it's NOT tracing!!!

got to post a "how to" of sorts on the fine art of inking on MAW Production's blog.  here's my imput...

Inking for Comics with Janet "saltygirl" Stone Wade

How did you get started inking?

It was in the pre-nup. Martheus said he wouldn’t marry me unless I SWORE my allegiance to MAW Productions and to ink the Jetta books.

My first foray into inking was clumsy. I used one sized nib (if you can call it a nib) on everything: a fine point sharpie. And when Martheus said I could use whiteout if I need to, I took that as “Sure, you can ink this page blindfolded if you want. Whatever. No need to stay in lines! Here’s a bucket of whiteout. Use it with abandon!” Looking back, I think he had a mini-stroke when I gave him his pages back and he saw how I mutilated it with sharpie and whiteout. I’m really surprised he wanted me to continue inking his stuff.

*ahem*

I’ve gotten a lot better since then.

What do you feel your inking brings to the artwork?

Hopefully, it makes already awesome pencils POP! I mean, I love raw, rough pencil sketches. It’s almost like seeing the artist’s thought process in those. But laying inks down solidifies that thought. It’s the point of no return, no looking back, no more erasing nor editing.

How do you feel about digital vs. traditional inking?
I personally like traditional inking. It’s always a challenge to bring out the best in pencils when you lay inks onto paper. And it’s also a challenge to not mess up hahaha!


With digital inking, I feel a separation between me and the work. I don’t know, might be because it’s on screen and I never actually touch the work. Also, I haven’t had enough practice with the digital inks yet.

What are your tools of the trade?

Sakura, Copics, Microns, Sharpies (I’m not picky) with various nibs for detailed work. Sometimes I get fancy and do it with brushes and india ink for bigger areas. Sometimes, I said. I like how a nib gives me more control over a brush. But I do like how a brush can give such great line variation…hmmm…

Got my tools ready. About to begin...

What is your inking process? This question is step by step.

I just want to say that inking is NOT tracing. Tracing implies following exactly the established pencils without using any of your congnative skills to go over what someone else has already done. When you ink, you enhance the pencils set before you. Jim Lee is an awesome artist, but he would be in big trouble without his inker. Alright, rant over.

This is for traditional inking…

When I get a page, I first take a look at it and evaluate it. Are there large, solid areas of black? Mark those w/ X’s. What’s in the foreground vs. the background? Are there details to pay close attention to? What is important on the page?

Thick outlines and large areas of black established.

Follow up with finer details.

Now to ink. Of course, objects in the background get smaller line work as opposed to things up close. Distance = small, thin lines. Up close = thicker, more bold lines. Sometimes it’s ok to put a halo around an object that’s in the foreground to separate it more from the background. Or maybe you want the foreground object to bleed into the dark background. This all depends on your personal style, too, so you may opt out of the halo thing.

Finer lines for background stuff.

Also, pay attention to curves. On something organic, like hair, a line will taper at the end, so watch the pressure you apply with the pen. If an object has a bow or bend to it, the bend is thicker than the ends. It’s also important to note that an object’s outline will be thicker than the details within, so use a smaller nib when tackling those.


I’m a sucker for people. Maybe I should reword that… If given the option, I’d choose to ink only the characters and leave the inanimate objects and background in pencils. Haha! Who’s lazy? This gal, right here. Nah, but seriously, I like to ink people first, specifically faces, starting with the eyes of a character. Then I work my way out to the body outline, then the details within. Then I tackle the background (ugh!) with the same method: outlines first, details within next. And finally I ink the large solid areas of black which I’ve already marked with X’s. I ink those areas last because I feel I can finally relax after concentrating on a lot of detailed lines.

Then, when all’s done, I take a trusty straight edge and do the panel borders.

Theeeee ennnddd!