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What a terrific video. Your inking is outstanding! You've interpreted very loose lines wonderfully and yes, you've managed to get Tom Palmer's look down almost perfectly! New sub, can't wait to check out more of your videos!
@@charmawow Yes. Apparently Colan's pencils were, shall we say, impressionistic. Yet Tom Palmer bought out every good thing about them and added his own thing on top. Superb work.
Buscema was one of those artists that was inked by a lot of different artists, but had a style so individual and powerful you couldn't help but know who the penciller was. That and even if the inker doesn't do a great job, everyone respected his work. Most of my professional comic work has been over people that tend to layout everything in the pencils with little room for interpretation, so it would actually be interesting to try some inks over the illustrious Mr. Buscema. Good stuff.
Thank you, and so true! John's expressive anatomy is so distinguished. I'm currently reading his early Avengers work, and you can see how he's growing into the artist he would eventually become, and dropping all the edicts of making his work more like Kirby. It's really fascinating. I can't wait to try inking one of his comic pages though...I may have to practice a few times to get the hang of it before hitting the record button. 😄
@@BeyondTheProcess practice is definitely key. I think you could have made a living in the old bullpen with work like this. I'll be watching to see what you do next. Been doing a lot of watercolors, pastels and oils myself, but I never lose my love for ink. Also never used you method for creating bluelines. I'll have to remember that trick.
@@achromat666 Question. Do you think you're employed to render every line on the pencils you're given? I imagine that could be the case if it was a 'name' artist you were inking. But I've often wondered, and I come to this from a painter's point of view, that if inkers _didn't_ line everything in, if a cheekbone was suggested by a form shadow instead of a hard contour line, whether the inker would get grief from the editor. Would he say, pointing to a scan of the pencils, "look there's an outline there, your job is to ink it in". Because there are/were artists like Jorge Zaffino who used light patterns as much as contour lines to render his figures ( the Punisher, famously). And the effect can be a little more sophisticated form of rendering. The flexibility, or otherwise, given to inkers has always interested me.
Well done. Ya, JB was the star of his generation, imho. His book, "Drawing Comics the Marvel Way", is one of the best books on drawing, period--not just on drawing comics specifically, but drawing in general. Actually, to be really good at drawing comics it helps to be able to draw just about anything, so tackling the full range of settings, characters, and objects may be required of a comic artist. I think you nailed the inking of this one. You might consider getting a 11x17 scanner. I have a plustek OpticSlim 1180, which works pretty well, and was inexpensive. I'd probably get a really high quality large flatbed scanner, though, if I was doing this kind of stuff routinely. Anyway, it was great to see a very skillful inker take on one of JB's drawings using a brush and India ink. Thanks for sharing.
I could always identify who inked John in the old SSOC. Conan's face was all you needed usually to tell if it was Marcos,Chan,Alcala or D.ezuniga . Good job, insightful. No offense to any inkers I missed.
For those who use GIMP instead of Photoshop, use Colors->Colorize John Buscema was one of the greatest comic book artists of all time. when paired with Alfredo Alcala he was unbeatable Just as an interesting piece of trivie, while Jack Kirby liked to put a bit of Ursula Andress in all the women he drew, John Buscema did the same with Sophia Loren
You mentioned leopard, but what's drawn in John's original pencil, is more like spots on the cheetah's coat. African leopards have rosettas, that is, C-shaped or D-shaped dark spots with ochre fur in the centre. It may sound like nitpicking, but real leopard's fur is difficult to draw. Leopards spend most of the time on lower tree branches, so their fur perfectly blends with rays of light penetrating through the leaves. Of all Tarzan artists, Hogarth drew them most convincingly.
I had a feeling someone would lay it out like this. I even looked up both leopard and cheetah just in case. However I did not use ‘Africa’ in my search. Thanks for the clarification.
Inking is an odd profession. I've never figured out the 'moral' dilemma that you're either there to render an artist's work in a style that's as true as possible to the original pencils. Or whether the inker is employed as a professional embellisher with a distinct style that overlays structures laid down by the penciller. Take Kirby, Joe Sinnott and Wally Wood, in my opinion, lifted Jack's pencils to another level. They evened out various Kirby mannerisms but with a loss of some Kirby-ish identity. And yet other Kirby inkers like D Bruce Berry attempted to render every idiosyncratic squiggle with absolute devotion. Some Kirby fans prefer this. Observers might say the best inker of John Buscema is John Buscema. I think that's valid. But Buscema inked by Sinnott, the Crusty Bunkers, and, especially, Al Williamson and Tom Palmer give Buscema's art a character that is very appealing to the eye. And different frm JB's approach. Personally, and on reflection, I think that's my preferred option. There's a saying in Boxing "styles make fights" and a great inker/penciller combo can be a joy. And perhaps we need to get away from this meme of an inker being, basically, a tracer, bringing nothing to the table but a Hunt 102 and a #2 sable brush.
Inking to me is more that just 'tracing', it's trying to interpret the style the penciler is trying to emulate. Look at Gustave dore and the people engraving what Gustave is try to interpret.
@@jessejames8900 So, I think you need to ask, What is the penciller doing? Well, for sure, he's not Gustav Dore. With someone of that stature I absolutely see how you would be required to express the nuances of his drawings. But most comics pencillers are not Dore, they are storytellers. The ability to tell a story is the chief requirement of pencilling. And the inker's job is to turn what used to be unprintable pencilwork into camera ready artwork. So this idea that an inker's duty was to render with, as near as possible, 100% accuracy all the mannerisms of the original pencils, is for me, a myth and a waste of a good inker. The bottom line, theoretically, is if a penciller wants his work to look exactly like his work at the ink stage, _he_ should ink it. I don't see why an inker should be expected to be loyal to another artist who isn't paying him for his care and attention. As stated earlier, even as a massive Jack Kirby fan, I see his work as rendered by a pro like Wally Wood as a fantastic combination of talents. Similar with Kevin Nowlan over most people. And Johnny Romita Sr over Gil Kane, another perfect combination of talents. That's how I see it. I am not a fan of inappropriate or journeymen inkers like Vince Colletta deciding to rub out background figures to save time, but I think inkers need to be seen,and see themselves, as something more than a slave to the the original pencils.
@@delswanson3593 I do have one on my ETSY: www.etsy.com/shop/ShanePatrickWhite And a couple of others pieces on there. Contact me directly if you'd like to learn more and I can bundle shipping.
Agreed. I read the first 8 and the fall-off of quality is pretty noticeable. I would however recommend the Jewels of Opar, which was a nice surprise. But yeah...it's tough looking back on that stuff as we have hopefully come further along in our thinking.
Download our FREE 10-page VISUAL STORYTELLING GUIDE (for storyboard and comic artists as well as filmmakers):
beyondtheprocess.substack.com/p/free-visual-storytelling-guide
What a terrific video. Your inking is outstanding! You've interpreted very loose lines wonderfully and yes, you've managed to get Tom Palmer's look down almost perfectly! New sub, can't wait to check out more of your videos!
Thank you so much! That’s very kind of you to say.
Tom Palmer was easily my favourite inker…..he could make anyone’s art look seriously classy. Nice job!
ABSOLUTELY!
Yeah. He was great on Buscema and worked miracles on Gene Colan's art.
@@mesolithicman164 Colan and Palmer were the dream team on Tomb of Dracula and Dr Strange.
@@charmawow
Yes. Apparently Colan's pencils were, shall we say, impressionistic. Yet Tom Palmer bought out every good thing about them and added his own thing on top. Superb work.
@@mesolithicman164 Absolutely!
Buscema was one of those artists that was inked by a lot of different artists, but had a style so individual and powerful you couldn't help but know who the penciller was. That and even if the inker doesn't do a great job, everyone respected his work.
Most of my professional comic work has been over people that tend to layout everything in the pencils with little room for interpretation, so it would actually be interesting to try some inks over the illustrious Mr. Buscema.
Good stuff.
Thank you, and so true! John's expressive anatomy is so distinguished. I'm currently reading his early Avengers work, and you can see how he's growing into the artist he would eventually become, and dropping all the edicts of making his work more like Kirby. It's really fascinating. I can't wait to try inking one of his comic pages though...I may have to practice a few times to get the hang of it before hitting the record button. 😄
@@BeyondTheProcess practice is definitely key. I think you could have made a living in the old bullpen with work like this. I'll be watching to see what you do next.
Been doing a lot of watercolors, pastels and oils myself, but I never lose my love for ink. Also never used you method for creating bluelines. I'll have to remember that trick.
@@achromat666
Question. Do you think you're employed to render every line on the pencils you're given?
I imagine that could be the case if it was a 'name' artist you were inking. But I've often wondered, and I come to this from a painter's point of view, that if inkers _didn't_ line everything in, if a cheekbone was suggested by a form shadow instead of a hard contour line, whether the inker would get grief from the editor. Would he say, pointing to a scan of the pencils, "look there's an outline there, your job is to ink it in".
Because there are/were artists like Jorge Zaffino who used light patterns as much as contour lines to render his figures ( the Punisher, famously). And the effect can be a little more sophisticated form of rendering. The flexibility, or otherwise, given to inkers has always interested me.
Well done. Ya, JB was the star of his generation, imho. His book, "Drawing Comics the Marvel Way", is one of the best books on drawing, period--not just on drawing comics specifically, but drawing in general. Actually, to be really good at drawing comics it helps to be able to draw just about anything, so tackling the full range of settings, characters, and objects may be required of a comic artist. I think you nailed the inking of this one. You might consider getting a 11x17 scanner. I have a plustek OpticSlim 1180, which works pretty well, and was inexpensive. I'd probably get a really high quality large flatbed scanner, though, if I was doing this kind of stuff routinely. Anyway, it was great to see a very skillful inker take on one of JB's drawings using a brush and India ink. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the kind words and recommendation. 🙏
Wow your line work was amazing to watch. I want to get there myself some day. The way you did his thigh with that line weight was flawless ugh🔥🔥🔥🔥
Thank you 🙏. That’s kind of you to say.
Very nice. My favorite inker was Alfredo Alcala.
YES! Another TOP-NOTCH INKER!
That Tarzan render was in the 1st Marvel Tarzan issue.
A-HA! Finally the mystery is solved! Would love to see who inked it and how much better it turned out. Thank you.🙏
@@BeyondTheProcess It’s on page 23 of that first issue and John Buscema inked that issue himself.
Nice job there Crusty Bunkers.
😂🤣😅
Beautiful work! I really enjoy this style of inking. It adds so much movement and interest.
Thank you. That’s always my goal when tackling such a magnificent artist.
I could always identify who inked John in the old SSOC. Conan's face was all you needed usually to tell if it was Marcos,Chan,Alcala or D.ezuniga . Good job, insightful. No offense to any inkers I missed.
@@cornbreadandtruth8195 Same!
For those who use GIMP instead of Photoshop, use Colors->Colorize
John Buscema was one of the greatest comic book artists of all time. when paired with Alfredo Alcala he was unbeatable
Just as an interesting piece of trivie, while Jack Kirby liked to put a bit of Ursula Andress in all the women he drew, John Buscema did the same with Sophia Loren
Ahh...great, thanks for the ADDITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, Henry.
I swear he's one of my favorite inkers, always enjoyed savage sword of Conan comics.
amazing process to watch
Much appreciated, Charlie. 🙏
Parfait...Bravo . très bel encrage . God job !!
Great video! This will be very helpful for me to study and watch as I try to improve my inking! Thank you for making and sharing this video!
That's great, Gregory! Good luck.
Man, there's a lot of Bridgman in Big John's drawings of hands and lower arms.
So true.
You mentioned leopard, but what's drawn in John's original pencil, is more like spots on the cheetah's coat. African leopards have rosettas, that is, C-shaped or D-shaped dark spots with ochre fur in the centre. It may sound like nitpicking, but real leopard's fur is difficult to draw. Leopards spend most of the time on lower tree branches, so their fur perfectly blends with rays of light penetrating through the leaves. Of all Tarzan artists, Hogarth drew them most convincingly.
I had a feeling someone would lay it out like this. I even looked up both leopard and cheetah just in case. However I did not use ‘Africa’ in my search.
Thanks for the clarification.
Inking is an odd profession. I've never figured out the 'moral' dilemma that you're either there to render an artist's work in a style that's as true as possible to the original pencils. Or whether the inker is employed as a professional embellisher with a distinct style that overlays structures laid down by the penciller.
Take Kirby, Joe Sinnott and Wally Wood, in my opinion, lifted Jack's pencils to another level. They evened out various Kirby mannerisms but with a loss of some Kirby-ish identity.
And yet other Kirby inkers like D Bruce Berry attempted to render every idiosyncratic squiggle with absolute devotion. Some Kirby fans prefer this.
Observers might say the best inker of John Buscema is John Buscema. I think that's valid. But Buscema inked by Sinnott, the Crusty Bunkers, and, especially, Al Williamson and Tom Palmer give Buscema's art a character that is very appealing to the eye. And different frm JB's approach. Personally, and on reflection, I think that's my preferred option.
There's a saying in Boxing "styles make fights" and a great inker/penciller combo can be a joy. And perhaps we need to get away from this meme of an inker being, basically, a tracer, bringing nothing to the table but a Hunt 102 and a #2 sable brush.
I like your observation. 🤘
@@BeyondTheProcess
Thanks. It's a subject that has fascinated me for a long time!
Inking to me is more that just 'tracing', it's trying to interpret the style the penciler is trying to emulate. Look at Gustave dore and the people engraving what Gustave is try to interpret.
@@jessejames8900 I think Pusan and Pannemaker were my favorites of Dore’s engravers.
@@jessejames8900
So, I think you need to ask, What is the penciller doing?
Well, for sure, he's not Gustav Dore. With someone of that stature I absolutely see how you would be required to express the nuances of his drawings. But most comics pencillers are not Dore, they are storytellers. The ability to tell a story is the chief requirement of pencilling. And the inker's job is to turn what used to be unprintable pencilwork into camera ready artwork. So this idea that an inker's duty was to render with, as near as possible, 100% accuracy all the mannerisms of the original pencils, is for me, a myth and a waste of a good inker. The bottom line, theoretically, is if a penciller wants his work to look exactly like his work at the ink stage, _he_ should ink it.
I don't see why an inker should be expected to be loyal to another artist who isn't paying him for his care and attention. As stated earlier, even as a massive Jack Kirby fan, I see his work as rendered by a pro like Wally Wood as a fantastic combination of talents. Similar with Kevin Nowlan over most people. And Johnny Romita Sr over Gil Kane, another perfect combination of talents.
That's how I see it. I am not a fan of inappropriate or journeymen inkers like Vince Colletta deciding to rub out background figures to save time, but I think inkers need to be seen,and see themselves, as something more than a slave to the the original pencils.
Cool stuff, I really like that not every detail is inked into oblivion, but a lot is implied! Shane, do you have any prints available?
Hi Del. Much appreciated!
Prints of this piece or other prints?
The original from this video is available for sale if interested.
@@BeyondTheProcess I meant any other prints, but I'm not apposed to that original
@@delswanson3593
I do have one on my ETSY: www.etsy.com/shop/ShanePatrickWhite
And a couple of others pieces on there. Contact me directly if you'd like to learn more and I can bundle shipping.
The one person who inked John Buscema and created pure magic was Ernie Chan.
I met him once and told him as much. He put so much in those inks.
@@BeyondTheProcess I was lucky enough to talk to him via email before he passed. Wonderful, humble guy.
Inks make a big diffrence to the art.
Absolutely! 💯
Yep, now you know why they use them.
I have the same scanner, it's a nigtmare
Hahaha…I know. I’ve been saving for an Epson XL12000 but it’s gonna be awhile.
Mucho like!!!
Thank you.
First 2 Tarzan novels were great! Politcally incorrect to the max, and utterly inaccurate in every way, but super fun and violent.
Agreed. I read the first 8 and the fall-off of quality is pretty noticeable. I would however recommend the Jewels of Opar, which was a nice surprise.
But yeah...it's tough looking back on that stuff as we have hopefully come further along in our thinking.