Step 1 To start, make a rough pencil sketch. Make sure you draw fairly lightly, and use a harder pencil such as HB or No. 2. For this one I used a cheapo 10 cent No. 2 pencil, though I usually use better quality pencils for drawing. Don't worry about details at this stage, just get your drawing reasonably roughed out. All of your pencil work is going to be erased later on, so don't worry about shading either.
	Step 2 Once your rough is completed so that everything is basically there, it's time to get more detail in with a softer pencil. I used a Faber-Castell B pencil, which is soft enough to be dark, but not so soft that it acts like charcoal. I wouldn't recommend darker, softer pencils for drawings that are going to end up inked -- a 7B smudged all over the place is very hard to erase. I'd say don't use anything darker than a 2B, if you can help it*. Here I've added more detail throughout the character, as well as using an eraser to clean up some construction lines I had from the initial rough. *Pencils go on a scale of H to B. H pencils are hard, and even if you press really hard on the paper, your pencil marks are going to show up light. The higher the number (1H-8H), the harder the pencil is. An HB pencil sits on the fence, which is why it is the most widely used, because it has a nice colour for pressure applied onto the paper. B pencils are soft, and again, the higher the number(B-8B), the softer and darker the pencil.
	Step 3 Now that the drawing is detailed enough with two types of pencil work (or one, if you don't have many types of pencils), it's time to start inking! I like to use an 02 or 01 inking pen for my first inked lines. I prefer Sakura Pigma Micron pens, but there are many out there that you can use, and range in price from about $1.00 - $5.00 each at any art store. Just make sure they're waterproof and fade-proof. The nibs come in different thicknesses on these pens, which is what the numbers refer to, in millimetres. They range from 005 to 08 in size. There are also brush pens, felt-tipped pens, and other sorts out there. If you have the opportunity, try different kinds out and use whatever you prefer. Now, to ink a pencil drawing, simply draw with the ink pen on your pencil drawing. That's right, you don't have to use tracing paper or a light table or anything like that. Just draw with the ink right onto your original pencil work! Don't worry if the pen seems to slip over darker, more slippery graphite-rich spots of the drawing. Generally the lines will still show up after you erase the pencil. Make sure you have inked over all the important lines. It's no big deal if you miss one here or there, as you'll probably be able to figure out where to ink it once the pencil is erased. So once you've inked in all the lines, wait a moment for the ink to dry. Most inking pens dry super-fast, but best to be safe rather than sorry and wait a minute before erasing. It's very important to have a good eraser. I use Staedler white plastic erasers, and absolutely recommend that you use a soft white plastic eraser as well. Even the very "expensive" types of these erasers cost no more than two dollars, and are worth it. You don't want to be using a crummy eraser that won't erase properly or will smear your drawing. I generally erase from the top of a drawing to the bottom, side to side. Don't be afraid to be vigorous, the ink will stay put. Go over it a few times until all you're left with is the ink.
	Step 4 Once all the pencil is gone, you're left with your ink. Generally at this stage, it looks pretty boring and often messy - it's really hard not to overlap lines and have uneven bits. But hey! At least there isn't any pencil, just waterproof ink. Now, you could just leave it like this and go on to colour it or even leave it, but it'll really make your drawing *POP* if you go on to Step 5...
So there you have it! How to get a rough pencil drawing to a clean ink drawing suitable for colouring, painting, or whatever you like in 5 easy steps! Click here to see how I ended up digitally colouring this image. Character "Radella" seen here is copyright 1999-2001 LR.	Step 5 This is the step where I pull out my inking pen collection. Pictured here are the three pens I used for this drawing, a Zig 01, a Zig 05, and a Pigma Micron 005. The 005 was for tiny details, like her eyelashes and the lines coming from her hair part. I used the 01 to go over some of the thinner lines, like the edges of her hair resting on her face. And the 05 I used the most, for the extra thick lines seen around the outside of the character. Line variation (or making a line go from thick to thin) is really important. It makes your drawing more varied and visually interesting. You can use it to bring attention to certain parts of the drawing, or make parts seem heavier, and others more delicate. A thick line shows weight or strain, a thin one can show delicateness or subtletly. Here I've used the thickest lines on the outside of her hair to bring attention in to her face. If you've only got one inking pen, you can thicken up part or all of your lines by simply using the same pen and manually widening lines. But it's a lot easier if you have a pen that's thicker, because it minimizes the number of times you have to go over any given line. This stage is where you want to cleverly hide any inking mistakes from Step 3! If you've accidentally overlapped lines, or made wobbly ones, go over them a few times. Make them thicker so that they're no longer obviously going over each other (look at the right side of her collar, where her tunic connects with the shoulder in Step 4 - an overlap that I covered up in Step 5). If you make a really horrible error, try using liquid paper to cover up. I like white-out pens myself, which can be found at any department store. Make sure you draw from the arm (not the wrist) and sit in a good position. This will make your lines smoother. Work in arcs, not in little jerks. Don't let your pen sit on the paper in one spot for too long, it'll make blobs. Smooth, solid inking takes a bit of practice, and is usually a somewhat slow process. It pays to be careful with it! If you're really careful at this stage on the paper, and you're scanning it to computer colour, it is that much less cleaning up you have to do digitally.