How to ink group run through week 5

Erin.Cortese · 19 Sept 2019, 00:04

Round 2...
I am finding it so difficult to lay shapes down in ink, but I am not giving it up. I feel like when I finally go back to sketching in pencil first, the process will seem so much easier.

ArtofAleksey · 19 Sept 2019, 00:21

@Erin-Cortese everything of yours looks so neeeat

demotlj · 19 Sept 2019, 00:42

I’ve been super busy this week and then tonight when I finally had a chance to work on this, to my frustration the only pens I had with me were tombow markers. You can’t get a thin line with those so it’s the first time I’ve preferred stippling. It was still pretty clunky but I am putting this up to prove that I haven’t completely neglected the homework and to make you all feel good about your vastly superior work! I hope to do better later in the week.

demotlj · 19 Sept 2019, 00:49

@xin-li This has been my biggest fear working with ink. I'm such a klutz and I am always imagining knocking every thing over and ending up with a huge ink stain on my floor. Hope your phone continues to work ok.

demotlj · 19 Sept 2019, 00:54

@xin-li Are these with the sumi brushes?

burvantill · 19 Sept 2019, 02:21

@Aleksey Do you have access to procreate? Maybe you could do a quick snapshot and try some different things without messing up this EXCELLENT job of inking. I was thinking of Jake’s shiny glove demo, maybe make the shadows harder that are closer to the light.? I did a (shabby) draw over on my phone (not the best tool) but ...

xin li · 19 Sept 2019, 07:15

@demotlj yes. I thought I would never say this to a tool, but I am madly in love witht the sumie brush.

ArtofAleksey · 19 Sept 2019, 13:08

@burvantill ohhh thanks that is helpful, deeper blacks

xin li · 19 Sept 2019, 13:38

@Braden-Hallett this is so neat.

xin li · 19 Sept 2019, 13:53

@burvantill this is very smart way of working. I will make a note for myself - try options digitally when paint traditonally.

Erin.Cortese · 19 Sept 2019, 14:09

@Aleksey I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing

chrisaakins · 19 Sept 2019, 15:50

I finally got time to sketch at lunch. I drew from a photo off ebird.org with some modifications. I am amazed at how natural the brushpen is starting to feel. Also, if you do traditional, you can throw down some paint on your page and ink over it and it feels and looks way cooler. There's also not the "what do I draw?" paralysis.

Coley · 19 Sept 2019, 15:59

@chrisaakins this is really nice. Thanks for the tip on throwing some paint down. Great idea.

Erin.Cortese · 19 Sept 2019, 16:17

Round 3 - Shiny Surfaces

Yesterday my husband said the shiny sphere that I did does not look shiny. So today I am working on shiny surfaces.

Now that I am taking on objects using reference, I am noticing that the direction of hatches really make a difference in communicating the look and feel of the object, and I am confused about what hatches work best where. I understand the concept of contour lines, but beyond that are there any general guidelines about what type/direction of hatch marks work best to communicate the shape or gradation? I copied an object out of my book the other day that used diagonal hatches running opposite contour lines to communicate a darker area. It was very clean and worked beautifully and I wasn't sure why it was so much better than other approaches. I guess what I am wondering is if these are little gems we will just stumble upon as we experiment, or if there is some sort of concept/guidelines we can use to figure out what would work best.

DaveLeekArt · 19 Sept 2019, 16:52

@Braden-Hallett this whole team is super rad!

braden H · 19 Sept 2019, 17:18

@Aleksey said in How to ink group run through week 5:

@Braden-Hallett these are fantastic! I love how you made the helmet shapes match the head shapes

Thanks! I was gettin' sick of circles

@xin-li said in How to ink group run through week 5:

I did not practice gradienct today, got carried away by painting woods.

That last forest scene is stunning!

@Aleksey said in How to ink group run through week 5:

I was thinking about using a wash but i want to know if anyone would be willing to do a draw over and help me out with doing it with hatching. Pleases.

Are you gonna be using the wash to block in the area behind the characters? Or to reinforce the hatching?

@Erin-Cortese said in How to ink group run through week 5:

I am finding it so difficult to lay shapes down in ink

I'm tempted to go back and relisten to the segment on contour lines myself

@demotlj said in How to ink group run through week 5:

to my frustration the only pens I had with me were tombow markers

Yer doin' what you can with what you have. That's more than what most people do in that situation (which is nothing)

@chrisaakins said in How to ink group run through week 5:

you can throw down some paint on your page and ink over it and it feels and looks way cooler

Wow! It really does! That's an awesome effect.

@Erin-Cortese said in How to ink group run through week 5:

I am wondering is if these are little gems we will just stumble upon as we experiment, or if there is some sort of concept/guidelines we can use to figure out what would work best.

Pretty sure it's a little column A, little column B What works for one artist doesn't work for another (hence all this practice )

ArtofAleksey · 19 Sept 2019, 17:36

@Erin-Cortese no i think its for each illustrator to decide for themselves haha i just wish mine were a bit neater.

Erin.Cortese · 19 Sept 2019, 17:41

@Aleksey That’s funny you say that because the reason I asked is because I wish mine were so much more loose and natural

ArtofAleksey · 19 Sept 2019, 17:48

@Erin-Cortese finding the right balance is key! But maybe it doesnt really matter to anyone but the illustrators themselves

burvantill · 19 Sept 2019, 18:17

@xin-li Thank you. It has definitely helped me. I am no longer worried that I might mess up a painting... well that's not entirely true, but it has helped. LOL