This panel again sums up the way I want to keep doing things (for now at any rate). The lines have to be clear and absolutely consistent so I use nibs (edding 1880, no. 1 and no.3) to build these lines up very tightly around the pencil lines. Obviously it takes a bit longer than making a single brush stroke but I'm fairly certain the results are distinctive enough to merit the process. It just means you can steer the line directions with an extra level of precision and steadiness. I like uniform grey tones created either by parallel or cross-hatched lines. I also like creating these busy ground textures like you get in the desert landscapes or on the patio tiles in the above panel.
Pencilling out the composition is the most enjoyable part of this way of working because it's the only real creative part. The inking process is always a fairly dull and protracted process of just executing on what's already been decided.
I'd like to think maybe this time next year I'll have completely switched styles again, but chances are I'll be sticking with this approach for a while.
Who's this guy?
