To Ink or not To Ink... What to do -.-

[Chaotic Phoenix]

Ok, I'm in a fork in a road here.

I got to thinking about my art, with the advice on the Art Thread I received recently, and got to thinking about this...

Should I ink every picture I do by hand with my 0.5 black ink pen? Or should I leave it as a sketch?

I think I've shown both results on the thread so I was wondering what you thought of it was all...

[Frisk E. Coyote]

Oh try inking! That way things are clearer!

[DarkChibimon]

I say ink all your ink, like Ray said. It will make your pics cleaner

[Shadowknight]

Yeah the dark ink really lets you see the art better, the sketches are kinda light and don't translate well onto the computer in my opinion. When I saw this I thought you were considering getting a tattoo lol.

[Ryan]

To a certain content I would say ink them. But be careful. The pens can sometimes "Bleed" Through and ruin the picture. But keep some pencil sketches too.

[Saiyu]

inking can make the picture better, but sometimes it ruines it too beacause just on little mistake on the eyes for example will give the chara a whole other expression.

[Kurtz]

To a certain content I would say ink them. But be careful. The pens can sometimes "Bleed" Through and ruin the picture. But keep some pencil sketches too.

Definately right. If you ink, you risk the chance of ruining the picture altogether- and I'd say if you've had this problem before, avoid doing it with your good sketches and practice with your weaker.

[MagusKnight]

...I think inking improves the picture, because inking makes it easier to see and brings a bit more clarity to the picture overall.

[Chaotic Phoenix]

One thing I've noticed with Inking is that they can be edited easier on PC if the original does get messed up...

The only pen I have to use is a 0.5 and 0.1 brush tip type. I've noticed these don't bleed out any like the ball point ones and have used them before like when I outlined Jerri's pic.

Is there a specific type of pen needed for outlining or could a brush tip pen still work ok?

[Rational passion]

Before you ink your drawing, place a blank sheet of paper behind the one with the sketch on it, and scan it onto your computer. It helps keep the light from the scanner from shining through and fading the image. This will give you a copy just in case you screw it up when you do ink the drawing.

Also, make sure you are completely relaxed, and able to focus entirely on the drawing until the job is done. It's a lot harder to avoid mistakes if you leave for awhile, and then come back to it.

It also helps to have a couple of different thicknesses, one for outline work, and a thinner one for high detail areas like the face.

Hope that helps!