In one of my last journals I posted a bit about inking in comparison to co-op in Halo, and within that I dedicated a small paragraph to digital inking and how I wasn’t a fan. A lot of the comments were defending digital inks, and I realized that a digital inking post would (in and of itself) hold up a journal. So let’s talk a bit, as friends, about what digital inking is and let me explain my case as to why you should still try a brush, quill, or whatever you can physically hold.
(And when I say digital inking I’m referring to the use of a Wacom tablet, not the temptation to simply adjust your curves and levels in PS)
I know digital inking isn’t going away. As the world goes more digital there’s less and less to stop an artist from utilizing the computer more and more for whatever he can do. And digital inking makes sense in theory: you can create any brush, any texture, and can control EVERY nuance of the line work in ways that you couldn’t do with traditional art. And the fact that you can undo something and layer images makes it that much easier to correct changes that an editor may have. When it comes to commercial art (finished concept art and backgrounds), I think it’s crazy NOT to go digital because of the amount of changes that the bosses are likely to make. And I haven’t forgotten that even with digital art, there’s still a warm blooded, human artist driving the process and a talented artist will give you something good no matter what his medium.
MOTIVATION
I would wager that 9 times out of 10 artists who ink their work digitally begin doing so simply because they’re afraid of the brush. And that’s a poor reason to ever do anything. Think of computers like you would any other tool, be it a brush or a sword. When you’re choosing your weapon, why would you want fear (or laziness) effecting your decision? If you take the easy way out of things then you’re not challenging yourself as an artist.
DIFFICULTY
Historically, the tools of the trade have been brushes, quills, correcting ink or various pens. All the guys that you admire who are now dead made ample use of these tools, so why wouldn’t you? Because it’s frustrating to use a stick with hair on it? I understand that a brush doesn’t always do what you want at first, and a 102 quill will snag every now and then, but it takes about as much time to get comfortable with them as it does with your Wacom, your custom brush creations, and your quick keys.
ABILITIES
I can’t remember ever seeing digital inks that looked as good as competent traditional inks. Not that I seek out digital inks, but I do see a fair share at conventions when people show me their portfolios. And even though they don’t see the difference between digital and traditional, I CAN. And most professionals can, too. Digital inking, in the minds of most professional artists, is synonymous with amateur art.
SPEED
As far as I know, digital inking is no faster then traditional. But maybe I’m biased because I’m fast. For 4 hours a day I’m twisting my page, slapping down ink, twisting again, using quill, rotating to the left, right, then left again, then splatter, then using a ruler, adding more detail here, there, splatter, brush, here again, etc. When you’re good with a brush, quill, pen, or whatever then nothing can beat the speed and skill of the human hand. I’d argue that digital inking is actually slower because of the amount of “undo” you can do. If you’re constantly rethinking each line (which digital inking allows you to adjust) then what’s to stop you from obsessing into the night and not moving forward? Traditional inking forces you to boldly commit and move on.
MISTAKES
Yeah, I make mistakes with my tools. But usually I can adjust the lines around it and compensate without using Pro White. There’s more soul in keeping your mistakes, rolling with the punches, thinking on your feet and adjusting your technique every second than simply hitting “undo” each time and making everything perfect. There’s no soul in perfection. With digital inks your final piece is more likely to be “exactly what you planned” as opposed to “close to what I wanted, errors here and there, happy accidents throughout, but heart all the way.”
VALUE
With digital inking there’s no original to value and nothing to sell in the end. You created something that doesn’t even exist. Sure you can make prints and get some extra cash on the side, but I can do that with traditional art as well. Plus I can sell the original, which is worth more anyway and likely to be more highly cherished over the years. Human created artifacts will ALWAYS be worth more, especially in an age when more products are made with computers. Even the layman appreciates this. It must be in our genetic makeup. People will always appreciate something that looks perfect and flawless but especially when it was made my hand. Then they do this: “No way! I can’t believe it. You used a computer, didn’t you? No? A brush? You used a stick with hair on it to create these tiny lines? Amazing!”
SIMPLICITY
Again, I support digital painting. Painting deals with more variables than inking. Painting is like inking, but inking with any color you want and the infinite ability to blend those colors however you like. But comic book inking deals with only black and white. Either something is there (black) or it’s not. I don’t see how the complexity of computers has any advantage at this step. For coloring, yes. But not inking.
Again, I imagine that being a traditional inker will eventually make me a dinosaur, but as things stand right now I don’t see a worthwhile benefit to using a Wacom when you have so much to lose by doing so. I love computers, but they’ve taken away small bits of humanity little by little and replaced it with something close to cold perfection. And its improved human existence in a billion different ways. And it’s here to stay.
But art has always been the arena of human expression, be it painting, poetry or music. And although computers can help us here too, I surrender that right with great hesitance.