How to Ink a Walk Cycle Animation

Ink your walk cycle animation frames to make them crisp and clear. A cleanly inked frame pulls its weight as part of the series of frames to create a smooth, unbroken and realistic finished animation walk cycle.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Double-check that all of the walk cycle animation frames are clearly penciled.

2. Choose a suitable pen for inking the walk cycle animation. One option is to use a black ink point 7 pigment liner.

3. Draw over the penciled animation lines and erase any pencil that still shows after the inking is finished. If you don't want to draw over your penciling, add a clean sheet of paper over the pencil drawing and trace the pencil lines onto the clean sheet. Tracing onto a clean sheet usually produces a finer product.

4. Secure a clean sheet of paper on top of the penciled sheet, either with a clip or with masking tape and then trace the pencil lines onto a clean sheet. Use a light table to help make the pencil lines more visible through the clean sheet.

5. Keep your hand as steady as possible as you move the pen while inking the walk cycle animation frames.

6. Use as few strokes as you can. Try not to lift the pen from the paper. Continuous lines are cleaner than broken lines no matter how skilled you are at joining up the lines.