15 Tips For Dynamic Inking

Award-winning fantasy artist JEFF MIRACOLA shows how to take your ink drawings to an impressive and exciting new level!

- Jeff Miracola

Like many young art students, the first tools I created art with were pencils and pens. However, as a teenager, I was so enamoured with the work of legendary artists Bernie Wrightson and Jeffrey Catherine Jones that I decided to create ink drawings using a brush, like they did.

The results were disastrous. It wasn’t long before I went running back to the comfort of my pencils and pens. As I moved beyond my college years and into professional illustration, my focus was primarily on creating paintings for my clients.

MATERIALS

INKING TOOLS

• Watercolour brush

• Menso brush

• Nib and holder dip pen

• Toothbrush

• Fountain pen

• Brush pen

PAPER

• Heavyweight Bristol paper

After more than a decade of painting, I gave inking with a brush another try. To my amazement, I could now control my brushstrokes and create the ink drawings that I was seeing in my mind’s eye. A healthy dose of time and brush control developed from my years of painting had resulted in a new ability for, and enjoyment of, inking. To share my love of inking with you and walk you through my process, I created this piece featuring three sword-wielding warriors ready to strike some unseen foe.

Jeff is a world-renowned artist for Magic: the Gathering, D&D, World of Warcraft and more. He also co-owns Fantasy Art Workshop that produces tutorial videos and workshops. Learn more at www.jeffmiracola.com.

1 Use good reference