Yo joe

Here is a crit from the Pencil artist of this pic, Drew.

Hi Goldfusion---

Sorry this took so long to get to you--I've been really busy with work and family the last couple of months. I've got a moment's breather between issues, so here are my thoughts on your ink work over my GI Joe piece:


Overall---Nice effort. I like some of the extras you brought to it, but in the grand scheme, I like for my work to be inked more sharply. This is my own opinion, and my own style choice, but I prefer a smoother line with consistantly ruled lines and curves.

The good: The grey fades in the b/g and Snake Eyes' goggles are a nice touch. If I'm being picky: This is unnecessary, though. If this were for print, the colorist would do that.

What I'd recommend working on: I'd recommend tightening up your line. Maybe it's a style choice, but your lines are thick and inconsistant--A little wobbly at times, where they should be strong and confident. The best medicine for this is just continuous practice. Especially if you're using a brush. Brushwork is difficult--I know from my old inking assistant days But the more you do it, the steadier your hand becomes and your lines will look confident. If you're using a pen--Use a french curve. It keeps your line on target and you can start with a thin line and thicken it up as you go if you feel you need to. For examples of where I see problems, check out the line on Scarlett's f/g boot---It's really wobbly and over thick. An inside line like that isn't important and shouldn't be so bold. A thin line from a pen using a french curve would've done that nicely. Same with the wrinkle lines on her gloves. Pay close attention to where you use thick lines and thin. Often, interior detail lines like wrinkles just need a thin line to show they're there. Check the pencils---I used to ink, so I pencil everything with thick and thin lines as if I were inking with my pencil. On my work, due to my idiotic OCD, everything is there, just follow what I've laid down for you. This is not to say there's no room for your style to show though---It's cool to make judgement calls as to where you think thick and thin lines should be---just be sure that they look consistant with your light source. Your thick and thin lines should accentuate light source. You got it right on the bottom of Scarlett's right breast, but were inconsistant in other places around her body.
Be careful with faces--These are precious to artists--many artists, not just me consider faces to be the benchmark of their personal styles. In Scarlett's face, your lines are heavy as well. We're losing her right eyeball inside her thick lashes. You changed the light source on her lips and dropped the texture work I did. If this was for print, and you were my inker on this piece, I would be upset to have lost all that work. If you are using a brush and your lines are still thick, try using a fine marker for faces and fine detail--Something like a Micron or a Pit .05 or 0. Don't be afraid to alternate your method. Use a mix of brush and pen if you want.
I would suggest switching to pen for backgrounds and props for easier ruler and french curve work. Just for the way I like my stuff to be inked, I would ask you to rule and french curve weapons and belts---Anything that should like it isn't fabric or flesh. In the GI Joe piece, you're inconsistant--Ruling one of Snake Eyes' Uzis but not the other. Consistancy is important to not throwing the viewer a curveball.
The last thing I'd like to cover is feathering. In this piece, your feathering is looking crooked, and not thought out. There are cut-lines that cut in and out of shadow on Scarlett's uniform that I put there for wrinkle effects in fabric pulled tight. You went thick on several of them where they should be thin and sharp, or thin at the ends and thick as they recede into a black area. Also, check out the feathering on the bottom of Scarlett's right breast---Mine is uniform in each pulled line---Yours in inconsistant and unsteady. Feathering needs to be uniform, unless it's a style choice made by the artist. Feathering reaches toward the light source, and so should be thin at the point that goes toward the light source and thick at the point that recedes into shadow. On Scarlett's right hand, the accent feathering is thick at the top, and thin at the bottom 'cause I thought it'd be darker under her knuckles and that there'd be some reflected light down by her wrist. Also, you took out the accent feathering on her forehead. That's to create a visual grey tone under the front thickness of her hair, and should be there.
Well, that's a few things that stood out to me that I thought might be worth paying attention to. I hope this wasn't overly harsh--I really didn't mean it to be. These are just my opinions and probably aren't worth much at that I hope maybe you find this critique helpful, and remember the most important thing that you can do to keep improving your work is to keep working, keep practicing. The more inking you do, the better you'll be. I brought some of my sample pages to Diana Schutz from Dark Horse comics many years ago. She looked 'em over. I was proud of 'em--Thought they looked good. She said, "These are ok, but go home and draw another hundred pages. Then you'll be ready." I thought that was crazy and sounded like a ridiculous goal. But every batch of sample pages I drew after that was a little better than the last. I got my first job a few months later. I did six issues of Star Wars X-wing Squadron. More that 100 pages. I looked at it all at the end and realized that Diana was right. I was a completely different artist from page 1 to page 100. Years later and thousands of pages later, I'm a completely different artist than I was when I started out. If you're still awake, I guess my point is to say that constant practice is always my best advise, above and beyond any other critical points.
Thanks for being patient. Hope this helps you some.

Best regards,
Drew