Understanding line thickness and brush pressure sensitivity

TehCow 2017-03-12 03:10:35 UTC #1

Is there an easy way to tell when lines need to be thicker vs thinner when sketching/inking comics? When I'm drawing my comics with a pressure sensitive brush I feel like I have less control and it often comes out as a sloppier over-all product. Is this just another one of those "practice makes perfect" things? Is there some trick I'm not understanding? Thanks.

aszabla 2017-03-12 03:22:08 UTC #2

Yeah practice is a big part of it, but I do have a few rules I like to follow while inking. Generally, I try to use a thicker line when drawing things/characters that are closer up, while thinner lines and less detail for things that are farther back in space.
It can take a while to get used to pressure sensitivity but you can also adjust the settings in your tablet control panel under "tip feel" so that you can have more control over how hard you have to push to get a thick vs thin line. Experiment with different settings until you find one that feels more comfortable to you. You can also play with how thick/thin you want your brush to get in brush settings if you're using a program like photoshop. The "brush tip shape" settings allows you to tell the computer how thick you want it to be when you press the most and how thin when you press the least. If you're having trouble with a very wide range, you can create a brush that has pressure sensitivity but doesn't go super thick or super thin on you while your working.

nessiefynn 2017-03-12 03:36:35 UTC #3

Here's my personal favorite tutorial on line weights.

Source: http://maahs.deviantart.com/art/Line-weight-Tutorial-384281679

As for brush pressure sensitivity, that's just something you need to play and practice with. Knowing how to apply the right amount of pressure to a brush is a physical skill, not a mental one, so you just gotta loosen up your wrists and draw some more lines to practice.

J.Z.Castillo 2017-03-12 08:00:33 UTC #4

@nessiefynn gave an awesome example! Inking (or lining) really comes down to how comfortable you become at it and that only comes from practice. I would suggest lining things in real life instead of digital so you get a feel of how things are supposed to look. Also, look at the masters and copy what they do and learn a couple of tricks from them. Mark Morales is AMAZING and you should go check out his stuff (@mark_morales11 on Instagram)