To get started, an uninspired and weird picture!
Also in the comments of my last post a few people asked for inking tips. I'm gonna talk a little bit about how I ink, but remember that there isn't just one way to do it- if you are looking for lines that are more like old fashioned cartoons, then this could be helpful. Lots of people ink their drawings in other ways and that's perfectly fine too!
So first I chose a drawing to ink!! I chose this one because it's simple and would be easy to ink quickly since it's just an example. Note: I know this drawing isn't great- her elbow is in a really weird place...but ignore that for now!

So before I got started, I went over the basic rules to remember for inking:
1. No parallel lines!
2. The larger the shape, the thicker the line
3. The smaller the shape, the thinner the line
4. The closer a shape is to you, the thicker the line (example: a foreshortened hand coming towards you)
5.Follow the drawing you are inking- don't change interesting shapes
6. Follow the lines through
7. Avoid tangents
8. Use thick to thick lines (lines taper at the ends)
9. Don't round out corners and angles in the art (this is easy to overlook)
10. If you are inking traditionally, flip between the ink drawing and the original art to make sure you aren't toning down your drawing.
Also- and this is important!!!!! Inking isn't going to fix your drawing! If you aren't confident in the drawing you want to ink, then fix it before you try to polish it up. Inking is superficial- anyone can learn to do it with practice. The drawing underneath is what counts!
Here I inked the drawing poorly at first, then did it over again trying to follow the inking rules that guru Fred Osmond taught me so long ago. Also I inked it in Flash, but the rules still apply (getting smooth lines in Flash is kind of a bitch, let me warn ya).

I hope this makes sense! Inking is hard to explain with words.
Here's the colored drawing, just for fun! I like her color scheme!

I think a lot of people assume I ink with brush pens, but I'm horrible at it...on this post I explain my tools!
Also, more inking tips HERE!!
On my last post Ben suggested drawing different types of girls, like American girls, French girls, etc...I like that idea! I'm gonna look into it...for now here are some Russian cutes that I found on a mail order bride site.

A lot of people suggested cool ideas for blog posts! I'll have to get on some of those. One person asked for more theories and crap, so if you are into that kind of thing, you can read some theories in the second part interview with Jason Anders here! Or you can click this weird drawing!

I know not everyone likes reading long winded crap, but I hope some of you will! Jason's questions were really interesting and fun to answer and I almost went off on a few rants. Check it out and then come back and tell me if you agree, disagree, or think I'm weird!
Lets see what else...oh, here are some notebook doodles drawn veeerrrrrry slowly and absentmindedly because I was watching a movie that I was into and not paying attention. Also the pen doesn't work if you draw fast. Does it even look like my normal drawings??
OH and another thing! This week's Skadi comic (the one explaining bush beasts) had a couple of "in jokes" in it, but so far only one has been discovered. Check it out and see if you can find it! Click for a direct link to the comic!

And lastly...I found an old sketchbook from '93/'94, and thought these primitive Beatles drawings were funny, as well as almost cute! Ah, a young girl in love!


That's all folks! Thanks fer lookin'!



52 comments:
you're like the only person I know who can draw absentmindedly and not pay attention and STILL emit genius.
I love the Beatles still.
"lolbeatles.jpg"
haHA
that made my day.
I do too :)
One never forgets their first love!
Thanks for the lovely comment. That would be so lovely, really :)
Your inking tips are helpful... looking at my latest drawing... i've made a few mistakes already!
Skadi Comic - Is that a little Chinchilla on the guys belt? is this one of the things?
Great job!
THANK YOU for the good inking/bad inking example!.
Those old drawings of yours are so cute too! I'm scared to even look at drawings I did a few months ago!
PS: I posted a cute clip on my blog of Edie.
Thank you for the mention Katie! I loved your new post :)
Great post!
I drew the Beatles at that age TOO!
I love the top one- I'm not mart/deep enough to get it though.
I love the Beatle ones since you sent them to me- they're so innocent and filled with happiness.....
Nice inking tips too!
Oh Katie, thanks ever so much for these ideal inking tips!
If you have time, please tell me what you think of my inking attempts. Keep in mind, I did these before this great tutorial of yours.
I used those PMOP's ( that's what Kali calls them anyway ) to do this, and the example I gave are the first attempts at inking I've done where I'm not totally embarrassed.
I also love the sketchbook doodles, because they remind me, somewhat, of the magazine cartoons that appeared in the mid-50's.
Also, I want to marry the girl in the top picture. I could make it my life's work to see her happy.
Wove. Twue wove. A dweam wiffin a dweam.
Thanks again Katie!
- trevor.
my damn brush pens are too soft, and i gotta press real light or else everything is thick, and pressing light gets me all shakey so i don't like 'em. tombo i think they are. anywho, is there any way i can harden 'em up somehow? i was thinking of leaving them out without their caps or something, but i don't want to kill them. Or are there any brands that you know are better?;;
i think it would make for an interesting post if you drew some old- timey silent comedians, buster keaton et al. or don knotts. or a girl that looks like charlie chaplin or don knotts. or hillbillies.
Thanks guys!
Ben- Hee hee, the little chinchilla wasn't what I had in mind, but I'm glad you noticed it nonetheless! Actually, I just discovered that someone found the in joke I was talking about. And your Edie ink looked great in my opinion!
Popyeah- Ack, I have no advice when it comes to inking with a brush! I'm horrible at it so I always use marker pens. I added a link to the blog post where I talk about what pens I find easiest to use.
e.g-h- You're in luck! Type in "hillbillies" in the blog search bar and you'll find tons of drawings. Hillbillies are my favorites! I like the Charlie Chaplin as a girl idea...thanks!
Aaaaaaaa.... A McCartney phase... you had one of those! I had one of those and it's come back to haunt me a bit.
That's an interesting phenomenon, that having a crush on something out of time thing. I think a lot of girls go through that.
I freakin' LOVe those movie doodles. Maybe they're absent minded in the best way. they seem to have something of a door to an alternate dimension about them. But I know how it can be annoying when people praise the work you put the least effort into for its 'freedom'.
your blog continues to be a joyspasm.
Nice stuff. Thanks for posting the girl drawing with the tips on inking I'm going to try drawing that figure. Also your skadi comics rock, it looks like you put a lot of effort into a weekly comic and that must be hard to do.
Getting smooth lines in Flash IS a bitch! Do you find you have to make like nine-hundred swoops to get the line you want?
Illustrator seems to have better line and taper control, but only if you're patient enough to learn it. So basically, this comment is useless.
I absolutely love these posts you're making! so f'ing helpful!
although, I was wondering if you could elaborate on the concept of tangents.. It's something I've been trying to understand for a while but could never quite get the hang of it.
i used your inking tips on a card i made for my best friends birthday... ilearntsomething!!
so thankyouu! ^.^
The Beatle drawings are only hilarious. cause. Its like, the Beatles For Sale album pictures. but John has the granny glasses xD
though 'lolbeatles' and 'lolpaul' are pretty epic too.
Also those interviews are really encouraging ;_; Youre an awesome person.
ALSO uh. In the comic. where. the other Diseasoid is trying to swipe food. isnt that just like something from that little thing you did with you and Kali as cave girls?
savoursavour ;-;
Just a guess..
I just read your interview and think it's super cool that you're doing those Stupid Girl Stories, because tales based on memories and true events are untouchable and 100% unique...something money can't buy.
If you don't mind the shameless plug, here are some comics that I dug up from high school about me and my best friend growing up. I'd love to make them into 'real' purdy comics one day.
HERE
i love the beatles and i love your notebook drawings! :] what kind of pen do you use for just doodling and drawing random girls and stuff? are they the same pens you showed in your "tools" link and i'm just confused?
oh and also if you still like the beatles and awkward little 60's girls you should look up pattie boyd, george harrison's first wife she's the cutest
hey i just read in a post that you had problems with eye spasms, I had that problem back in the day and it's usually caused by bad sleeping patterns. So I'm guessing you're a night worker, could be wrong, but try to do more work during the day and sleep more at night. Also lack of sleep makes you more emotional and who needs that. I did read though that a guy lasted 33 years without sleep, wish i could do that than i could get more work done.
From,
Doctor Robert
Hey Katie,
Ever do any drawings with charcoal?
- trevor.
Yes! thank you SOOOOO much for the tips!
since boldliners are discontinued do you know any other kinds of marker pens that come close?
how come there's never any love for george harrisson. he's the best. girls dig his huge eyebrows......or not.
Great post!!!
I'm a south paw so my main objective when inking is not to turn my cartoons into Rorschach tests.
Great tips on inking, Katie! Thank you! These are really helpful. I'm gonna print this stuff out now!
I'm pretty sure someone mentioned this, but have you considered doing a post on color? Or maybe something like different types of girls' hands? There's all these types of hands you draw on your girls and they're very expressive. Maybe do a post on that?
Hey Craig
I remember when I started having a Beatles phase I tried to like George. I thought liking George best would be cooler than liking Paul best. But you can't be prescriptive in matters of love!
George was my mum's favourite. But he was also the spitting image of her dad, so hmmmm to that.
You just can't help it once the unique curve of the Macca eyebrows begins to get to you! The massive tilty cow eyes! The shiny shiny hair! He's a perfect little boyman pixie doll made of fondant! And he has a melodic gift that puts rainbows in your brain! it just can't be helped!
Great post, Katie! Thanks! I got a lot from it.
I didn't think Lollipop in the marshlands was so odd - in fact, I love it. Fantastic color scheme. What's it mean? Well, of course Lollipop is from the Hard Candy Gang and she's lost in Soft Candy Gang territory. Hope she gets out before Marshmallow Madge and Caramel Carmen find her. Ha! (sorry, I'm an idiot)
Oh, and I thought you might like this bit of sweetness.
Hey, Larry - about being left-handed and smudging... one of my favorite illustrators, Meg Hunt, had that problem and came up with this solution.
ha, it's funny how those seem to be the "with the beatles" beatles, but you've added glasses on john.
also that "girls thinking" picture is great. currently my desktop wallpaper now.
Just to add to what Chloe just said- have you seen George's son??? He looks just like Geoge (just as cute!!)
Hey Katie?
I know I thanked you before, but thanks again and again and again for these awesome inking tips!
My stuff's looking better already, and I'm forever in your debt. You ever need anything like a kidney or someone to do a voice for one of your cartoons, give me a call!
- trevor.
I loved the first weird drawing personally at least the sickly bg colors contrast w/ the more wonderful yet subdued colors on the lollipop girl. I guess I can interpret it as the lollipop girl trying to maintain her innocence yet approaching a more adult world and in the end feels "isolated" as she is making that "transition" but is not sure she wants to go there. That's just my interpretation at a glance though so I'm not really sure.
You have great insight into linework, I wished Chad would've kept up his blog so it would be cool so the world will know more about his cool work like they do yours.
Your Beatles drawings is a good window into the insight of a little girl's first crush. :)
The look-back at the Beatles? Fun! The inking tips? Useful! Total post?
AWESOME!
Yeah, awesome drawings Katie!!! And good inking tips! Woo, and I just read your new interview with Jason and loved it!!! :)
Hi! I am an art student in florida and I have to admit I have been looking at your blog recently and I have been so inspired. Dont ask me how I first stumbled on to it (because I'm not sure)..but I have decided to create a blog of my own where I can show off my illustrations. http://marissaflorence-artfart.blogspot.com/
I just wanted to say that I love your work and thanks for giving me some inspiration.
On the subject of Paul and George, I don't know if you've seen this. It's Paul performing Something on the Ukelele in Liverpool this year, very sweet. Didn't mean any disrespect to George back there with my pro McCartney spewings.
Clip of Paul and some blokes doing a song
Oh no hang on that was from Concert for George... confused there. The public mislabel things on youtube.
Sorry Katie. Well at least this ups your comment count. Not that it needs upping.
Going back to your actual post, I really dig the lollipop picture. it would stand up to interpretation but it can speak for itself too. I feel the trepidation of the lollipop holder.. all the time!
What a great blog you have here! I now know I gotta take a shot at your stlye of inking with some of my off the wall crazy odd cartoons!
Thanks for sharing your style. :)
Your doodles are so cute!
wow nice work of art its like ravelling into an impossible journey.
nIce post
visit me T
ryanoyj.blogspot.com
I love how loose your stuff always is!
Thanks for posting the stuff on inking...its really helpful! I want to ink now...
ps I love the Skadi comics!
Thank you so much for sharing this valuable information! ^_^
I'm a n00b @inking and learned very much of your post.
This is what I made after reading it:
http://maciscute.blogspot.com
hi katie
hey those "PLOP" in the comics of Skadi, do you get the idea from a comics called Condorito by Pepo?
http://www.librosperuanos.com/historieta/imagenes/LI29-02.jpg
WOW Katie! You've been busy, sorry I haven't been able to peek. You should give your mom the adorable squirrel drawing :)
miss you my friend
Your art is so cute and funny love it! :D
Great post.
THANK YOU so much for your 'basic inking rules' list. It helps a lot!
It's been a long time since I've visit your blog and I enjoy every posts I missed.
Your drawings are awesome!
(as always :D)
Post a Comment