Adventures in Cartooning #004 – Brush and Ink
This week on Adventures in Cartooning (Or Things I Wish I Knew Months Ago)…
They say an artist is always their own worst critic. That’s probably very true. Very, very, very true. I wish my work was better no matter what anyone else says, and I’m coming to think that maybe that’s a good thing. It pushes people to be better and to grow. I’ve been experimenting with different ways of producing this strip lately, and one of the methods I’ve tried is using brush and ink to do it.
I been following Doug TenNapel’s (creator of Earthworm Jim) webcomic Ratfist, and a few weeks ago, he posted a video of him painting a Ratfist comic. I say painting because he’s using a brush better suited to painting a house then inking a comic. Seriously, the brush is as big around as my finger! I wish I was capable of creating work that good with something as simple as a brush and a bottle of ink. Then I thought ‘why not try it?’.
So I picked up a brush for a couple of bucks (one very similar to the one in TenNapel’s video) and thought I’d give it a try. Results the first time around were decent, but killed my wrist. I decided to scour the internet for some more information on how to ink with a brush. I tried some more, with much the same results as before.
However, even though the work wasn’t as good as a micron/brush pen (what I’ve been using in the strip), I had a weird sense of pride from the work. I enjoyed learning a new medium and method as much as anything, and wanted to do more. It’s doubtful I’ll do it on the strip much in the near future, but is a method I’ll probably use once in awhile on other artwork.
Here’s a link to a cool tutorial I found on inking:
http://www.antonemdin.com/blog/2011/04/inking-tutorial-1-traditional/
I agree that we are our own worst critic! If some one else does it or we pay big money for it we think it is always better than our own work! Maybe that helps us to work harder and try new things. I try to remember that it is to be fun and enjoyable. Keep up the good work as I can see your work improving since November!!