I am going to send Jason Brubaker an edible bouquet. In his article Inking a Graphic Novel? he has just set me free from the scourge of my would-be comics-making ambitions: inking.
I hate inking. Death to it, I say. Not for everyone, of course, but for me, inking is the plague/bile/blight that makes the sun go dark and the moon sprout little poisonous mushrooms in the shadow of every crater. Here I have these beautiful pencil drawings, all pristine and full of life, and then a voice in my head says, “Great. Now ink them.” Then I have a Gollum-ish argument with myself, pleading for mercy. But in the end, with great anguish, I put a pen down on the paper… and utterly destroy the drawings. They look like an 8th-grader made them.
Jason “The Grand Poobah” Brubaker just informed me that the whole inking process is completely unnecessary. He just amps up the contrast of his PENCIL DRAWINGS in Photoshop! And let’s be clear about this: Jason “Thank you, thank you, thank you” Brubaker’s work is beautiful, and he gets compliments on his “inking” all the time.
Phew. Guys, I’m really happy about this. No more foolish inkery for me. I’ll go with what I love: pencil drawings and a little help from Photoshop.
Now, about that edible bouquet…
One response to “Freedom!!!! (a.k.a. Ruminations on Inking & Jason Brubaker)”
I read the same post by Jason Brubaker and tried it, but it didn’t work out as well for me because I use a lot of fat lines and black puddles. Drawing imitation brushstrokes with a pencil not only took longer, it also looked labored-over. But then I’ve been drawing in ink for a long time. Anyway, Jason’s overarching point hits the nail right on the head: nowadays you can use any medium you want. Charcoal, oil pastels, sumi-e gray wash painting…I hope to see comics break out of the limitations of 20th century print technology & to see what wild experimentation ensues.