Good Points, Green Arrow

I recently picked up some stellar drawing advice from the Shouting from the Basement, blog of Green Arrow comics artist and writer, Ande Parks. 

Inking Made Easy

Here, in my semi-humble opinion, is what makes good comic book inking, in five not-so-easy steps:

1. Draw, don't trace. You don't have to be Frazetta, but you have to know what the forms are and how to contribute to them. Always.
2. Make confident lines. We don't want to see you tentatively feeling your way around. Make every line like you know it's the right line.
3. Vary line weights. If all your line weights are the same the work will be flat. Fat, bold lines next to razor thin lines makes stuff POP.
4. Texture. Develop & consistently apply visual shorthand for textures. Complex or simple, they must be convincing. Wood, steel, cloth, etc.
5. Saved the most important for last. Help tell the story! Spot blacks. Separate visual planes. Keep things clear. Story > pretty lines.

There. Now you can all go be brilliant inkers and take all the jobs. I don't care anymore. I'm a writer! #alleged

I think DC Comics may want him around for a while yet.

Good points, all, I think as I feel my way tentatively through the shape of an ocelot. What is "visual shorthand" for ocelot fur?


As Ande later clarifies, none of this is easy. I think I struggle especially with #3, varying light weights. And visual shorthand for the world's textures . . . That sounds like years of craft. It's clear that this advice nods to a grand tradition of comic book inking, but there's something here for everyone, something most illustrators have thought many times but perhaps never spelled out. That's why he's a writer, too.

Another inaccuracy: of course, we do, we do need to be Frazetta. That's why we're reading blogs about drawing. But we can be patient.