How to Ink Comics

Inking is the skill of adding depth, clarity, texture and shading to a pencil drawing with ink. It is done with a brush and/or pen and different kinds of ink, depending on the needs of the comic artist. These steps give you the basics of how to start inking comics of your own.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pens (quill or fountain)
• No. 3 sable round-tip brush
• Rags
• Water
• Waterproof India ink
• White India ink
• Scrap paper

1. Practice adding water to your ink before you start inking your pencil drawing. Adding just the right amount of water to the ink is important so that it is not too runny. Test the ink on your scrap paper. If the ink is very fluid and still very black, then it is ready for your drawing.

2. Trace the areas you want to fill in with black with your pen.

3. Fill in the larger areas with your sable brush and black ink.

4. Use your pen to add details and shading. Shading can be done by using blocks of black as shadows. The bigger the block, the more shadow the area will look like it has.

5. Make sure that you cover all of the pencil marks and areas that should be black with ink.

Tips & Warnings

• Drawings should be done on bristol board or illustration board.
• Use white India ink to cover up mistakes.
• If your ink looks yellow, there is too much water in it.