a good brand. For the kind of art you do though, graphic pencils or the H pencils are the kind you need. they have thin lines that are easy to trace, B pencils are for shading, as in life studies. Its always good to have a wide array of useable pencils, but if you have to choose, choose something in the HB-5H range. DO not go above a 2b in softness. these pemcils bought alone range from $1-$3.

Micron pens vary in thickness and quality. They come in many different sizes and thicknesses. Any bran graphic micron pen is good to start, you can buy a pack of all sizes for about $15. Still, be careful when choosing pens. If the box is resealable or they are organized individually, test them on a piece of paper to make sure you like how they feel in your hands.they should be comfortable and controllable, and should go smoothly. I prefer the STAEDTLER brand, since they are less expensive than micron, and come in packs. A pen costs on average $3.

Sharpies of different thickness are for large black areas so that you dont dry out your microns. Its easy to buy sharpies.Iin Marvel style shading, the big black blots of muscle definition can quckly destroy a micron, besides, the small tip bends with sideways strokes, that can cause a leak. A "fine point" sharpie is essential. Never go larger than a fine point or a small chisel tip. Sharpies cost around $2.50

Correction ink comes in either a bottle , pen , or tape . The bottle is the best kind if you know what you are doing. With it you can use a small pin or needle to remove etra thin lines. if you arent, the pen is good to trace bad lines, though it cakes up and requires shaking and cleaning often. The tape is heard to use, its only good for short broad areas, the tape runs off the track often, and an amount of skill is needed to work the item.

Since most specialized pencils dont have erasers, you'll need a special kind. Kneaded rubber erasers are easy hold because you can mold them to your hands. Artgum erasers ar soft and great for erasing things, but they are also weak and will break in half after a while. it is still usable, but the pieces continue to break until you are down to chunks. the best kinds may be the Plastic eraser or the stick eraser . these stay together to the very end and erase well.

You should invest in a selection of anatomy books , and comic figurines for reference. you can buy the figures at your local toy or comic store, and the anatomy books at barnes and noble or similar book stores in the art section. Half Price books usually has a wide array of good art books. Make sure you do not fall sway to How To Draw comic books, they are usually of low quality. Remember that marvel/DC comics are some of the most realistic cartoons, so a good grasp of human anatomy is important.