Ok, so if it were up to me I would just stick to the REAL PENCIL brush because I get super tired of inking and making flawless clean lines, but this [AA] INKING BRUSH may just be my way out of my misery!
Tell me what you think!
42voters
Sep '19Sep '19
Hmm, well the "real pencil" brush is just too messy from my point of view. It would be okay for sketches, but not for lineart. Maybe something in between if you have any, but yeah, I vote for Ink brush =)
My heart is in the same spot T^T/ but when it comes down to actually working with inking brushes I avoid it with a passion!
Thank you for sharing your POW <3
To be honest, I much prefer the pencil. It just give the image a dynamic and nuance lost with ink.
But one thing you have to consider, who are you trying to make happy? Your average reader or other comic creators? Because let me tell you, there's a massive difference.
Your normal reader wants pretties. Inked, coloured and as shiny as possible. Creators may be looking for something else.
oh, these are two very different looks! both are nice, though. i think it depends on the tone you want to convey and which is easier
the pencil version is full of character, whereas the inks are more generic to me. however, i find that when doing final lines with a pencil brush theres a risk of some lines being too light, making the image harder to read.
That is a very true and valid point TAT/
As a creator I have no issues with just sticking to the raw feeling and dynamic with the REAL PENCIL brush, however, when it comes to polishing a comic for distribution I tend to push it off cuz I literally hate inking (with a passion).
So! my current case is that I am on the hunt for an inking pen that I actually enjoy using and maybe sticks to the raw feel that I get from the REAL PENCIL brush.
I have no problem with telling the difference between "pleasing others" vs "my own taste" vs "the general art community".
I'm in a struggle with my own mindset regarding inking; I love looking at it through others work, but I hate using it on my own work.
This whole dilemma came to surface because I had no way of finishing/polishing my comic without inking thus why I am opening up to opinions around me to help put everything into perspective. <3
Your point about the pencil is damn true as well and very similar to my own reason for sticking with it up until now!
I love the intention, but I am missing a more rough and grungy feeling.
In the same sense as to the raw dynamic that I get from the REAL PENCIL brush in CSP.
It was a good choice though! Very clean and slightly edgy!
THIS! this is exactly what goes through my mind when I think about the final touch for a comic.
The sheerness of the lines can make or break the readability if it not fitting with the shades and contrast in the picture.
At least for a comic done in black and white (like mangas in general), I do feel like I need that inked finish regardless of how I do the initial thumbnails and sketches.
the pencil just kinda looks messy but the aa brush looks kind of... plain. maybe find something in between? what drawing program are you using?
Inking Brush for visibility.
I'm desktop user so i can see the details of the real pencil, like the lines of the hairs, but for mobile users (wich i think is the mayority?) those details probably would be missed.
My main issue with the pencils is that the lower opacity makes important details like the face not stand out. Maybe a compromise, where you either use a midway brush, or use the ink brush just for the main focus of each panel?
have you looked into a charcoal brush? it may have the pencil's texture but with a denser, darker mark
otherwise, you could put a layer setting to make it denser and darker
I'm using CSP and the [AA] INK BRUSH was grungy enough to spark an interest, but I'm looking for something more suited to my taste.
@sadghost True! T^T/
@claiborneart Compromising is the hardest part, so at least for a comic I feel like going with inking would be the helpful option for the reader 
@punkarsenic I haven't tried out the charcoal brushes yet, but I have tried layering the pencil brushed layer until it turned into an ink-ish feel (look at the picture below) and that seemed to work ok, but it is not very efficient as using an inking brush for the set purpose.
On a side note, I just want to mention that you have all been super kind and helpful and I greatly appreciate all of your opinions and POW for both styles. Normally I do not leave a sketch this messy, but it helped with the understanding of the issue. 
This is what my usual "SKETCH" like illustrations look like (picture below)
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Depending on your software, does the sketchy brush have any opacity/pressure settings? Inking brush is better for clarity but you can reach a happy medium if you change the settings of your sketchy brush to always be the flat color you're using - I do that with my own sketch brush sometimes when I just want a fast, imprecise lineart, by turning off photoshop's Transfer preset.
