Michael Lark
04-22-2006, 12:21 PM
Here's my answer, from a previous thread:
The most important thing anyone ever taught me about choosing drawing tools is that you need to find a tool or tools that feel like an extension of your hand. If you read "how to" books about inking or comics art (DON'T!!!!), they'll all say you need to use windsor-newton series 7 brushes and crowquills. Well, that's bullshit. You don't NEED to use anything if it doesn't have the right feel. Those tools are fine, nothing wrong with them, but they don't feel right to me, so I don't use them.
The look of what you're going for is important, too. Were I into stuff that had a lot of super-clean lines and hatching and feathering and stuff like that, I'd probably have to use the tools I mentioned above. But I've never liked that stuff, and I don't have the patience for it anyway.
So, to (finally) answer your question. :smile:
I use a few tools regularly. The first is the Pentel Color Brush (http://islandblue.com/catalogue.cfm?main_id=17&sub_id=87&product_id=24), which Kody mentioned. I love using brushes, but I hate cleaning them, I hate dipping them, I hate the way you'll be right in the middle of a drawing and the ink runs out and you have to stop drawing and dip them in the ink again and then there might be too much ink or something. What a pain. I'm lazy. The color brush works perfectly for me - the black barrel of the pen is a detachable/replaceable ink cartridge made of soft plastic. When the ink runs low, you just give it a squeeze, which adds ink to a resevior which feeds the brush. You can get all kinds of effects from them, from dry brush to split brush to just plain old brush. They're extremely durable and hold their points perfectly. I can mush it down and get it all messed up, then just give it a little twist and get it pointed again and it's as good as new. I love them. They come in a couple of different sizes, roughly equivalent to a size 1 and size 3 brush.
I also like the Pentel Pocket Brush (http://islandblue.com/catalogue.cfm?main_id=17&sub_id=87&product_id=25), which is similar. It's a little smaller and looks more like a pen, and it doesn't have the squeezeable ink cartridge. It supplies a constant flow of ink to the tip. You can't get the drybrush and textured effects, but the constant flow is nice if you're looking for more fluid lines.
For more detailed brush work, I use the Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen (http://www.dickblick.com/zz207/59/) with a brush nib. This is a marker with a fake brush tip. When they're new, you can get incredibly fine lines. They tend to lose the "newness" pretty quick, though, and the tip gets too mushy. But, for a dollar a piece, they do the trick. I know a lot of artists who use these exclusively. They are, by far, the best brush-tip markers on the planet.
I also use several different pens. My main pen is a Pentel Fountain Pentel (http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Fountain_Pentel.html#a582). (I should buy stock in Pentel!) This is a marker with a plastic fountain pen nib. You can get a pretty wide variety of line weights out of them, without any of the hassles of a true fountain pen or crowquill. I've been using these for years. Unfortunately, they stopped carrying them in the US, and I have to buy them from Europe. Still worth it, though.
I also sometimes use Rotring Artpens (http://artsuppliesonline.com/catalog.cfm?cata_id=1733), which are true fountain pens. I don't use the ink that comes with them, but instead use piston-fill ink cartridges (http://artsuppliesonline.com/catalog.cfm?cata_id=1883) filled with Sheaffer fountain pen ink (http://www.dickblick.com/zz208/23a/). These aren't as flexible as the Fountain Pentels, but they make nice lines that are a bit more mechanical. I have 5 sizes - the extra fine and fine sketch nibs, and the medium, bold, and extra bold lettering nibs.
For white out, I use a pentel correction pen. I hate brushing on white-out, and have yet to find a white-out that I like for that purpose. I do it as little as possible, cause I don't like drawing over the white.
For paper, I use watercolor paper excusively now. I like paper with a good tooth/texture. I find that Bienfang and Canson make it in a texture that I like best. For my comics pages, I use Bienfang Aquademic 90 pound paper (http://www.dickblick.com/zz100/26/), which is heavier than drawing paper but lighter than bristol or regular watercolor paper. I can put it through my printer and/or use it with my lightbox much better this way.
I scan all my art as 1200 dpi line-art/bitmap. Then I do a lot of work on the pages in photoshop. This is where I do most of my corrections. I also add textures, some backgrounds, and other little things to the art. In my first Pulse issue, I did all the rain in Illustrator, which I then imported onto the art in photoshop. I then used a variety of brushes to add fog, steam, smoke (from J.Jonah Jameson's nonexistent cigar!). I use a Wacom Intuos3 6x8 (http://www.wacom.com/productinfo/6x8.cfm) graphics tablet. On the stylus, I find that the felt nip feels best to me, cause I like the feel best, but I doubt that really matters. Everything gets converted to a 400 dpi bitmap - no grayscale! - before being sent in.
The most important thing anyone ever taught me about choosing drawing tools is that you need to find a tool or tools that feel like an extension of your hand. If you read "how to" books about inking or comics art (DON'T!!!!), they'll all say you need to use windsor-newton series 7 brushes and crowquills. Well, that's bullshit. You don't NEED to use anything if it doesn't have the right feel. Those tools are fine, nothing wrong with them, but they don't feel right to me, so I don't use them.
The look of what you're going for is important, too. Were I into stuff that had a lot of super-clean lines and hatching and feathering and stuff like that, I'd probably have to use the tools I mentioned above. But I've never liked that stuff, and I don't have the patience for it anyway.
So, to (finally) answer your question. :smile:
I use a few tools regularly. The first is the Pentel Color Brush (http://islandblue.com/catalogue.cfm?main_id=17&sub_id=87&product_id=24), which Kody mentioned. I love using brushes, but I hate cleaning them, I hate dipping them, I hate the way you'll be right in the middle of a drawing and the ink runs out and you have to stop drawing and dip them in the ink again and then there might be too much ink or something. What a pain. I'm lazy. The color brush works perfectly for me - the black barrel of the pen is a detachable/replaceable ink cartridge made of soft plastic. When the ink runs low, you just give it a squeeze, which adds ink to a resevior which feeds the brush. You can get all kinds of effects from them, from dry brush to split brush to just plain old brush. They're extremely durable and hold their points perfectly. I can mush it down and get it all messed up, then just give it a little twist and get it pointed again and it's as good as new. I love them. They come in a couple of different sizes, roughly equivalent to a size 1 and size 3 brush.
I also like the Pentel Pocket Brush (http://islandblue.com/catalogue.cfm?main_id=17&sub_id=87&product_id=25), which is similar. It's a little smaller and looks more like a pen, and it doesn't have the squeezeable ink cartridge. It supplies a constant flow of ink to the tip. You can't get the drybrush and textured effects, but the constant flow is nice if you're looking for more fluid lines.
For more detailed brush work, I use the Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen (http://www.dickblick.com/zz207/59/) with a brush nib. This is a marker with a fake brush tip. When they're new, you can get incredibly fine lines. They tend to lose the "newness" pretty quick, though, and the tip gets too mushy. But, for a dollar a piece, they do the trick. I know a lot of artists who use these exclusively. They are, by far, the best brush-tip markers on the planet.
I also use several different pens. My main pen is a Pentel Fountain Pentel (http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Fountain_Pentel.html#a582). (I should buy stock in Pentel!) This is a marker with a plastic fountain pen nib. You can get a pretty wide variety of line weights out of them, without any of the hassles of a true fountain pen or crowquill. I've been using these for years. Unfortunately, they stopped carrying them in the US, and I have to buy them from Europe. Still worth it, though.
I also sometimes use Rotring Artpens (http://artsuppliesonline.com/catalog.cfm?cata_id=1733), which are true fountain pens. I don't use the ink that comes with them, but instead use piston-fill ink cartridges (http://artsuppliesonline.com/catalog.cfm?cata_id=1883) filled with Sheaffer fountain pen ink (http://www.dickblick.com/zz208/23a/). These aren't as flexible as the Fountain Pentels, but they make nice lines that are a bit more mechanical. I have 5 sizes - the extra fine and fine sketch nibs, and the medium, bold, and extra bold lettering nibs.
For white out, I use a pentel correction pen. I hate brushing on white-out, and have yet to find a white-out that I like for that purpose. I do it as little as possible, cause I don't like drawing over the white.
For paper, I use watercolor paper excusively now. I like paper with a good tooth/texture. I find that Bienfang and Canson make it in a texture that I like best. For my comics pages, I use Bienfang Aquademic 90 pound paper (http://www.dickblick.com/zz100/26/), which is heavier than drawing paper but lighter than bristol or regular watercolor paper. I can put it through my printer and/or use it with my lightbox much better this way.
I scan all my art as 1200 dpi line-art/bitmap. Then I do a lot of work on the pages in photoshop. This is where I do most of my corrections. I also add textures, some backgrounds, and other little things to the art. In my first Pulse issue, I did all the rain in Illustrator, which I then imported onto the art in photoshop. I then used a variety of brushes to add fog, steam, smoke (from J.Jonah Jameson's nonexistent cigar!). I use a Wacom Intuos3 6x8 (http://www.wacom.com/productinfo/6x8.cfm) graphics tablet. On the stylus, I find that the felt nip feels best to me, cause I like the feel best, but I doubt that really matters. Everything gets converted to a 400 dpi bitmap - no grayscale! - before being sent in.