Inking technique

[Dash Martin]

It tends to curl up and get all ripply.

[Bruce Lee]

Is tracing paper a bad idea?

There's two types of transparent vellum that can be used for inking. One is kind of wax- like transparent paper, and the other seems kind of rubbery or oily to the touch, but is likewise transparent. Both work okay, but I favor the wax-paper type.

First, you tape a vellum sheet over the pencilled page (use 3-M removable tape for this--don't use spray mounts that will stick to your pencilled page and pull up graphite and paper in the peel-off!). You'll be able to see the pencils clearly below the paper, and should be able to make out all the little details. IMO, this works better than blueline, because it allows the inker to see ALL of the pencils. Less GUESS-work.

I should mention though, that a lot of people I know complain about inking on transparent vellum. They don't like the surface too much. Most of these guys use a nib, I find, which isn't really the right tool for inking on vellum tranparent paper. I use a brush, and find the smooth vellum surface to be just fine. Brushes seem best for transparent vellum inking, and the ink of choice that I'll recommend is Speedball Super Black India Ink. It works great. Other inks, for whatever reason, tend to pool up on the more rubbery vellum, but speedball superblack india ink doesn't have this problem.

When you photocopy the inks from the transparent vellum, make sure of three things:

1) that you are using a good copier. you should always make good copies of your inks for presentation, so make sure the copier works well, prints well, and that the glass is clean.

2) that you have a white sheet of paper behind the vellum so that the linework shows up well

3) that you copy the inks on a slightly lighter setting for best clarity. Usually one shade lighter than normal will work just fine. I find that this keeps your lines from fattening up in the copying process.

One last bit about blueline: If you really want to go this route, make sure that the pencils you started with are scanned so that the linework is very DARK. This will help ensure that details make it through.

All the best,

Loston

[Justice41]

There's three types of tracing paper we use. Vidalon Canson, Which is the wax paper like Vellum, Mylar which is thick heavy and doesn't buckle under heavy liquids. Mylar comes in two types double or single side matte finish. The third is erasable tracing paper, self explanitory.
The mylar is a one shot deal. You can't erase but only once and then the surface underneath is a very slick plastic which will not take inks. Canson Vidalon is the best. I do all my Renderings on this and have for many years.
http://www.misterart.com/store/view/...-Paper-Pad.htm

[Bruce Lee]

There's three types of tracing paper we use. Vidalon Canson, Which is the wax paper like Vellum, Mylar which is thick heavy and doesn't buckle under heavy liquids. Mylar comes in two types double or single side matte finish. The third is erasable tracing paper, self explanitory.
The mylar is a one shot deal. You can't erase but only once and then the surface underneath is a very slick plastic which will not take inks. Canson Vidalon is the best. I do all my Renderings on this and have for many years.
http://www.misterart.com/store/view/...-Paper-Pad.htm

Yeah, I like the wax-paper stuff as well. Haven't used it since I was in school at JKS, but it worked pretty well. Never seen or used the erasable tracing paper for inking though.

Loston

[Justice41]

It's nasty stuff. It has a filmy layer over the paper which you can draw or print on and use and electric eraser on. But like the Mylar you get only a few shots and your toast. The paper underneath is thin bond paper and won't be erased before you punch through it. I've used just about everything for doing my renderings. Acetate, Mylar, Vellum, Canson, erasable, flimsy, parchment, really thin 60 lb. watercolor paper over a lightbox, large rools of regular white trace vellum and paper. I could go on.

[Mechangel]

I started out inking on vellum paper, with b/w prints of the pencils underneath. Problem with that method though, is that I could only use my Micron pens because of the vellum. I recommend Staedtler vellum, which you can get in packs of 50 sheets of 11x17 from your local Staples (and maybe Office Depot too).

Now I print out 11x17 prints on bristol or comic art boards. And while I OWN a wide format printer, I can't use it at the moment so I take the pages down to my local Staples or Office Depot and have them printed there. I tried Kinkos once, and found them to be... not that bright. Some of the guys swear by them but I'll always go to OD or Staples first. And never use your "local print shop", you know, those little out of the way printing places, for printing your bluelines..... I discovered that for the cost of 4 blueline prints on paper I provided was the same price as TEN blueline prints (on my paper) at Staples including the ripcharge for my USB drive.

[shigga]

Didn't know there were so many inking options out there I think I'm gonna go the staples route and just copy my pencils. I'm going to try the tracing on some other pieces I have just to see what its like though. Thanks for all the input.

[Travis]

This is question that can only be answered by opinion, so I'll throw mine out. If you really want to learn to ink, do it the old fashion way--over the actual pencils if possible, and with old fashion tools like brushes or nibs. Printing bluelines is great, but you know, I've NEVER seen anyone print a blue line page that is as good as the original pencilled source. Always something gets lost--some detail someplace doesn't make it across. Often the blueline details are more difficult to see--blueline strains your eyes a lot more than pencil gray lines will--, so details are prone to be lost along the actual inking stage as well. Little details add up to big mistakes in inking, so don't be shocked (I'm sure you're not--heh) that I'm pushing the ol' school hot and heavy, folks.

Digtital inking is fine, if you can do it in a manner that has some energy and spontaneous line to it. Too often digital inking can leave lines that look dead and lifeless, which doesn't work well.

Technology is a grand thing, but nothing beats knowing how to do something the old fashion way first. Even Brian Bolland started out inking on real paper, over real pencils. He learned to ink before going digital. It's why his digital inks are great--though they are sometimes a little lifeless too, IMO.

I would ask that each of you give old fashion inking a shot before you say, "Screw it--this brush and nib shit's just too hard. I'll do it digitally, 'cuz it's easier on my WaCom." Easier doesn't always translate to a better end result. If you can ink like Mark Farmer via a WaCom tablet, then I say more power too ya--so far though, I've not seen digital inks rivalling traditional brushwork by a season veteran. The day will come, I'm sure, but I haven't yet. I'm not trying to discourage digital inking so much as encourage traditional inking, because I find the latter to have better results in the hands of a skilled artist. My opinion, anyway.

Loston

I completely agree with this.