Favorite Comics Media

 

From left: Pentel Pocket Brush pen, F-C Pitt Artist Pen, Pitt Dual Tip marker,
three Sharpie Creative Markers

As I’ve fully embraced my on-location comics approach the past few months, I’ve also experimented with a variety of media to best express this different way of seeing and telling stories. I seem to have settled into a set of favorites, so I thought it would be a good time to document them here.

First of all, there’s Uglybooks. The bold, strong colors of these sketchbooks immediately give my comics a graphical background that suits the form well. I’ve occasionally used white sketchbooks when using color seemed important to the subject. For the most part, though, Uglybooks are ideal. (I’ll be talking more about how my choice of Uglybooks sets the stage for color in a future post.)

For basic contour outlines and panel frames, I alternate between two go-to’s: I adore my original Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, which is probably one of my oldest sketch tools that I’m still using. By contrast, I only began using Faber-Castell Pitt Dual Tip Markers around the time I started making comics, and they also became a fast favorite. The former makes a beautiful, organic line that I especially appreciate when drawing trees, people, animals and other natural subject matter. The Pitt Dual Tip, by contrast, makes a sharp, hard line that imparts the graphical look of comics that I also like. It’s especially suitable for buildings and other human-made structures. The fine tip is relatively bold when drawing on a small, A6-size page, yet fine enough for details and lettering. The brush tip on the other side lays down a heavy block of color easily, which I appreciate. It’s an excellent combo pen.

The Pentel Pocket and the Pitt Dual are opposites, really, and that’s why I need both.

An important member of the monochrome part of the team is a Cold Gray III Pitt Artist Brush Pen, which I find essential for shading.

From left: a secondary triad of water-soluble Derwent Inktense and Caran 
d'Ache Museum Aquarelles; four Cd'A Luminance non-soluble pencils

As for color, that has become a complicated matter. Usually this time of year, I am happily playing with summer primary triads, studying color temperature or even messing with watercolors. This is my least colorful summer ever, and I miss color! Yet small panels of comics aren’t conducive to color mixing, and there’s no room for anything but tiny spot colors. I’ve been using opaque acrylic markers sparingly to fill the bill.

With such a focus on pens, I also miss my pencils! Looking for ways to scratch both my color itch and my pencil itch, I’ve lately been using a small selection of Caran d’Ache Luminance colored pencils. Among the most opaque in my colored pencil collection, Luminance can stand up to the strong colors of Uglybooks sketchbooks. Even so, they are less aggressive than acrylic markers, and sometimes I want a more subtle bit of color that can be modulated (compared to acrylic markers, which have no volume control other than loud). (In that future post, I’ll be talking more about techniques I’m using with colored pencils on brightly colored pages.)

As for my long-time favorite watercolor pencils, I still keep a basic secondary triad of Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelles and Derwent Inktense in my bag for the occasional times when nothing will do except full-on, big color. I took most out, though, because water-soluble media really aren’t compatible with Uglybooks paper. However, I’m not sad about letting most of them go, because this change has enabled me to use more Luminance pencils, which I have long regretted not putting to better use. Now they have a chance to be my daily-carry, which hasn’t ever happened before!

Of course, the most crucial player on this team is the opaque white pen – many of which I have been auditioning the past few months and most of which I have swiftly rejected. The favorite would have been the Sharpie Creative Marker with brush tip, which I like for its pastel colors as well as white – until the all-important white one broke. Loathe to buy a whole ‘nother set of 12 just for the white, I’ve given up on white pens (for now).

In fact, I have gone back to my roots: white colored pencils. Although they aren’t quite as bright and opaque as white acrylic paint or gel ink, they are close. More important, they are consistently reliable, require no shaking or priming, and never blob, skip, clog or explode. Ahh, pencils, you’ve saved me again!

Two of my favorite white colored pencils: Prismacolor and Derwent Drawing

As much as I miss having more and bigger colors to play with, I adore using this simple, slim kit that fits well in my small everyday-carry bag. For now, it suits my comics-focused approach. (Examples of how I like to use my favorite comics media are shown below.)

The brush and medium points on the Pitt Dual Tip Marker are ideal for both blocks of broad background color and spot color.

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen for people

Pitt Dual Tip Marker for architecture and other hard-edged, human-made subjects

Elegant, organic marks for trees using the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

Opaque acrylic markers and colored pencils that can hold their own against Uglybooks' strong colors.