Comic Books: Digital Inking and Refinement

- [Voiceover] You've probably heard the term inking before. At first, I'm sure it seems pretty self-explanatory, but in fact it's not. Inking, or finishing, a comic page is a crucial step in the creation of a comic book and is a skill in and of itself. I'm Ben Bishop, a comic creator. I've been making comics for a while, but if you're just beginning or simply interested in learning the steps involved, this course will take you through the tools and techniques I use to digitally ink a comic book page. And I'll discuss the reasons why I do the things the way I do them.

I'll show you how to set up a page template and stay organized. And I'll discuss different brushes that work for inking. I'll take you through some pages of my graphic novel, The Aggregate, sharing my strategies on line work, line weight, adding halos and highlights, and using the blur effect. I'll also add depth and mood using positive and negative space. We'll talk through other aspects of how inking adds and enhances the artwork, and whether or not it's always necessary to ink digitally at all.

Oftentimes in the comic book's creation, there are multiple people who each tackle one step of the comic process. But if you're like me and you like to make comics all on your own, you're going to want to familiarize and practice each and every step of the process to put your best work forward.