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Digital Inking and Drawing by JayNaylor
I've been trying to draw and ink digitally, more often, now. But I'm still torn. It's not quite down to a science for me, yet. It seems to work really well in some images, but in other images seem to succumb to the "coloring book" effect. Some people compliment my neat lines (as is my instinct to make them as neat as possible prior to coloring) but sometimes I can't help but imagine it might be worth dirtying them up a little bit, giving a piece a softer, more organic feel to it. These are some of the same issues I've run into ages ago, when everyone in comics was inking by hand. Since I want to start drawing digitally, more, and divorce myself from the need of so much paper, it's one of those issues I can't back away from.
I do know what the answer is. It's what I tell everyone who asks for advice. Just keep working and experimenting with it and see what kind of tolerable style develops from it. In the meantime, I'm still working with paper a lot, and my comic projects are still finished color over pencils while I get this sorted.
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I've been doing digital inking for years. I find that different programs behave VERY differently for inking and create very different feel to your work. Every few years I find a new favorite program.
I can't stand inking in Photoshop, because you can't flip the canvas and the line smoothing feature doesn't really do anything. It's like working on paper with a ballpoint pen and the paper is taped in position.
Inking in Manga Studio is awesome for technical drawings and backgrounds, thanks to its rulers and guides, and you can get nice smooth strokes- but if you want smooth strokes in one part of the piece and then rough, textured strokes in another part (like most furry bodies are usually rendered) you're our of luck. I switched away from using this program because it SUCKS for color and final rendering for posting on the internet; it was designed for printed work.
SAI makes super clean, smooth, bold lines, which are great for easy coloring and a cartoony look, but bad if you want a soft & organic feel. Results often look like a coloring book.
SketchBook Pro will give you a very soft & organic look because you can't make a completely smooth and opaque brush, and line smoothing is either none or extremely wide curves, and the thickness of strokes doesn't vary much... I've found that inking in SketchBook Pro takes about three times as long as with other programs, because I have to go back and correct a lot of spots, and manually widen others by adding extra strokes over the original line. Line-work done in this program is a pain in the butt to color, but the results can be gorgeous. I only finished a few pictures with this before deciding it slowed me down too much.
The best I've found for me, so far, is Clip Studio Paint. It's similar to SAI in smoothness and line weight variety, but it handles small, quick, textured lines a lot better. Clip Studio also combines all the features I used in Manga Studio and Photoshop. Switching to this program meant I could complete a comic in one program instead of switching back and forth between four! It's also a bargain price, you can buy the program for less than the monthly cost of "renting" Photoshop.
Sorry for the essay. I've just noticed most of your work looks like it was done only by hand/photoshop.
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This is some pretty handy info; been wanting to look into various art programs myself. Thanks for writing all that out!
In addition, Naylor, you could always look for brushes people have made for various programs. There are a lot of brushes out there that lend to a messier, softer look, like pencil textured ones, or ones with the opacity turned down and some other crazy texture thrown in there. You could also try coloring your line art and see where that takes you.
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I've never had a problem inking in Photoshop. I can just render the line smooth with my hand. Or smooth enough, at least. Ah well.
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Thank you for your essay, I have also been looking for a program to use for webcomics and I have not heard of clip studio. WIll be sure to look it up!
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I really like the look of pencils + the digital coloring. When I color digitally, this is usually how I do it too. I like the soft grit that pencils provide. I think it depends on how you're coloring them as well. Really lushly painted pix probably wouldn't do as well with the pencils but the tinting and more muted, soft shading I think it works rather well for.
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I tend to go back and forth. I can't make up my mind. :(
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If you're using Wacom tablet you can try IllusStudio and Manga Studio EX 5, although, SAI keeps being my top favorite because of how soft the lines gets done, it just takes practice!
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I have been loving Manga Studio 5 for inking - it has a stabilizer, but unlike SAI, the stabilizer doesn't slow your lines down or add an unnatural look to them. It just smooths nicely.
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I'm surprised Bonk hasn't put you on the Motion Computer/Nostromo setup. I tried it when I when over there, and it's pretty snazzy. It's a little tough to get used to, but I really liked how my line work came out.
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i really enjoy your digital, and colorless sketches Jay Nay. though I've never drawn anything to save my life. I'm sure you'll get the hang of whatever you're doing my friend.
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Njorunn
I'm sure you're right, that you'll become more used to it as you experiment. Set up a series of experiments! SCIENCE!