Intro to Comic Inking
As a part of my introductory mini project, Roll-A-Character, I introduce the basics of Comics Inking. This is an early in the year workshop where I’m able to introduce the materials provided in my classroom, and the basic principles of inking.
The major things we cover in this workshop are the inking stage as part of the larger process (to drive home that they should be drawing LIGHT on the pencils stage, so they can erase pose-inks,) line weight, and determining what tools they are drawn to for inking their work in the course.
The inking materials I buy for my classroom are:
Pigma Microns, in various sizes and tones
I separate the .01, .005, and smaller ones. When left with the larger sizes, they usually end up with the tips snapped off from too much pressure. I put them in a cup by themselves with a label explaining that they’re for DELICATE use and TINY details.
Tombow Fudenosuke brush-tips
Manga Liners
These are expensive and I am a warlord about making sure they’re capped at the end! Right now amazon doesn’t have any black ones that I can find, but the listings for some of the Japanese stuff changes all the time.
Deleter brand (and often a variety of rando off-brand) metal nib dip pens
I buy the name brand when I have the money, but also have a number of less expensive ones. They last, but $9 a piece is pricey.
Glass dip pens (rando amazon brand)
very thin paintbrushes
Deleter or other brand black inks
Multipack of colored inks
Deleter brand white ink (note: this stuff is very thick, better applied with a brush than a pen)
and Wite-Out pens
I create stations at different tables in the classroom, and we do a rotation system where students try everything at least once, and rank their findings. The white ink station is separate, and they’re invited to visit when they make a mistake, or to make a mistake on purpose to experiment with fixing it.
The worksheet provides very lightly printed base “fellas” that they decorate on a previous class day using pencil. They are encouraged to draw themselves, favorite characters, or just random features, but all the fellas have to have some sort of defining characteristics - don’t leave them as-is!
After trying everything out, students label the area they experimented with white ink / correction fluid, and they rank each of the tools 1-6. Then they erase their pencil and submit for credit!
In the slide show viewed before they begin (linked below) I introduce the basics of handling each of the materials. (Common mistake is students using the dip pens with the nib upside down.)
We also look at some examples of how inks can be used to bring depth and beauty in a comic work.
And that’s about it! My materials are, as always, completely free to download, change, use as-is, etc. Do NOT put them behind a paywall of any kind, even with new graphics or styling. My lessons remain free to use.
Amazon wishlist with links to the items I buy
(I would still recommend some price check searching, especially with the Japanese items. They’re usually offered from a variety of sellers at a crazy range of prices for the same thing, and they shift all over the place.)
