Inking-The Best tool for cleaning up your artwork (Part 01: Origins and Wacom Tablets 01)

I'm still working on my post revolving around Termite Terrace and the animators but work on it has been slow due to demanding that I get my facts correct as well as having some issues getting used to my new Linear Switch Keyboard's lighter actuation compared to be previous Clicky keyboard.

So while my Termite Terrace post is on the backburner for now, Let's talk about inking.

You ever draw your characters after the proper construction method but you don't want to look at your rough pencil lines or your construction lines? 

Then what you need to do is to grab your India Ink Pens of varying sizes or a Wacom Pen and your Wacom ONE Display or Cintiq display and get a grip on what I refer to as Inking.

It's the process in art that's used to clean up your artwork and remove all the rough edges of your artwork and make it look all nice and smooth.

And this technique is mostly used for things like.... well... anything that moves whether it be characters or VFX such as this frame of Homer Simpson breathing fire:

The techniques for Inking depend on how you're doing it. But regardless of how you're doing it, there's a haphazard that needs to be addressed before the inking process and that is maintaining guts to your original drawing.

Have you ever heard of the idiom LOST IN TRANSLATION?
Well here in the art of Inking, It's an issue where no matter how you clean up the artwork, you risk losing a lot of the spontaneity of the original drawing and the result can make your art look more bland and less lively or spontaneous than the original rough pencil.

Take for example this drawing of CRAG from John K.'s Ripping Friends. 

On the left is the rough pencil with all that shading while on the right is the cleaned up inked digital cel.

Notice how the digital cel lacks the subtleties of shading? 

Admittingly, the shading can be addressed during the coloring phase but often at times you need guidelines for doing that shadow shading you see in cartoons.

Have you ever seen those Laika reels of Renaissance Disney animation after the cleanup/inking process and you see those random lines show up on the cels?

That's the guideline meant for the coloring artist to follow along during the color and shading process in production.

But sometimes using shading guidelines on the cleanups is not enough to maintain the guts of the original rough. What's actually important is to maintain the line weight.

As seen on this HOW TO DRAW MANGA book page, line weight is used to maintain the guts of your drawing, especially if for example you're drawing this girl wearing all that heavy shoulder armor. 

And it's not just to add weight to the clothing but also used to make the character less delicate epidermise-wise.

Again, let's take this Anime Girl for an example. Sure she has delicate skin but she's a warrior for crying out loud so she needs to show that she doesn't need anyone help from anyone.

So how can you make her look less delicate? Just add varying levels of thickness on her outlines either by skin or by her article of clothing.

It's rather funny how many artists who draw by hand forget this vital part of the process of art but what I truly take offense is when I see these modern Western Animated Puppet Rigged shows that just use templates to build their characters or use a brush tool that evens out the outlines.

One of the reasons that I'm ribbing on Modern Inking was because just like a lot of artists who are starting, I was subjected to criticism to my pre-2020 digital line art by an art instructor at my College.

I took that criticism seriously and started to do my own art on Photoshop using my own custom Brush Preset in order to get that INDIA INK style inking that I was sorely lacking in my original Colors! SD Card transfer styled art.

So in essence, what originally was the evenly sized outlines of the cel below.....

Became the artwork below that has varying amount of line weight.

I've still got some ways to go but I'll get there.

But how does one get line weight? Easy. Apply pressure on your canvas from the tip of your pen, sharpie, or ink pen.

The same principle applies for Wacom Pens but that's more or less based on the software your Wacom Tablet uses as well as functioning pen drivers. 

How it works is there's electromagnetic sensors on both the screen and the Stylus that work in tandem to give the sense of Led Tip Pressure and rotation which is the reason why your brush tip presets on photoshop rotates when you rotate the pen tip.

Wacom tablets are now the norm for today's digital art because of issues relating cost of the material as well as the environment. Paper and Cels come from trees so switching to a digital environment was the only way for many an artist to go.

But for many an artist, there's an issue of costs for the tablets.

If you're fine with just a tablet surface, then an Intuos, Bamboo, or Graphire tablet is for you. They're affordable for many an artist and sometimes go for less than $100 depending on the retailer.

But if you're someone like me who prefers the traditional draws on paper approach via pen tip, then a Tablet with a screen is the perfect choice but those Cintiqs are overpriced for many artists and the costs go higher the larger the display is. 

Many artists often go for the smaller 13" or 16" pen displays since they're affordable enough on their own.

I haven't used Photoshop for my art in a while since April 2022 when I got my Wacom One Creative pen display due to something in the software increasing data usage on my MSI Laptop's SSD at the time and I've been inclined to use it still after building my Maverick PC due to reading up on the rise of generative AI tools.

I'm not going to repeat myself again after this:

I REFUSE TO USE GENERATIVE AI TOOLS SO DON'T CALL ME AN OLD FOGEY JUST BECAUSE OF MY REFUSAL.

Sorry about that ALL CAPS outburst but you get the gist of it.

The Inking series of posts will be split into multiple parts but I'm not going to get into the nuts and bolts about those until January 2024. 

But I will give you a sneak peak for the next post on the INKING Series:

Software I Use for Inking.

As for Photoshop, Since it's Christmas Vacation for me, I'm going to get more serious on my art and start doing new pieces on the software.... THE OLD FASHIONED WAY. 

No AI Tools! Just good old Roughs, Cleanups, Shading, Blur Filters, Drop Shadows, etc.

The Rise of Digital Ink and Paint

I've been ribbing about Digital Ink and Paint on this blog for quite a while and I don't know why.

Maybe it's because of my frustrations with the industry preferring puppet-rigs over the hand-drawn approach that I prefer... maybe it's the rise of generative AI tools that I refuse to use... who knows...

But Digital Ink and Paint, the current production tool used for 2D animation, is here to stay no matter how you ponder about it... it is here to stay.

So when did animation start using computers to color and composite animation?

For sure, despite popular belief, It didn't start with the early 90s. The tech goes way back to the 1970s.

And it certainly didn't begin with Disney. It actually began with HANNA-BARBERA.

Yes, that Hanna Barbera. The company both famous and infamous for popularizing television animation productions but also cutting corners to make it happen and as a result, influenced the animation scene to do the exact same limited animation principles that gave people like John K. a headache.

Anyway, the tech was discovered by Marc Levoy...

who at the time wanted to make the next big evolution to animation not seen since Ub Iwerks' patented Xerography process.

You know that part where I said that digital ink and paint did not start with Disney.... well I sort of told half a lie. What actually happened was that Levoy actually pitched the digital process to Disney back in 1979 but the Mouse House's then still living NINE OLD MEN rejected the technology.

The Nine Old Men.... at least at the time, rejected digital technology because they felt the automated nature of the Computer was going to take away their jobs......

Hmmm..... I wonder what modern comparison does this eerily look similar to.....

Anyway, Marc was so frusturated with this type of apathy that he decided to sell the technology to Hanna-Barbera and despite receiving a similar opposition from their employees, 

the company fully embraced his new computer coloring system.
The system helped to reduce labor costs and prove the next evolution in animation.

Though the system was far from similar to the modern x64-based Toon Boom system we use today. 

According to this PDF which I'll put a link to:

https://web.archive.org/web/20170703033828/https://excelsior.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~carlson/history/PDFs/hanna-barbera.pdf

Hanna Barbera's system used DEC's VAX based Minicomputer hardware....

And when I mean minicomputer, I'm talking about those computers the size of...

A Closet

or

A Refrigerator

that make wheeling from room to room easier than mainframes of the time.

Anyway, DEC's VAX computers were used to create the digital ink and paint Cartoons during the 1980s. 

Not every HB Cartoon used them though.

I think the only cartoons that used the new system were:

The Flintstones,

Pacman

The Snorks,

The Jetson's 1980's reboot,

and most importantly: A PUP NAMED SCOOBY DOO

But as exemplified by the Mystery Gang's expression, the rest of the industry was repulsed by the idea of using computers for coloring and compositing animation.

Most of their fears was due to their beliefs of the cost of installation, the automated nature, and worrying that the animation would look synthetic.

A good example of a few animators who absolutely refused to go digital during the 90s are both...

DON BLUTH

&

JIM JINKINS.

Don Bluth didn't want to make the switch to digital ink and paint because he firmly stated that art is meant to be something you hold and feel the acrylic paint, not use a paint bucket tool. 

He even said so in the Anastasia DVD featurettes where he stated he fought fiercely to remain the one studio to still use traditional cels.

Speaking about Anastasia, he eventually conceded to digital ink and paint after the failure of THE PEBBLE AND THE PENGUIN as well as getting sick of the whole SACHARINE push from other studio executives who want to trounce Disney as King of Animation in the 90s.

As for Jim Jinkins, even when DOUG switched over to Disney, Jim still refused to let computers be used for the ink and paint.....Ok... Maybe Disney's DOUG did use computers but only for the video editing, animatics, and color correction. Everything else such as actual animation was still done the traditional way.

Despite Fandom's mixed opinions on whether or not which version is better than the other

*COUGH*Nickelodeon-Is-Better*COUGH*....

I still think Jim made the right decision to keep Disney's DOUG's Animation Cels away from an SGI IRIX or Windows NT paint program but I still think the series would have benefited staying with HANHO Heung-Up instead of switching to Mike Judge's PLUS-ONE for OVERSEAS animation......

Whatever, here are some high-quality screengrabs...

Just to prove that DOUG doesn't need ToonBoom or Cambridge's ANIMO for his cel paints:

Why do these screenshots above look so good?

What secret does Plus-One have that HanHo Heung-Up doesn't have?

Or maybe Doug under the MOUSE HOUSE tried too hard to be like

Beavis and Butthead or Hank Hill in terms of animation photography.

Now let's flashback to the late 80s.

Disney at least finally gave into digital technology back when they bought a shitload of P-II image computers from Pixar which gave birth to the CAPS system used by Disney during the 90s.

But was it worth the switch?

THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER released November 16 1990 was the first film from Disney to use the CAPS process completely and despite a few things that have not aged well such as the non-cel shaded CGI, the digital cels have better visuals than most of the early 90s films made by Disney.

I don't know what filters Disney was using for this film but it made the cels look real nice and authentic, even on Blu-Ray.

I can't say 4K Streaming because Disney+ didn't give the film the 4K ULTRAHD status.

Beauty and the Beast's digital cels to me are a mixed bag. 

Some characters like Belle, the Beast, Gaston, and most major characters look authentic when the right lighting and shading are used but man, most of the digital cels haven't aged well, especially when all VHS, Laserdiscs, DVD's Blu-Rays, 4K Blu-Rays, and 4K streaming prints use the CAPS Digital masters instead of the actual 35MM filmstock regardless if it's the original theatrical or 2002 IMAX Special Edition.

It's not helped by the fact that the film was rushed in development during the early 90s due to multiple rewrites as well as Jeffery Katzenberg's disgruntlement with the direction the film was going before the revamp. That and of course, Howard Ashman's deteriorating health at the time.

And according to sources, the film wasn't supposed to use the CAPS process. The only reason Beauty and the Beast ultimately used CAPS was because of a last-minute decision to use the process after the animators were impressed with their results of the famous Ballroom CGI sequence.

Sometime later after BEAST, the rest of the industry caught on.... well sort of.

I've read that Ferngully: The Last Rainforest did use computers but the animators limited it to... 

CGI Vehicles and Machinery,

Flight Reference,

And Dynamic Camera Shots.

as the animators at Kroyer Films were not happy with their results of the digital cels.

Ren and Stimpy at least made the commitment to make the switch.... sort of.

The very first Ren and Stimpy episode to make the switch to Digital Ink and Paint was MAN'S BEST FRIEND

but that was a George Liquor-centric episode and Nickelodeon fiercely hated Liquor's guts so they refused to air it.

Instead, the cartoon to get the reigns of being the first Digital Ink and Paint episode was Out West.

The Japanese side of animation however refused to use computers for digital coloring as far as I'm aware. Until the later part of the 90s, they refused to make the switch.

"I see what you're thinking Isurugi but the answer is no. We ain't making the switch to Digital Ink and Paint until the year 1999."

I may be wrong but I think the first anime to use computers was Cowboy Bebop in 1998 but even then, it was only used for a few select scenes in some episodes while everything else was done using traditional Cels.

Examples of shots that use Digital Ink and Paint in COWBOY BEBOP are several scenes where Radical Edward is playing a game of chess against a geriatric old man named HEX.

My guess was that in the episode BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, the scenes had to be made digitally because compositing 2D computer Graphics with 16MM photographed Cel Animation was next to impossible back in 1997-1998.

Actually, the first anime to use Digital Ink and Paint completely was Akira Toriyama's Dr. Slump remake in 1997.

The bottom image of Dr. Slump may not look like it though and but the series does use Digital Ink and Paint.

My guess is the image below is a lithograph.

"Look Gatchan. We're colored with computers... HO YO YO!!!"

Eventually at the turn of the millennium, probably due to the rise of computer use as well as rising labor costs eventually forced the industry to make the switch to Digital Ink and Paint... 

no ifs, ands, or buts.

So shows you've seen that started around that time that include Danny Phantom, Teen Titans, Ben 10, Phineas and Ferb, Family Guy, Futurama, etc, they all use computers for their productions.

Ahh... the 2000s. Truly it was a golden age for digital animation in the 2D space, so what happened?

Goddamn corporate executive decisions happened.

Somehow, executives care only about money which is my belief but here's another thing that I also found out that I think is the reason why I antagonize executives:

MARKET RESEARCH

Ugh.... that one word that artists (Including George Lucas) dread.... sort of.

Artists do care about Market Research but the kind that the executives use does not resonate with us artists.

In the 2000s, animation executives care more about trying to unseat Disney as the animation champ... unless you're Disney's execs where the goal is to defend your position as the champ with varying degrees of success.

After the failure of Home on the Range in 2004 as well as the 2008 Great Recession as well as the rise of viewers preferring anime over our USA/Canadian made programmes, Animation studios desperately needed a way to win back the crowd.

Then in 2010, Pendleton Ward created Adventure Time

This show is rather interesting. I've been hearing and reading about this show for quite a while due to it's excellent subversions of content and story.

It's written off as a kiddie show with fantasy elements when in reality, it's set in a post-apocalyptic world filled with surreal stuff as well as much needed character development for many characters that have appeared in the show.

But just like John Kricfalusi likes to blame Scooby-Doo for influencing animation tropes during the 1970s, I sort of feel like Adventure Time is used by executives as a figurehead for thinking that the only reason animation in America continues on despite the 2008 recession is due to design simplifications and puppet rigs.

However, unlike John K. who still hates Scooby Doo to this day, I actually do like Adventure Time since it doesn't use puppet rigs and I actually like things such as the post-apocalyptic setting as well as the rather excellent tragic backstory of ICE KING.

"You killjoys. I'm real tragic. Stop mocking me or I'll sic GUNTER at you!"

I really want to watch Adventure Time but I can't  because currently I have no way to stream it here in Canada.... The show is on MAX but we can't get MAX here in Canada due to a licensing snarl with goddamn BELLMEDIA... and I'm a bit too inclined to sign up for CRAVE.... maybe in the future.

Did I mention that I have issues with BELLMEDIA'S monopoly in the Canadian content rights holdings? Ed the Sock... or rather his creator and performer Steven Joel Kerzner has real problems with BELLMEDIA.

"BELLMEDIA ain't no AT&T at least in my fabric eyes. I've been antagonizing BELLMEDIA since they bought and f***ed up MUCHMUSIC."

Adventure Time has left a mark on 2010s animation. It has led to the creation of shows such as 

REGULAR SHOW, GRAVITY FALLS, RICK AND MORTY, STEVEN UNIVERSE, just to name a few.

While I'm fine with newer shows that use the new mandatory puppet-rigged style, what I don't approve of is when executives and showrunners mandate that existing I.P that get rebooted need to switch to the new art style and I have seen many a negative comment and meme on Facebook where people lambast TEEN TITANS GO, BE COOL SCOOBY DOO, 2016's Ben 10, etc. 

I wish I had the meme to show you but I didn't save it in either my phone or my external HDDs.

The rise of all this in 2010s animation has led to John K. creating the derisive term CALARTS style.

I'll get more into the Calarts style in a future blogpost since I don't want this post to be derail into unnecessary ramblings and I want to stay in topic so lets back into topic.

Back to the 2000s.... before all that executive meddling. 

When some shows made the switch to Digital Ink and Paint, some of these shows actually used filters to hide the digital nature of the artwork and make them still look like their old self. But not all shows had the balls to do that. I think only THE SIMPSONS did that.

I know the THE SIMPSONS did something like that when they made the permanent switch to digital ink and paint during the 14th Season where they used tools to make the cels look as authentic as their previous episodes were.

Funny how SIMPSONS was the only show to do that but not FUTURAMA.

I'm guessing FUTURAMA was too new at the time to use such tools considering FUTURAMA's 1999 debut.

THE SIMPSONS dropped the filters during both the Movie and Season 19 when they made the complete switch from Paper Scanning to Paperless Wacom Cintiq animation.
 

Nowadays, we are torn by what software we use for digital animation.

Choices are boiled down to Flash, Toon Boom Harmony, Adobe Animate, RECTAS, Krita, Clip Studio Paint, etc. 

I used to do animations on Adobe Animate since it was included in my Creative Cloud Plan but as soon as I started paying for my annual license, I switched to Toon Boom Harmony Premium and I've never looked back. There's alot of things in Harmony that I can't get in Animate.

One is that you can adjust the color palettes without using the paint bucket tool over and over again. Another is the use of nodes which let me achieve the looks of traditional cels without actually making physical cels. 

But so far, I've only got as far getting shadows, drybrush blurs and relying on the default renderer dulling my colors.

I still want to add 35MM film style grain to my work like I did with my Photoshop art so stay tuned for that. And yes I promise to document my process of finally achieving proper film grain in Toon Boom.

Holy Shit, was this a long blogpost. Not only that, I've recently switched Keyboards for my main PC.

Since December 27 2022, I've been using a Razer Blackwidow V3 Halo Edition which uses Razer's Green switches which are clicky and loud.

It's been a good keyboard but in August, I've changed desks and I've been lacking in deskspace for my keyboard tray. That and the keyboard has endured some wear on the switches so I went to the nearest BEST BUY to buy a TENKEYLESS Razer Blackwidow V3 which uses YELLOW Switches.

The Yellow Switches are linear instead of clicky so they go all the way down as well as sound much quieter than the previous keyboard.

Funny thing is, I've started this Digital Ink and Paint Blogpost with my previous keyboard and now I've finished it with my new Keyboard.

I wonder what's next? Who knows.

Update as of March 25 2024:

Some things have changed since the last time I made this post. For one, When I started typing on my Linear Switch Keyboard, I briefly had a hard time getting used to my keyboard's lighter actuation but now I'm used to it. I do tend to type some typos every now and then but I'm somewhat of a fast typer so I'm used to it now. My Linear Switch board however didn't come with a wrist rest which I need due to having difficulties reaching the number keys due to the length of my fingers as well as fears of Carpal tunnel so I'm reusing the Wrist Rest that came with my previous Razer Board.

Also, due to the Dr. Slump 1997 image I used, I had to add Akira Toriyama's name in the Label section of this post out of respect for the late Mangaka artist due to the news of Toriyama's death early in March 2024...... May the greatest mangaka artist live a good afterlife.......

Another Update as of December 25 2024:

When I typed this, I was using my Razer TKL Linear Switch Keyboard.

I no longer us that board. Instead, I now use my EPOMAKER DYNATAB 75 board.

Translation from Pre-Viz to Final Output

Notice the single header part of this post's title?

I usually go for a two title approach but this time, I want to go in a different direction.

Now for the main attraction:

TRANSLATION FROM PRE-VIZ TO FINAL OUTPUT.

Have you ever stumbled on a Facebook post or blogpost made by someone where he/she says the pre-production artwork looks 10 times better than the final output? I've been there too.

The above is an example of a storyboard from an episode of Hilda and to me, the storyboard actually has more depth and liveliness to the poses when compared to the final version of that episode due to the puppet rigs used in the show.

But believe it or not, Hilda didn't begin with that look originally. It actually began with a Comic series shown below.

Why didn't Silvergate Media and Mercury Filmworks use the original artwork for Hilda and instead went for the current style used in the actual series?

Just look at how beautiful these original drawings of Hilda looked as originally drawn by the hands of Luke Pearson. 

It's clear all Luke needed was pencil and sheets of paper to draw the comics although in reality, he drew the comics digitally using a Wacom Cintiq but you get the gist of it. 

Of course, as the comic progressed, the art eventually shifted.

Four years before the Netflix series, the art shifted to what it is now:

By the time the Netflix series was released...

Admittingly, I never actually watched Hilda on Netflix. When I first found out about this series back in 2018, I brushed it off due my instincts at the time telling me I not watch modern western cartoons due to Calarts style and puppet rigged mandates as well as hearing stories of executive vetoing ideas in favor of marketing and money.

I was surprised to hear that Hilda did very well which is unexpected but I was even more shocked when I discovered that this series actually started as a comic book back in 2010.

I guess we didn't get the comic here in Canada... or maybe we did but availability was very scarce.

I live in the Vancouver area and back in 2010, I didn't even know that there was a comic book called Hilda. Well know I know.

Maybe one of these days, I'll get a chance to watch it. Don't know if I'll make any blogposts about it but I will get the chance to watch the series one of these days.

Hold up, I'm not done with this blogpost yet.

I actually want to touch more on the topic on why I think pre-production and original graphic novel art is much better than the animated tv series art. And for an allegorical reason.

And it's all revolved around this:

HAGANAI: I DON'T HAVE MANY FRIENDS.

I've read many online posts and heard from many friends in high school and college how they often, for Japanese Franchises, prefer the manga over their anime adaptations.

I'm not going to lie. I sometimes feel that sentiment too. Sometimes, things in anime change so dramatically that they often don't resemble scenes that were originally in the manga.

I can give you an example from one scene from the manga that didn't translate very well to the anime.

There was that one scene where the protagonist's sister bites the arm of a another girl.

The original manga had more liveliness and more exaggeration to the scene but when the anime adapted that scene, it lacked energy from the manga.

I did have one photo taken from the manga but getting the images from the anime are more of a challenge due to the use of encryption on Streaming that disables screen captures and my oh my, iTunes and Netflix really are serious about their anti-screen capture sentiments.

Looks like it's going to be phone captures for me unless I find these episodes in MP4 format on the Internet Archive.

But wait there's more:

Just in time for the 50th Anniversary of Disney's Robin Hood, here are some photos of two characters from original cel to final film.

I like the top one better. More fitting for a Fox.

Why did they change Robin's design to the one below? 

Was the change mandated by Ron Miller or did Brian Bedford request the change?

Either way, I might as well bring out my Robin Hood Blu-Ray out of my movie shelf and insert the Blu-ray Disc in my PS5 when I get the chance. For a film released in 1973, I actually like it's colors and Xeroxed line-art slightly better than The Rescuers.

but then again that's like saying I like AN AMERICAN TAIL better than Land Before Time.

My arguments are moot by this point.

Anyhow, I've got another sneak peak:

I dub this "THE MANY WEIRD PLACES TO FIND INSPIRATION".

Sometimes things in real life inspires us. Whether it be a sign missing a letter and turns it into a hyper-conservative character, or a bathroom reflection that becomes a cosmic owl, there are many things in the world that can turn into a good idea whether it be story or a character design or name.

But that will have to wait until that particular blogpost, when I do get my research and photos.