Thursday, January 08, 2009

PENCILS vs INKS
















There's a very worn-out joke that implies 'inkers are tracers'. Anyone who has any appreciation for the art-form knows that is absolutely not the case. However, i don't really ink over my pencils in the traditional style. I really like interpreting pencil lines into interesting ink lines and the artists i gravitate to more are those who really excel at that approach. Instead of posting just the inked version of the page, i thought i'd concentrate on one specific panel from Sweeney Todd to show how i've taken my pencils and interpreted them in ink. I changed some lines, i added others. I kept solid blacks, i broke up solid blacks. I made sure i played around with the image rather than strictly tighten it up. The panel is hardly radically different after inking but i would like to think that the end result is more interesting than if i had slickly inked every pencilled line.

I quess ye can be the judge of that.

Dec.

13 comments:

Michael Grant Clark said...

Happy New Year Mr Declan. That's a nice bit of inking that and as you say, not traced.

I think the only valid case for tracing is in traditional cell animation. Illustrative work requires a much more intuitive approach.

I'm still getting a smell of that Windsor and Newton off your work and long may it continue.

Anonymous said...

and then they say that comic strip is a form of smaller art...
I am without words... an applause, it rarely happens, rather I prefer to say absurdity
this time I am silent!
an incapable erika to intend and to want

Stephen Thompson said...

I hear Declan's lovemaking is a form of smaller art.

Stephen Mooney said...

Zzing!
Like those choppy waters Dec, very tricky to pull off.
Like Declan during lovemaking.

Will Sliney said...

Once that arse gets momentum theres no stopping it.

Declan Shalvey said...

Way to lower the tone from artistic discussion to sexual inuendo guys. And ye're supposed to be professionals....

Then again, what ye do on blogs is like what i do in general conversation.

Dec.

Salvo said...

This is really interesting. I tend to build my lines up very strictly around the original pencil but that's because I'm an anally retentive gimp who can't draw anything without pressing his nose right up to the page in obsessive concentration. 'sTrue.

Anonymous said...

You give good Cloud, Shalvey.

Declan Shalvey said...

Heh, thanks Si.

Salvo, i used to be the same as yerself but after a while, my tastes changed and i realised a looser approach worked better for me. Just a different way of doing it really, one isn't really better than the other. Inking tightly over your pencils suits your work just fine.

Dec.

Kevin Mc Namara said...

I think your work doesnt look complete until youv'e inked it, your pencils are great and do stand alone,don't get me wrong, there awesome but with your style of inking it really finishes off your work in the right way, hence why your art work really works in b&w! its almost more than inking in the traditional sence as it really finishes the piece off nicely!

Fallen Engel Graphic Novel said...

Even if it is "tracing", I find it hard to ink over my tight pencil lines. I give you pro inkers a lot of credit..Inking is hard.

Alma Ryan said...

Happy new year to you mister! Hope twas a good one.
Really nice work with the inks and I agree with you with it being an art form, I find it much harder to ink than pencil-it's almost like you have to rethink every decision you made- as if yr drawing a whole separate piece.
I hate to see what I know is beautiful pencils ruined by bad inking or even worse, bad colouring!! My eyes!!! Then again I've seen bad pencils saved by inking and coloring!
On a lighter note- I'm poo at inking......and colouring...and spelling...
Must get round to aquiring yr frankenstein book....must start saving my pennies...:0
anyways-toodlepips!

Declan Shalvey said...

Hey Kev, thanks a million, i appreciate everything you said; it's very much what i want to hear!

Hey kamourianking, thanks. Just stick with it; practice makes perfect, and other such phrases.

Hey Alma! Actually, i'm the opposite; i find pencilling harder. I really, really enjoy inking, maybe because i give myself room to mess around with the ink. Pencilling is all the hard work for me.

Dec.