Post by amyofdarkness on Oct 26, 2012 13:38:28 GMT -5
So you have decided to start inking traditionally, eh? Well, I have looked over the examples, and I'll offer my brutally honest advice! ;D
Let me start off by saying I'm not one of the sort of artists that buys into the "hand-inked is more honest" thing. Sure, Manga Studio and all have their line smoothers & thick-thinners and vectors, but it makes one no less skilled to work digitally even with these tools at hand, because traditional artists also have their stencils, rulers, protracters, erasers and correction fluid. I know there's art snobs out there who will act like "a computer did it for you so it's not really work", but don't listen to those idiots. You do what works best for you, not what comes off as more "genuine".
I know there's people who will say that little mistakes add more character. That's true, they do! But unfortunately it's the kind of thing that only impresses other pro-traditional-art folks, since people with no background in art are just gonna be picky about those same little quirks.
Most comic readers (and this refers to the invisible silent readers, not so much the ones you'll interact with like so) don't care how it's made, they just care about what's presented to them. They aren't the sort to appreciate the difficulty it took to ink a whole page by hand.
I must say, even with a 5 year break from traditional, your inks look very good. I note the different little touches like the shade on noses and whatnot, some hatching here and there. Very good control working the white lines against black too, that process can be difficult! I'm especially impressed by the Needlemouse demon.
And because I'm being honest, right now I actually prefer the varied line depth of your digital inks over the sort of uniform lines in the hand inked. I know it's something you'll overcome with practice and perhaps different pen nib sizes, but as it stands I think the digital stuff looks a little more professional. How small do Copics go? I'd try using the smallest size on some finer detail areas so things get the same sort of depth and "pop" that your digital art has.
I definitely wouldn't say your digital art lacks personality in comparison to your traditional. It's the artist, not the medium! And if your work lacked personality I certainly wouldn't be here when I'm supposed to be working!
I'm not going to go so far as to say that starting to hand-ink would backslide your art quality, not at all! But I think perhaps ease into it and do a bit more practice before you drop everything and go all traditional.
So all in all, that's my opinion and feedback, but it's up to you. I personally like the digital but I see real potential with the Copics once you hit your stride with them. Weigh the pros and cons, which is faster? Which requires more clean-up? Which one is more FUN to work with?
Let me start off by saying I'm not one of the sort of artists that buys into the "hand-inked is more honest" thing. Sure, Manga Studio and all have their line smoothers & thick-thinners and vectors, but it makes one no less skilled to work digitally even with these tools at hand, because traditional artists also have their stencils, rulers, protracters, erasers and correction fluid. I know there's art snobs out there who will act like "a computer did it for you so it's not really work", but don't listen to those idiots. You do what works best for you, not what comes off as more "genuine".
I know there's people who will say that little mistakes add more character. That's true, they do! But unfortunately it's the kind of thing that only impresses other pro-traditional-art folks, since people with no background in art are just gonna be picky about those same little quirks.
Most comic readers (and this refers to the invisible silent readers, not so much the ones you'll interact with like so) don't care how it's made, they just care about what's presented to them. They aren't the sort to appreciate the difficulty it took to ink a whole page by hand.
I must say, even with a 5 year break from traditional, your inks look very good. I note the different little touches like the shade on noses and whatnot, some hatching here and there. Very good control working the white lines against black too, that process can be difficult! I'm especially impressed by the Needlemouse demon.
And because I'm being honest, right now I actually prefer the varied line depth of your digital inks over the sort of uniform lines in the hand inked. I know it's something you'll overcome with practice and perhaps different pen nib sizes, but as it stands I think the digital stuff looks a little more professional. How small do Copics go? I'd try using the smallest size on some finer detail areas so things get the same sort of depth and "pop" that your digital art has.
I definitely wouldn't say your digital art lacks personality in comparison to your traditional. It's the artist, not the medium! And if your work lacked personality I certainly wouldn't be here when I'm supposed to be working!
I'm not going to go so far as to say that starting to hand-ink would backslide your art quality, not at all! But I think perhaps ease into it and do a bit more practice before you drop everything and go all traditional.
So all in all, that's my opinion and feedback, but it's up to you. I personally like the digital but I see real potential with the Copics once you hit your stride with them. Weigh the pros and cons, which is faster? Which requires more clean-up? Which one is more FUN to work with?
Yeah, digital is definitely too clean if you want something to look a little rougher.