Inking: confident lines, and line weight that builds volume

A confident line

1. Step 1Draw with your arm

   For a long curve, move from the elbow or the shoulder, not the wrist. The wrist makes short, shaky strokes.

2. Step 2Ghost the motion

   Before putting the pen down, do the motion two or three times just above the paper. Then draw it in one go.

3. Step 3One line, not ten

   A line made of small overlapping strokes looks hesitant. Better a confident line that's slightly off.

4. Step 4Turn the page

   Your hand has easy directions. Turn the paper, or the canvas on a tablet, so you always draw in the direction that suits you.

Varying line weight

• A character's outer contour is thicker than the inner lines: it separates them from the background.
• Lines on the shadow side are thicker, lines on the light side thinner, or even broken.
• What is close to the reader gets a thicker line than what is far.
• Thicken the line where two forms cross or overlap: under the chin, under locks of hair, in folds.
• Taper lines at their ends: a tapering line looks alive, a line of even width looks mechanical.

Hatching

1. Step 1Parallel lines

   Short lines, all in the same direction, evenly spaced. The tighter they are, the darker the area.

2. Step 2Cross-hatching

   Add a second layer in another direction for the deepest shadows.

3. Step 3Follow the form

   Curve the hatching around the volume, like lines hugging the surface: they describe the form as well as the shadow.

Inking a whole illustration

Inking a whole drawing takes method: the order you work in changes the result.

1. Step 1Clean pencils

   Clean your sketch up into neater pencils, in light blue or on a faded layer. The ink shouldn't be searching for the shape anymore.

2. Step 2From the most important to the details

   Start with the face, then the body's contours, then the clothes, and finish with the hair and small details.

3. Step 3Big blacks at the end

   Fill the blacks (hair, dark clothes, deep shadows) once every line is down. They balance the page.

4. Step 4Go over the contour

   To finish, thicken the character's outer contour. That last pass makes them pop.

The coach's tips

• Warm up for two minutes with lines and circles before inking: the first line of the day is always the shakiest.
• A fine 0.3 mm felt-tip pen and a thicker 0.8 mm one are enough to start.
• Draw fast: a slow line wobbles, a fast line flows.
• Don't go over a missed line: keep going, and fix it on the next drawing.
• In the app, trace a character using only single-stroke lines, without going over them.

Practice right now

Once the lesson is read, draw this exercise: it takes about 15 minutes.