Coming soon, issue 8 of Zombies Hi will return to Altnagelvin Hospital, which we last visited in issue 6, but this time things will look a little different as, for the first time since I came on board pencilling Zombies Hi, this issue will be inked before it is coloured.
Comic book inking is an artform that intimidates the hell out of me. There's nothing cooler than well inked comic book art; talented inkers have the steady hand to faithfully enhance what a penciller has laid down previously, yet add an dynamic to the page that can be lacking with pencils alone. It's not a skill to be taken for granted and it's one that I am seriously envious of.
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| Mark Brooks' pencils (Left) as inked by Jaime Mendoza (right) on New X-Men issue 22 (2006) |
Since I came onboard with Uproar last year as resident Pencil-jockey on Zombies Hi, we haven't had the luxury of an inker to give the book that polished look and it's something I've been pushing for. So much so, that when it came time to draw issue 8 I offered to ink it as well.
Being such a fan of guys like Jaime Mendoza (pictured above) and Paul J Holden, I wanted to ink the book traditionally. Unfortunately, what I have in enthusiasm for the medium, I sorely lack in terms of skill and experience. I've read a lot on the subject and I've purchased a range of ink-pens, white-out pens and brush pens (notice I'm avoiding tools like brushes and quills because I am, in truth, a big fraidy-cat) but, frankly, even if those tools did allow me the dexterity to ink like those who inspire me, my current ability would (and did) produce work that would just embarrass and disgust me.
With the tools and experience lacking to ink traditionally, I turned reluctantly to my Bambo tablet and Adobe Photoshop in order to ink the issue digitally.
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| Here's a sample of pencils and inks on page one of Zombies Hi #8, for no other reason than to break up text. |
Thankfully I've had a little experience in digital inking from working on the Zombies Hi app, although I can't say I enjoyed it too much. Inking digitally allows you too much freedom to zoom in as close as you want on lines and you can easily get lost trying to perfectly ink the nose of a background character who, when you zoom out, still just looks like a blob anyway. Plus, looking at a computer screen all day wears me the hell out. All in all, I find inking digitally to be a lengthy and arduous task (kinda like this blog post, right?) That said, needs must, and the only way to get better is to practice so I jumped in and persevered.
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| More examples from ZH8: Illustrating a point or breaking up text? You decide. |
Having inked about two thirds of the issue already I do feel I'm getting better. I probably spend more time referencing other artists than I should but I'm eager to pick up any skills that make the work look better. I've constantly been trying to mimic the look of a traditionally inked comic book page but I'll let you decide if I've been successful.
For the next few days I'll be off inks and back on pencils to draw the last few pages, then it'll be a final dash at the tablet to put this issue to bed before I purchase some brushes and quills. I'll be back then with an update.
Well done if you read this far, you're my favourite.
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