I\u2019ll bet those early 90s Image Comics guys would debate me on the subject, but as far as I\u2019m concerned, if you want to ink comics you have to learn to use a brush. Period. The quill alone won\u2019t allow you the range of line thickness that the brush can bring to a page. A good #2 or #3 brush can produce a line that varies from a hair\u2019s width to close to a quarter of an inch\u2026 and all in a single motion if you\u2019re good. Make no mistake, though, learning to use a brush to ink is difficult and takes time. I recommend an odd approach: start by using a brush for everything except inking for a while. Use the brush to write down phone numbers, put together the grocery list. Why? Because I\u2019ve seen many folks new to the brush give it a try once on a piece of artwork they liked, have it turn out terribly, then abandon the brush forever. To use a brush well you need to teach your body how to use it and that just takes time and effort.<\/p>\n Anyway, brushes used for inking are generally #2 or #3 round watercolor brushes. The most important feature to look for in a brush is a nice, tight point. If you\u2019re looking for a high-end brush (these are usually made of sable hair) you should be allowed by the store to dip it in water, run it across some scrap paper to make sure that it doesn\u2019t \u201csplit\u201d when used, then \u201cflick\u201d the brush when done to make sure it re-points properly. If there\u2019s an \u201cindustry standard\u201d brush, it\u2019s the Windsor & Newton Series 7 sable brush, but in my experience these brushes often have split points right out of the box, and are thus useless. Not good considering what they cost. The best brushes I\u2019ve ever used are made by Rosemary & Company<\/a> in the U.K. and, although they\u2019re hand-made and shipped from overseas, they\u2019re actually cheaper than an equivalent Windsor & Newton brush\u2014and a much better brush to boot. When just starting out, though, there\u2019s no need for a fancy brush. Decent nylon\/natural bristle blend brushes can be had a Michaels and A.C. Moore for a few dollars and work just fine. (My first graphic novel, \u201cFarewell, Georgia,\u201d was inked entirely with these cheap brushes from craft stores!)<\/p>\n A #2 is probably your best bet (although I use a #3 and #4 since I work a bit bigger than most folks.) You can see some brushes in the photo. The upper #16 (oops!) in the image points to two of the brushes I use for inking. #1 is a bin of some old and\/or cheap brushes that have lost their points. I use these for filling in large areas of black or for working with watercolors and washes. It\u2019s very important to take good care of your brushes or else they will lose their points very quickly. This means rinsing them out in clean water as you use them\u2014and you can see a vessel for precisely that at #20 in the picture. This particular rinse vessel has a coiled piece of aluminum in its bottom which allows for easier rinsing of the brush and also prevents the point of the brush from smushing flat if you leave have to leave the brush in the water for a minute. When you\u2019re done inking you should wash the brush thoroughly in cold running water with brush soap or a mild hand soap and be sure to get any and all ink out of it, paying special attention to the area where the bristles join the handle. I good sable brush should be conditioned a couple of times a year with some regular old hair conditioner. They should always be stored and transported such that the bristle area is suspended and not mashed up against anything. In the picture you can see an inexpensive metal brush box at #18 that has two slinky-like things running horizontally across its interior. The brush handles can be wedged into these springs, which keeps the bristle areas of the brush off the floor of the box.<\/p>\n I usually begin by doing all the brushwork in the panel. For me, this means all the thick lines that are on organic objects\u2014people, plants, animals, etc. The lively line of a brush, with it\u2019s ability to got from thick to thin and back again, lends character and warmth to these sorts of objects. I then go in and get any needed smaller lines on these subjects with a crowquill. A crowquill is just a metal nib that fits on a handle (or \u201cstaff\u201d). It creates a line with variable width, much like a brush, but its thick-to-thin range is much smaller. It\u2019s easier, though, to learn and control than the brush and it\u2019s really good for detailing organic forms in areas that would be difficult with a brush. The \u201clower #16\u201d in the picture shows a staff with a nib in it. There are a bajillion different types of these little nibs, but the \u201cindustry standard\u201d seems to be the Hunts 102 nib. I personally find that nib a bit stiff and use a 107, but you should buy a few and experiment to find out what you like best. Thankfully they\u2019re pretty cheap\u2014usually around $1.00 each.<\/p>\n A few hints for brush and quill: First, be careful when using the quill; it lays down quite a \u201cbead\u201d of ink and this takes a while to dry. It\u2019s really easy to do some work with the quill, move to another area of the page, and put your hand right down in the middle of some still-drying ink. You can\u2019t see it in the picture, but I have a hair dryer near my drafting table that I use to dry areas of quill ink before I move on to other areas of the page. Also, the quill has a particular orientation in which it needs to be held. It should always be pretty much like the picture below\u2014you should always be seeing that little hole in the top of the \u201cbarrel.\u201d And, very important, both the quill and the brush work by being pulled toward down\/backwards toward you and should never be \u201cpushed\u201d up the page. Not heeding this will result in broken nibs, ink everywhere, etc.<\/p>\n Both the brush and the quill require ink to work of course and what kind of ink you use is up to you, as long as it\u2019s black and waterfast when dry. I have a giant jug of good ink (#6 in the picture) and also keep a bottle of Higgins Black Magic (#4 to the left) on hand as well. Black Magic supposedly used to be a good, solid black ink, but if true once, it sure isn\u2019t anymore and this stuff is only now good for thinning out other ink that\u2019s gotten thick via evaporation.<\/p>\n I recommend not dipping your brush or quill directly into your ink bottles. First off, this is a bad idea since you can\u2019t see where the ink level is and so you\u2019re likely to get either way too much or not enough ink on the implement in question. Secondly, the mouth \/opening of ink bottles is pretty narrow and the interior is always coated in semi-dried ink, which you will most certainly get initially all over your inking implements, then inevitably all over your artwork. To get around this, pour your ink into a small shot glass or\u2014what I use\u2014a glass eye washing thingy, which you can get at your local drug store (#19 in the picture). It\u2019s got a wide mouth and you can always see where the ink line is. As the ink gets thicker from being left out as you ink away for hours and hours, you can just add little dashes of the Black Magic to keep it nice and fluid.<\/p>\n Once the foreground objects are done, move to the background. For this step, I usually switch to a smaller brush (usually moving one size down) and wind up using a bit more quill to get details. I\u2019ll use the rapidographs for inorganic objects like buildings and machinery, but they should be used very sparingly; their \u201cdead\u201d non-varying line can make a panel look lifeless and flat in no time (unless you\u2019re Herg\u00e9, that is). I recommend avoiding microns for any of the in-panel artwork. They don\u2019t penetrate non-photo blue pencil lines very well and, as a result, will often rub off when you go to erase your pencil lines post-inking.<\/p>\n And what of mistakes? They\u2019re gonna happen for sure, so be prepared. I keep a rag (#21) nearby for anything that spills in my work area and for anything that needs to be touched up on your artwork, use some white ink (#7) applied with a brush. So as to not mess up my good brushes, I keep an old brush specifically for applying white corrections. You can see it at #15 in the picture, marked with a piece of tape around the handle to identify it. This white ink usually takes two applications to really cover up a mistake, but once dry it can be inked over with a brush or quill or pen. For bigger areas I use white gouache (#10) applied with the same brush. It can\u2019t be worked over as well though.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s next? After the ink\u2019s fully dry, just erase! I use a \u201cmagic rub\u201d eraser for this and brush the eraser dust off with a drafting brush so that I don\u2019t smear my gross greasy hands across my finished artwork. Hint: if you have a cat don\u2019t get a natural hair drafting brush because your cat will find it and start carrying it around. Then again, this is pretty funny to see, so maybe do get one if you have a cat.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s that. You\u2019re done. Give your artwork a final look over to make sure that you haven\u2019t missed any areas that need to be inked, then go relax!<\/p>\n Oh, yeah\u2026 Those promised links to some computer coloring lessons. Here are two of my favorites:<\/p>\n Cooper, Step by Step<\/a><\/p>\n![\"inking.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/host575.ipowerweb.com\/%7Ebenzilla\/uploads\/2006\/10\/inking.jpg\")
\n<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.silverbulletcomics.com\/~editor\/matt\/bentowle\/pic2.jpg\")
\n(pic via Cartoonist Dave Cooper)<\/p>\n