Ok so I’ve had a lot of asks in the past about my materials so I decided to just do one big masterpost so I have something to link people to.
THIS IS A LIST AND COMPARISON OF ALL THE INKING MATERIALS I AM CURRENTLY USING.
I don’t like to tie myself down to just one standby pen because my needs change depending on what my drawing calls for.
-A simple dual-tip pen that’s easy to find at most art supply stores. Good for lettering. You can get one on Amazon for $6.83
-OK SO WHEN I WAS PREPARING THE TEST FOR THIS PEN I FOUND OUT IT HAD DRIED OUT. So sorry you can’t get a good idea of the line/variation of this guy. But, to be honest, I’m not a big fan. I found the pigma sensei ink to be too thin and the tips didn’t stay crisp for long. It’s not a BAD pen, just not a remarkably good one. You can find it cheaply on Jetpens for only $2 so that’s a plus. Good price point for beginners. I used this guy a lot for quick sketches and simple lettering.
-MY BOY RIGHT HERE. The closest thing I have to a ‘standby’ pen. I used to ink almost exclusively with this in my sketchbook in college. It’s a great, long-lasting, disposable pen and the ink is really black. You can get one on Jetpens for $3.50
-I have dual opinions on this weird little dual-tip. The fine tip has a great point and the ink is nice and black. However, it’s a pretty juicy pen. Lots of ink flow. This can cause a little bit of bleeding at the points of lines leaving them not as crisp as would be ideal. Good for larger work rather than fine detail. You can get it on Jetpens for $3.30
-This one is a bit of an outlier. It’s technically a japanese writing pen and I snagged it in the Japanese Village Plaza here in LA. A fude pen is a kind of pen used mostly for Japanese calligraphy and writing (Kuretake and pentel make many kinds) and they tend to be the type I like to work with because of line variation. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT BRAND THIS PEN IS THOUGH. I could read that it was a fude pen on the side because I can read hiragana but my kanji knowledge is so rusty that I couldn’t read the logo stamp. There are many kinds of fude pens but one thing to keep in mind is that not many of them are ‘copic-proof’ since they technically aren’t made for drawing. Always check to avoid bleeding/smudging!
-Oh pocket brush, you old son-of-a-gun! A really great and long-lasting ink pen. The only issue is that it’s got a crazy learning curve. It’s tough to wield at first and you need to have patience with it. However, once you master it, it’s a great and versatile pen. It’s a bit expensive, though. You can snag one on Jetpens for $13 which is slightly less than at many art supply stores. I wouldn’t recommend this for a beginner, and I suggest learning traditional brush inking first.
-I know this guy isn’t a brush pen, I know it. The thing is, you can still get lots of line variation from it and I love it. It has a thick blunt point that has some nice bounce to it and allows the ink flow to change depending on pressure. It works nicely with copics and it’s easy to build up line weight. I’ve been using these suckers since high school and they’re great for artists who want line variation but are too intimidated by brushwork (like I was at first). You can find these at most art suppliers but they’re hard to find individually online. You can get a multipack on Amazon for around $11.50.
I’ve used the same ink in all the brush (and dip pen) tests and it is FW Black Acrylic ink because that’s what I had nearest to me. It’s not a great ink but it’s not bad either. I usually like Deleter brand ink but this and some old sumi ink is all I have right now *sad trombone*
-Can’t find a link to this one online but I got it at Michael’s on a whim. It’s got longer bristles than my other inking brushes which makes it good for fine lines on larger pieces. Good variation and holds ink decently. Made from synthetic taklon fibers. Since it’s a bit long, it’s a bit more expensive and goes for around $5.
-You can find many sizes of these suckers online on Blick’s website. It’s a watercolor brush so it holds ink pretty well and can keep a crisp line. The bristles are shorter so it’s great for tiny details, however that might increase how often you’ll need to dip it. It’s a good li’l buddy also made from synthetic taklon fibers (although Grumbacher gets fancy and calls it ‘synthetic sable’). Due to the small 000 size, it tends to cost anywhere between $2-4.
-You can get these babies at Blick as well and they’re pretty comparable to the Grumbacher. Both are marketed as ‘synthetic sable’ and both do their jobs pretty nicely. This one is slightly longer so it’s a good kind of all-purpose inking brush and can handle detail as well as some thicker lines. Not sure what synthetic fibers (it’s a blend) are used here but I’m assuming taklon is in there as well. Goes for around $4.
-OK YEAH I GET IT. EVERYBODY’S ALL INTO THIS FLIPPIN BRUSH. This is the most expensive brush I own and I still feel weird having spent SO MUCH DAMN MONEY on it. It was everybody’s baby while I was at Pratt and it’s basically industry standard for comic pros. It’s a natural fiber sable brush (hair from a male siberian weasel). Not sure if the hair is gathered in a cruelty-free fashion so I will not advertise it as such. I have heard mixed things, though. Still trying to figure this thing out. It doesn’t have the same spring as a synthetic brush but it definitely passes the ‘flick test’ perfectly and holds a point well (the ‘flick test’ is when you wet a brush and flick your wrist while holding it. The bristles should come to a sharp point after flicking it). I’m used to working with synthetic so this is an adventure. I dropped about $25 (list price) on this sucker at a local art store but Amazon has them on sale for less than half that price (says my salty over-charged ass).
-The comic artist staple. The good ol’ G-nib. Great variation, great control. But dip pens are a BITCH to learn! This guy takes practice but it really pays off. Nib inking is really tactile and feels like a strange middle ground between brush and fineliner. Plus, I feel so cool and oldschool whenever I use one. I got this nib 3 pack on Jetpens for $4. MAKE SURE TO RUN THE TIP OF THE PEN OVER A FLAME BEFORE USING IT TO GET RID OF THE PROTECTIVE COATING. It’ll hold ink much more nicely.
FINELINER BONUS!!
-Decent cheap fineliner. Gets the job done and I don’t feel guilty if I write with it. Jetpens for $2. ‘Nuff said.
-Great fineliner. The tip doesn’t fray like a micron’s tip does and it works well with copics and ink washes. A good lil pen and widely available. In the same multipack on Amazon ($11.50) as the M size one above.
So yeah! I hope this messy post answered a few questions!
If you’re looking for a kind of pen I didn’t list here, some great brands to look into are Kuretake, Faber Castell, Pentel, and Pilot. Generally, Japanese-made pens tend to work the best, I find.
The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is proud to present its first official poster art for TCAF 2016, from the incredibly talented KATE BEATON!
Kate has created something really special here, showcasing the many different ways that readers and fans enter and interact with the medium of comics. This poster will also be produced on a slightly thicker and more rigid paper stock, so that any of you our there that want to actually cut up and play with your poster will be able to do so. Look for it this spring!
Our thanks to Kate Beaton for turning in a phenomenal poster that embodies a lot of what we love about comics.
—
ABOUT KATE BEATON
Kate Beaton is a Canadian cartoonist who appeared in the comics scene in 2007 with her online comics strip Hark! A Vagrant! Since then, she has become a fan favourite and has garnered a significant following, with comics & illustrations appearing in places like the New Yorker, Harper’s, and Marvel’s Strange Tales anthology. Her collection,Never Learn Anything from History, is published by Topatoco, and her next title, Hark! A Vagrant published by Drawn & Quarterly, spent five months on the New York Times bestseller list, and topped best of the year lists from Time, E!, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly. Beaton’s cartoons often display a wonderfully light touch on historical and literary topics. The jokes are a knowing look at history through a very modern perspective, and a campaign against anyone with the idea that history is boring. In 2015, Kate released Step Aside, Pops with D+Q, as well as her first children’s book, The Princess and the Pony, with Scholastic.
Memory Stories for my Specialization class. My classmates and I got to choose a specialization course to get into for our final semester, I chose Independent Comics, mainly because I was really intrigued after doing that zine assignment for my Concept Development/Creativity II class last semester. So far, it’s been a blast!
For this assignment, I had to create a 4 panel comic of certain memories of my life that were associated with words given to me and had to do this for 7 days. I enjoyed this process, though I made a few mistakes on some panels here and there. I need to get better at inking… :/
Dude these are so good, especially for daily comics. I love that Todd in the last one.
Thanks, Tim! Actually, the guy in the last comic is not Todd, but my old anatomy professor, Marc. The last comic is based off my experience in my Anatomy class when I attended Humber. It was my first time drawing a nude model lol
Recently got a connection who’s willing to refer me to a story board position! But, since I’ve been so focused on Vis Dev recently, my story board portfolio needs a lot of tidying. (Told them I’d have it ready by monday so we’ll see how this goes!)
I quickly these references together for myself, but I hope you guys find them useful too!
Recently got the chance to work on the poster for TAAFI (Toronto Animation Arts Festival International)! I also did a quick video for them and an interview with Canadian Animation Blog! If you are in Toronto and love animation, you should check it out April 22-24!!!
“the joker would probably just say ‘fuck you,’ and hang up”
the joker is basically an evil criminal clown.
he’s a fucking ludicrous over-the-top showman, he loves publicity and attention and would be so excited to do a phone interview he’d be making grotesque murder puns out the ass
how can someone get the core of such a clearly defined character so wrong
at this point i’m convinced Leto is confusing the Joker with Banksy
Ok so I have to talk about how excited I am about this book. It’s an upcoming children’s novel called George, written by genderqueer author Alex Gino. It’s about a little trans girl who wants the world to see her for who she is.
I’ve poked around the author’s website and was really pleased by what I found and this looks like it could be a terrific read.
You can pre order it at alexgino.com (which I am about to do right now) but if you can’t afford an expensive hardback bother your rich friends to get a copy or something idk in any case this looks exciting and I want people to know about it
Also ask your local public library to order a copy!
It’s art I did for Patreon supporters, beginning with a recent livestream. Patrons get extra stuff, and so most of what came of it will remain exclusive to them…but here are some snippets:
We’ve all been there: basking in the glow of a finished manuscript, only to read it over and realize something is wrong with the plot. Finding ourselves unable to identify the problem only makes matters worse. But take heart! Here are some common plot gaffes and sensible ways to revise without starting over.
1. THE PLOT ISN’T ORIGINAL ENOUGH. Go through your pages and highlight anything that you’ve read in another book or seen in a movie. In the margin, write where you’ve seen it. Then list these sections and make a note for each one about how it could differ from its lookalike. A mental patient escapes by throwing something heavy through a window. Too much like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest? Instead, the patient walks out with a visiting grandma after convincing her he’s an old friend. Quick notes like these can help you detach from unintentional imitation.
2. READERS ALWAYS KNOW EXACTLY WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN. This may be because you’ve chosen a plot point that’s overused, or because you keep giving away the answer in advance. Readers know the villain is going to whip out a picture of the hero’s son and blackmail her by pretending to have kidnapped the little boy because you showed the villain taking pictures of the child and driving away from the schoolyard. You could be less obvious by only showing the antagonist sitting in the car watching the boy on the playground, and no more.
3. THE PLOT IS BORING. Take each page and imagine what different writers might do with the same plot. Choose extreme examples. Would a comedy writer have the cab driver and the villain coincidentally be childhood friends with unfinished business? Would the mystery writer have the taxi pass a clue on a street corner that makes a new connection for the hero? Would the horror writer have the cab driver channel a ghost? Or, imagine the most surprising thing that could happen in a given scene. It doesn’t matter if these ideas don’t fit your story. You’re not going to use them. But often, after thinking of wild ideas to make the story more interesting, you begin to come up with workable ones that are just as stimulating, but better suited to your book.
4. THE PLOT IS ALL ACTION AND THE FRENZIED PACE NUMBS READERS. Let them breathe. Give the readers a little downtime now and then in your action story. Look back at your favorite action novels. Notice the conversations, summarized passages, meals, introspection and releases of emotions that are set in between the car chases, shootouts and confrontations. List them. Then give the readers a chance to breathe in your own manuscript. Find the dramatic respites that come from your characters’ needs, flaws and strengths.
5. THE PLOT IS TOO COMPLEX. Often, a complex plot can be trimmed into a sleek one by cutting out some steps. Does your protagonist have to visit her father in the hospital twice—once to bring him flowers and talk about Mom, and then again to find he has taken a turn for the worse? Couldn’t he take a turn for the worse while she’s still there the first time? Does your villain need to have three motives for revenge? Would one or two be interesting enough? To find the messiness in your overly complex story, summarize it out loud to yourself. When a section takes too long to explain, make a note. When you find yourself saying, “Oh, wait, I forgot to mention that …” you’re probably in need of a plot trim. When deciding whether or not to simplify the plot, ask yourself over and over again,
“Why does she do that? Why didn’t she just do this?” Making a plot less complicated doesn’t have to make it less clever.
6. THE PLOT IS TOO SHALLOW. Sometimes as writers we get caught up in the action. The symbolism. The metaphors. The witty dialogue. The great character names. The slick descriptions. Sometimes we ride these skills over the surface of the story and forget what’s really important. If you or your first readers (friends, family, agent) complain that the novel feels insubstantial, step back and ask yourself these questions: Why am I bothering to write this story? Why does the outcome matter to the characters? How do the characters change? How did my favorite book affect me the first time I read it?
7. SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF IS DESTROYED. Readers need to buy into the reality put forward by what they’re reading. You may go too far with a plot point or not far enough with preparing your audience for that plot point. If something that sounded right when you outlined it is coming off as farfetched even to you, look back at the stepping-stones that led to the event. If your murderer turns over a new leaf at the end of act two, make sure you’ve given her reason to.
8. TOO MANY SUBPLOTS MAKE THE PLOT OVERLY COMPLEX. If you start to feel weighed down by your numerous storylines, start cutting them. List the subplots (shopkeeper with a crush, neighbor’s dog that tears up the garden, accountant who threatens to quit every day), and then list under each title all the ways it’s necessary.
Only subplots that are so vital that you could not remove them without destroying your novel get to stick around. Be bold.
9. THE SEQUENCE IS ILLOGICAL. Sometimes the sequence set down in an outline starts to show its true colors when you’re writing the chapters. If you feel the order of scenes or events in your story is off, list each scene on a separate index card and, in red ink, write a question mark on every card that doesn’t feel right where it is in the story. Shuffle the cards. I’m not kidding. Mix them up completely. Lay them out again in the order you think they might work best, giving special attention to those with red question marks.
Something about these scenes tricked you the first time. This time, really look closely at the proper place for those tricky bits.
10. THE PREMISE ISN’T COMPELLING. If you fear that a mediocre premise is your holdup, take out a sheet of paper. Make a list on the left-hand side of everything that’s dodgy in your present premise. Then write a list down the right-hand side about all the things that work great in the premise of a similar favorite book, play or movie.
See where you might make the stakes higher, the characters more emotional, the setting more a part of the overall plot. Remember: The premise should make your readers curious.
11. THE CONCLUSION IS UNSATISFYING. Once again, write a list of what bothers you about your conclusion, and next to it, a list of what worked great about the end of your favorite novel. Do you have to create more suspense before you give the readers what they’ve been craving? Do you need to make the answer to the mystery clearer? Does the villain need to be angrier, or perhaps show remorse? Unsatisfying conclusions are usually lacking something. Whatever that is, make your story’s ending have more of it.
Memory Stories for my Specialization class. My classmates and I got to choose a specialization course to get into for our final semester, I chose Independent Comics, mainly because I was really intrigued after doing that zine assignment for my Concept Development/Creativity II class last semester. So far, it’s been a blast!
For this assignment, I had to create a 4 panel comic of certain memories of my life that were associated with words given to me and had to do this for 7 days. I enjoyed this process, though I made a few mistakes on some panels here and there. I need to get better at inking… :/
Anonymous: For email submissions, what kind of format do you suggest the pages be sent? Jpg, pdf, does it matter? Should It be sent in a zip file with everything organized in folders? Is it better to send them the stuff in traditional mail?Also, We have the first two issue completed, do you suggest sending both books? Does it matter?
There’s no answer that works for every situation, but in my experience
digital is preferred at this point compared to physically mailing a
pitch package. If you’re going to a convention and going to meet someone
in person a physical leave behind might be useful, but even then the
digital submission afterward is probably what they’ll dig into. As far
as sending that digital submission, if the publisher doesn’t already
have a specific format they request then here’s what I recommend:
Attach a low rez jpeg (ideally 500kb or less) to an email, a key
visual/cover piece to grab attention and convince the person you’re
sending it to that you’ve got something of quality. It’s big enough that
it can look good without being so large a file that it would gum up an
email inbox or take up too much mobile data.
Include a download link for the pitch rather than an attachment. In that
attachment you’ll probably want a PDF so you can control the order of pages/information and how it all looks. Here’s
why a download link is better than an email attachment:
• It won’t weigh down an email with a bulky file.
• The person you’re sending it to can download it at their convenience.
• You can update/improve the pitch package by replacing the zip file
without having to resend the attachment or send a brand new download
link. Never underestimate your ability to find a typo after you’ve sent something in. This gives you chance to fix it.
• If your pitch gets picked up by different publisher you can even
remove the file and take the pitch ‘off the market’ just by deleting it
from the web directory where it’s stored.
Have separate download links for the pitch and the first issue so the
editor can grab the pitch and, if they like what they see there, they
can decide to snag issue 1. Let them know in your initial communication
that you have issue 2 done as well. If they liked the pitch and issue 1,
they know how to reach out to you for issue 2 and hopefully start
talking about what comes next.
Hi, I'm Tim Lai! I'm a cartoonist living in Ontario, Canada. I like drawing cute and colourful things. This blog is a hub where you can find all of my Tumblr, DeviantArt, Flickr, Blogspot, and other posts in one place.
About My Work
I write and draw Lemon Inc., a comic about a seven-year-old who wants to be a business tycoon when he grows up. Until then, he runs a lemonade stand. You can read it at www.lemon-inc.com.
I have done some professional web and graphic design work, including designing the website for the webcomic, Just Joel. I'm also a member of the webcomic collective, Ink Bomb Comics.
February 12, 2016 23:04
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