The Spirit #29 cover – Pencils & Inks
Here are the pencil and ink versions of my Spirit cover for issue # 29, previously posted in full color.
For the pencil stage I’m not going for a final, razor-sharp style of penciling, not trying to emulate an inked look with my pencils. I don’t mind if it looks messy and raw, a haze of stray lines and erasing–all signs of searching thought. I’ve learned painfully it’s better to be rough at this stage, as long as I get feeling into the thing, and a sense of ‘rightness’; the clinical precision aspect can come later. So, I’m aiming at good overall design planning: setting all the elements up strongly and clearly so that I can comfortably ink with confidence, knowing that a sound basic structure is in place. Exactly like constructing a house. The penciling is like the framing, the raw structure, with the inking being the detail work which goes on top. To that end, I’m thinking masses, masses of black, placements, patterns, proportions, rhythm and connections, silhouettes & positive & negative shapes, elements, intersections of elements, focal points, and so on: in a word, design. I’m thinking design, not just lines. I’m trying to create a working whole. Although some work is done here in considering the final lines, it’s mostly in the key areas such as the main figures and faces. But, I’m certainly not “worrying in” all the thicks and thins and so on. That will come in the ink stage, and will fall into place naturally as long as the prior stage is well thought-out. I’m leaving just enough vagueness, to keep the ink stage alive, and not fall into the bad habit of tracing in the ink, instead of drawing in the ink. But all the main solutions are there–there’s nothing more nerve-wracking than inking a cover while still not quite sure if the whole thing is working.
In the inks, I still think design, but get more into the dramatics, trying to ‘plus’ everything I’ve set up and make it look as good as possible. Here it’s all about balance and adjustment, working on the line weights, balance of patterns, making sure that the viewer’s eye is led where I want it to go. Many small changes are made–but importantly, I’ve learned not to make large risky changes at this stage. It’s rare that such a late thought works out well for me. Usually, it’s a sign of desperation and lack of sufficient design thought at the earlier stages (concept, first roughs/scribbles, pencils). Another clue that the design hasn’t been thought out well enough, or penciled well enough before plunging into the inks: too much fussing around and re-inking and correcting. When the piece bogs down like that, I usually have to admit, sadly, that something is lacking in a prior stage–and backtracking, I have to hunt it down and fix it if possible.
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Thanks for posting this process… and adding the wonderful and helpful commentary.
Just recently I have found the same mindset in my work, though I think you’ve nailed it a little more precisely than I have; I am still trying to figure out my process.
I used to try to pencil fast and loose, and deal with the rest in inks, I would always read about artists “drawing with the inks” or correcting the drawing in the ink stage. It made me think that the real drawing happened in the inks, that if I couldn’t do that, I was a hack, a failure. I felt like a bit of a cheat if I did tight pencils, but always though “what a pain, and a stress to correct a drawing in ink.”
In my most recent work I decided there is no cheating in art (unless you are stealing someone’s work as your own I suppose). My pencils have stray marks and such, but I nailed all the important elements in graphite, then just like you said, I only had to worry about things like line weight in the ink stage. I think because of this, the inks on my last project were much more fulfilling and fun.
Ayways, thanks again for posting this… always a pleasure to read your process.
Hi Paul
It’s nice to see you posting some rough work. I’d like to see more. The drawing phase of any project is what interests me most. The zing of the work tends to be most evident at this opening stage.
Hi Richard, really glad you found the commentary helpful. It’s tricky to write, since people have their own ways of working, so I tried to just describe what I do and hopefully there’d be enough of the ‘universal experience’ in it for it to be useful. One thing, based on your comment, I might have emphasized more, is that the confidence to ‘draw in the ink’ comes simply from practicing enough–getting those miles of drawing under the belt. Then it somehow becomes less terrifying. I find drawing lots, in my sketchbook where the pressure’s off, just lots of exploration, really helps. And drawing with the actual tool you will later use to ink–drawing with the brush directly, or the brush-pen or whatever.
Then when you sit down to ink, you don’t lock up.
Of course, inking on the computer is different too, and you have the undo button, so I find it less terrifying, but also more demanding of knowledge in that it suddenly makes available to you, millions more choices of variation and re-do! Thus, it loops back again to the prior stage, which is seeing that vision clearly in your head, knowing what you want to do with the image–that’s the ultimate guide out of the tangled jungle of choices!…or finding out what you’re after, by erasing, exerimenting, ‘scrubbing around’ as Alex Toth put it…being loose enough at this pencil stage pays off hugely!
The trick really is, to work out the concept well, then pencil just enough–but not TOO much–then hit the inks, with confidence. That’s my experience, at least.
Larry–hi, thanks for the comment, I know what you mean about ‘zing’ for sure. So easy to lose that, and have it go dead, that’s why I got into looking at this vital matter of how much to pencil…and sure, I’ll see what other rough-ians I can dig up and post.
Great post Paul. Really well broken down. I’ve said before that you are great at this sort of thing, I hope you’re going to get time to one day do the best how-to book ever!
I can see what you are saying about leaving ,more to the inks, but it’s something I still can’t do. I find when I do I’m never as happy with the end results. I think some of this may be down to the slightly awkward way I hold my brush to ink so I can never really draw in ink the way I can in pencil. I’ll keep trying though.
Cracking cover by the way, great design.
Dylan thanks for the comment and sorry for the slow response! I am working on a how-to book but the progress is a bit slow what with all manner of other events taking priority–but, I’ll get there.