Marker & Ink Illustration
Robot Demo
In this tutorial I show one of the more advanced methods I use when working in marker and ink. This is just one method I use and of course there tend to be a lot of variations in my methods from picture to picture. I hope this tutorial will provide some ideas and techniques which you can build on for your own images.
MATERIALS: Inks
For the example in this tutorial I use three kinds of pens: Hi-Tec-C, Pigment Liner, and Faber Castell (brush pen).
Hi-Tec-C pens are a fine point gell pen made by Pilot - sadly only outside the US. I haven't found a way to order them online so unless you live near a Japantown or Little Tokyo (or know someone who does) it's pretty hard to get them. A 005 Micron pen or Copic pen will also work, but it's a little harder to keep them making an even line once they get a bit of use. Pigment Liners can be purchased from most art or office stores - you can also use the larger sizes (3-5) of Microns etc. The Faber Castell brush pen is used for doing larger black areas and some of the thicker inking, but it's not completely necessary. Lastly (not pictured) is Copic Opaque white - any white ink, paint etc. with a small brush will work.
MATERIALS: Markers
For this example I use Prismacolor French Grey markers (10%, 30%, 50% and 70% - a very brown grey) and Copic Sketch markers (Moss and Mignonette). Any of the main brands of marker (Prismacolor, Copic or Tria work). For coloring on copy paper as in this example I like to use Prismacolor marker as it builds up well.
MATERIALS: Paper
The paper used here is white copy paper and brown copy paper. This is just a normal kind of paper used in the office/copier. I got a pack of white, brown and several other colors at my local wall-mart for under $5.
 The Sketch
Since I'm planning on putting some time into this image I first make a quick sketch to be sure I have a good idea planned out. The sketch shown here was actually done on the computer (Using Painter 7), but you can just use pencil or some black marker/ink or whatever else you feel comfortable with.
In this case the sketch is just the silhouette of the robot without a lot of detail. I want him to have a strong shape and I will focus on details later. The method of sketching and using thumbnails and silhouettes that I use is similar to those taught by Feng Zhu. You can order his courses on DVD and if you have the money I HIGHLY recommend it (I learned a LOT from them!).
Once I have an idea I like I trace it lightly in pencil onto some white copy paper, add some details and start inking.
Inking
When inking I first ink all my sketched lines with my smallest pen (in this case an 03 Hi-Tec-C pen). At this point I have all the basic shapes inked in, but not a lot of detail. I then use the Pigment Liners and Faber Castell brush pen to start thickening lines and adding in some shading (you can see this partly done and then also the completely inked version at the left).
For this picture I decided the light should be coming from the upper left. This means the light will hit the top of the robot and one side of it more than the others. If I can show some of the lighting and make the robot look good in black and white it will look even stronger in color (don't count on color to do your work for you!). In this case I thickened the lines where I think the light won't be (on the right side and under areas where shadows will be).
I add in a lot of details as I do this - much of it is just small dots suggesting details rather than specific things I'm drawing in. This process can take some time depending on the picture. I think total I spent about 3 hours inking this image.
When I have completed the inking I scan the picture and print a copy onto brown paper (you could also photocopy onto brown or another color of paper). I like working on paper that is darker so that I can add in white instead of leaving the white of the paper. I am now ready to color it.
Coloring
For this part I've shown just the arm step by step as I use the same process on the rest of the image.
- I begin using my lightest French Grey marker (10%). Prismacolor marker always dries lighter (at least on copy paper) then it looks at first. I put in my lightest shades.
- Now I move on to the next marker which is the 30% French Grey. You'll notice that I tend to create large areas using the lightest color and as I go to darker markers make smaller areas inside the area I just colored. This means there won't be a lot of contrast between the paper and my darkest color (unless I want there to be - in an area where I want to draw attention to something).
- Now onto the 50% French Grey darkening more areas.
- Now I use a little 70% French Grey and I darken and adjust areas. I use lightest the green copic markers to shade in the plant/moss part.
- To finish I tend to use all the French Grey markers a little more here and there to adjust things until it feels right to me. I then take a VERY small brush and my Copic Opaque White (though as I said white paint will also work too). I'd suggest testing the brush making small white lines on some scrap paper first to be sure you know what effect you will get. Anyway, I carefully add in white highlights to some places. Be careful not to over use the white, it's just in a few places to make it look more 3D (and I only used it on metal things in this image... the moss/grass won't have any shine to it). You will notice I also added some of the light French Grey marker (10%) around the edges OUTSIDE my inking. This helps to place him on the paper a bit more and blend it in.
The Finished Image
Here you can see what the completed image looks like. I used the same coloring process as noted above taking care to not use the dark colors on the top of his head or the really light colors on his feet (because of the lighting). Because I used brown paper and brown grey markers with very little additional color (just a little green) the picture has a very natural feel. You could get some interesting effects using other colors of paper. For example if I were using my blue-ish paper I would probably use cool grey markers instead of French Grey.
Note: you can also use a very SHARP prismacolor white pencil to add in the highlights if you don't want to use paint or ink. For bold highlights I prefer ink, the pencil tends to create a softer look.
I hope these methods are useful and will give you ideas for developing your own coloring styles.
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The Finished Image
