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Bee-chan — Bee's Ink and Brush Tutorial
Published: 2005-03-29 06:32:16 +0000 UTC; Views: 39929; Favourites: 297; Downloads: 2628
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DONE done and FINISHED!!I have finished the ink and brush inking tutorial and conquered buttons in Flash! *pose*
ADR and Spub, I gave you your credit, meh luverlies ^_^.
I'm just wondering if perhaps I should add some softened background music or not *has a sound editor*.
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ANYWAYS, people have asked me in the past how I ink the way I do. I've kind of been meaning to make a tutorial for a while now... Spicekidd and Spubba gave me that last boot in the butt to get one finally made ^_^.
Decided to use the lineart for giftart I'm working on for ADR of her sexy boi, Ninjin.
Artwork, photography and Flash work are all done by me.
Ninjin and Cheese & Carrots belong to ADR.
I'll give a cookie to the people that find the 'easter egg' in the second supplies frame ^_^
~~Bee
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Comments: 135
You are very welcome! I love old school brush and ink, or dip pen and ink as well. Love being able to physically work with actual ink, and have to learn how to lay down a line without relying on Ctrl Z or Ctrl Alt Z ( and what ever the Mac equivalent is to the PC undo hot keys are ). Also love being able to ink when I have no access to a pc or electricity. XP
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Great tutorial, it will help so much with my inking.
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This is gorgeous! Thanks so much for taking time to make this, you're right, there isn't enough advice for using traditional materials for inking. I'll be using this for a while to help me get into inking with a brush instead of with pens. It looks so fluid and natural
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You are very welcome!
I'm just so glad that this tutorial has been able to help out so many people who have been curious to try brush inking, but didn't know where to start. And yeah, there really isn't! I've nosed around several times on Youtube, and yeah, people sorta go explain a tiny bit about brush inking, but they never really go into it. It gets treated as if it's a secret that they don't want others to know how to use. And it really isn't! The method of inking with a brush should be shared with anyone who really wants to learn.
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Yes, indeed! I just started playing around with brush pens recently for the first time, and was amazed at how liberating it felt to work with a tool that sort of does it's own thing, if that makes sense. You have much less control over it than with a pen, but because of that, you can really give flow to the piece... I don't know, or maybe I'm just not that good yet! I'll keep at it either way
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One, quite silly, question - will pony hair brush do its job, or should I throw it away and get sable hair one?
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Holy shit! I finally get to figure out how to properly ink my drawings finally! Previously, I assumed that you have to use the pens with the metal tips to ink, but large places that need to fully inked always come out as layered areas instead of a solid place. Thank you so much for making things so much clear!
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This is very imformitive! I learned a lot! *faves*
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Great tut!
I tried it out this afternoon and I think your tutorial helped me improve my inking. I saw how close you hold your brush and by emulating that, I was able to keep my hand from shaking. So -I put it in my favorites for others to find.
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You're welcome!
Yeah, holding the brush that close to the barrel does help with the shakey hand thing, gives me more control I think. Somehow, it kind of helps to calm my hand, almost put it into a kind of zen-mode-for-hands. However, I wouldn't use regular liquid soap anymore. I use Mona Lisa Pink Soap now, as it conditions the natural brush bristles better than regular hair conditioner and it cleans so much better than regular liquid soap.
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I'll have to look for that soap.
Say, do your brushes 'remember' how you use them? What I'm talking about is how the brush takes on a curve from the pressure of me using it, which affects my line. What do you think is causing that?
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Mine don't really do that, but after I'm finished using them, after cleaning them, I tend to gather a lot of spit on my tongue and use my tongue to reshape the brush bristles so that doesn't happen. The spit helps the brush keep it's point.
I also tend to keep rotating my brush around.
I think what it MIGHT be doing that to your brushes is old ink that's dried in the barrel, or the fact that the bristles themselves might not be conditioned, which you really need to do, especially with natural hair brushes. The Mona Lisa pink soap will help with that. I will also use Winsor & Newton's Brush Cleaner & Restorer for really bad brushes. However, with the Winsor & Newton cleaner and restorer, you NEED to keep JUST the brush bristles in the liquid. Do NOT allow the barrel or the brush handle to soak in it, it WILL remove the brush glue and the handle paint.
Some cleaning buckets that are made specifically for brush cleaning will have clips or spirals on them to suspend your brush over or in the cleaning liquid, but if you're cheap like me, I just take a clean GLASS jam jar and use blue painters tape to tape my brushes to the inside lip of the jam jar.
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I managed to get it better. But for long lines, may hands still shake. I've used brushes, adobe illustrator & photoshop for inking and find that the best(genuine) line quality comes from using brush and ink.
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Great, this has helped me a whole lot!! And i love how you made the tutorial into a flash!! Very original!
I swear you have stolen my sink...your sink looks EXACTLY like mine....creepy :/
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Thanks for the tutorial its great and i love how you presented it.
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Finally, an inking tutorial about TRADITIONAL inking.
Very informative, I've just started using a brush, and this helped a lot.
One thing i have to ask, the lines on the drawing are very smooth, and don't wave at any point. Does keeping lines straight just come from practice, or do you have some sort of technique to keep the brush steady?
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Mostly from years of practicing, but I actually do tend to hold my breath when inking, which helps. And, somehow, I'm able to get my hand and arm to relax a lot when inking. I think it comes trying to use the arm more instead of relying JUST on your hand and fingers for inking.
The more you try to FORCE the line to come out exactly as you want it, the more your hand may shake, causing the lines to waver. MOST of the movements you make when inking with a brush should come from your wrist and arm, not from your fingers. Just keep practicing ( a LOT! Brushes seem to take longer to get the hang of when it comes to inking, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be golden! ).
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I tend to hold my breath when I use inking pens. I never thought that drawing would leave you out of breath. XD
I've heard a lot that it's all in the wrist, which actually seems to work. I instinctively want to use my fingers when inking little lines.
Anyway, thanks loads! Brushes are fiddly to begin with, but I'll get the hang of it. (Eventually.)
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How do you scan and clean up your inked artwork? Whenever I scan mine it's always choppy and crappy looking.
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Firstly, the scanner you have makes a big difference. Certain scanners are perfect for scanning photos and artwork. Epson and HP usually have some really good ones.
As far as cleaning up my line art goes, it is a tad time consuming, but worth it in the end, I think.
In Photoshop, I scan my line art in grey scale, 300 dpi for the resolution. If I plan to make a large poster out of the finished piece in the end, I increase the image by an extra 50 percent WHILE IN THE SCANNING SOFTWARE.
When in Photoshop, I unlock my background layer, then go into Image, Adjustments, then Levels, and play with the level settings until my whites are as white as they're going to get. Blacks, you can always darken later. This can help to get rid of some of your remaining pencil marks. BUT, if you're like me and you don't like getting a pixelated line, don't over do it. I know a LOT of comic companies WANT that pixelated line art look, claiming it makes it easier for the colorist, but it makes an inkers line art look like CRAP and looks HORRID in print. Play with the levels just enough so that your line art still looks smooth and clean.
Once I'm happy with my levels, I create a new layer above the background layer, and paint over, with black or white, any dust, remaining pencil marks, or odd smudges that might have been on the scanner glass while scanning. THIS is the tedious part, and zoom is your friend.
When you're happy with that, just flatten the layers and save as a high quality jpeg.
When I'm ready to color digitally, though, I follow =One-Vox 's tutorial on how to delete the white from the background. It's a GOD SEND! But I will usually skip over how he cleans up his line art, straight to the selection process. Here's the link to his tutorial: [link]
Hope that's helped some! If you need anymore advice, just ask! ^___^
~~Bee
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Heya i was wondering since you use the same white ink as me is there some way to make it less well watery???? cuz its too watery and i can't whit out highlights and things and get rid of the black so helpppp!
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Actually, I don't use the white ink anymore. As you said, it's too thin and watery. At least for india ink, you can let it sit with out the cap on for an hour and it will start to thicken, but this doesn't really work for that white ink.
What I do now is just thin down a simple pure white acrylic paint instead and use that instead of the white ink. You just have to make sure your black inks are totally dry and set first before applying the thinned down white paint.
Hope that helps!
~~Bee
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It did so i need to get a new ink lovely lol anyways it really did help and the tut helped too!Now i need to steady my hand great
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I just want to thank you so much for posting this tutorial. I have tried to find ACTUAL inking tutorials before, but only managed to find methods used in photoshop which were interesting but, really, not what I was looking for.
This is a great tutorial- very informative- and I hope to put some of it to use soon!
I just have one question about india ink: does it expire? I ask because I opened up a bottle of Lotus india ink that I have had for almost two years. When I opened it the ink was very lumpy. Is there any way to smooth it out or am I destined to purchase another bottle?
Thank you for your time!
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You are very welcome! ^___^
I actually have changed my inking style a little bit since I created this tutorial, but the basics are still the same. I plan to eventually ( someday ) replace this tutorial with an updated one.
After a while, the ink DOES become thick, and it CAN become lumpy, especially after two years. XP I think it depends on which ink you get. Speedball Super Black india ink tends to thicken faster than Higgins Black Magic, I find. I haven't tried other inks as of yet, so I can't say which would last the longest ( and really, I go through ink pretty quickly ANYWAY. ).
I wouldn't recommend trying to smooth it out, especially if it's waterproof ink. I notice when I use my Higgins Black Magic waterproof ink to darken my watercolor dyes, a kind of iridescent film forms on the top. Not sure if that's the ink reacting to the water, considering that the ink is waterproof.
Really, it's best to invest in a new well / bottle of ink. Speedball and Higgins are probably the easiest and cheapest to find here in the US. Not sure about Canada, so hunt around.
~~Bee
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Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.
I picked up some Speedball Super Black and it works very well!
Thank you for all the info, it was a lot of help
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You're very welcome! ^__^
~~Bee
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Thanks! ^_^
I'm kind of thinking of creating a new one, though, as I've changed my inking style a bit, for the better, since this tutorial was created.
I still use a brush to ink, still Raphael Kolinsky sable hair, but it's the way I do my line art that's changed.
~~Bee
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Splendid! Do indulge us, please!
Cheers,
[ ~b~ ]
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Wow, so much work involved inking like that (I had no idea!) ^.^ I just draw directly with my Pilot pen straight off - no pencils- and use paint markers to cover larger areas to make all solid black. Faster and cheaper me thinks, but your linework does make for great coloring pages- better than mine with all gaping holes and such
Great tutorial BTW, Bee
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My friends and I that use brushes for inking have never had any luck working with white ink for corrections. Do you find that a specific brand or style works better?
To this day, Higgins Opac White has still stained my sketchbook pages.
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Actually, since I first posted this, I've gone the cheap route and switched out the white ink for a thinned out white acrylic paint instead. The acrylic has more of a tooth to it when it dries, so I find it holds the ink better than white ink does, kind of like the paper does.
But what I do use for making corrections is just a simple thinner paint brush. Nowadays, I wouldn't really recommend making corrections with your inking brushes. Use your inking brushes JUST as inking brushes, until it's time to downgrade them to an acrylic brush. But if you use an actual brush cleaner, like Mona Lisa Pink Soap, or Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner and Restorer, you can REALLY extend the life of your brushes, sometimes even bring them back to life.
For a really great over all brush for inking, I SWEAR by Raphael Kolinsky sable hairs. They're a bit pricier, but they're FANTASTIC, have a fantastically sharp tip, and you can order them online from places like Jerry's Artarama or Cheap Joe's ( Jerry's always has SOME kind of great sale going on ).
~~Bee
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I've got some old synthetic sable #3 that I us. It tends to work pretty well. I have a separate 10/0 that I use for the white ink but lately I've been using plain old white out to fix my mistakes.
The real problem I have with it is that it seems like there is never enough white pigment in the water of the ink. It just makes everything gray that it touches.
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Very true, which is another reason why I ended up going to white acrylic paint. The white ink really is just too TOO thin.
Be careful with the white out. Unless it's really fresh and liquidy, after a while, it COULD yellow and crack on you. White acrylic paint, in the long run, if you just use craft acrylic paint like Apple Barrel, Michaels brand, or Folk Art, you get something that WON'T yellow, won't crack, and will last longer in the bottle. It also costs less in the end if you buy a bigger bottle ( costs less than constantly buying more white out ), as it will last much much longer.
~~Bee
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It is actually that white out brand correction tape. Turns out it doesn't show much under a scanner head or a projector so it worked well for my class projects.
I'll look into that acrylic stuff.
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damn where didz u get teh indian ink bottles?
i just have the indian ink pens
:shoot:
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Michaels Arts and Crafts sells them! ^_^
~~Bee
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