Best Inkers: Past to Present
Inking is so often overlooked and underrated. But it is hard to say which is more important, the drawing or the final ink. They go hand in hand, even if the inking is done by a separate artist.
A solid drawing is always an important foundation to the composition. The blueprint, if you will. But for me, the big decisions are made with the ink. The ink decides what is most important and builds depth to the drawing. The ink is what actually finishes the composition that the drawing first laid out. So, to back Banky up on that famous debate… inking is most definitely NOT tracing. Good inking, that is.
Below the cut are a list of my favorite inkers from both past and present. I hope you enjoy!
Frank Frazetta:
Of course Frank Frazetta is at the top of my list. At least for the old school inkers. Although Frazetta was mostly famous for his Sci-Fi oil paintings of the Death Dealer, Conan, and The Princess of Mars, he was also an accomplished illustrator / inker for comic books like Tarzan of the Jungle. Frazetta knew how to perfectly balance darks with lights, along with thin delicate line work matched with sweeping brush strokes.
Joe Sinnott:
The inker of Jack Kirby’s amazing pencils. Great drawing and great inking make for an amazing illustration, or in this case an amazing cover for the Fantastic Four. His ink work seems effortless and yet it is meticulous in craftsmanship. Look at the line work for the “blast.” It is clean and precise! Sinnott is definitely one of the greats.
Frank Miller:
What I always appreciated most about Frank Miller was his use of figure ground reversal. His ability to show you just enough was masterful. With most great inked illustration, the “design” of the white and black spaces are most important. And boy could he design his compositions.
Mike Mignola:
I first was introduced to Mike Mignola when he started drawing Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics. I instantly loved his work. It was simplified, yet complex. Reminiscent of Frank Miller, he makes use of negative space beautifully and describes the scene with as little detail as possible. He keeps the mystery of the image alive by not showing you everything. His simplistic approach and well designed panels keeps him high on my list of great illustrators / inkers. You can see some more of his work here.
Chris Samnee:
I came across Chris Samnee not too long ago here at his blog. His work is another great example of knowing when to add a line and when you don’t need to. If it were me, I probably would have outlined Cyclopes optical blast…but as you can tell, it’s obviously better that he didn’t. It allows your eye to fill in the gaps and put the image together in your own mind. Most of his work follows this formula and it’s beautiful. I love how there is a small, yet beneficial, amount of work required in looking at his pieces.
Tomer Hanuka:
I started following Tomer’s work after the show “Blow up” he was in at the Society of illustrators, here in New York City. You can see his other work here. Tomer has done some comic work and covers in his career, but he is not specific to comic books by any means. What I love about Tomer’s inking is that every line just works. Each line is expressive and only adds to the over all emotion of his work. I love his stylized anatomy and effortless strokes.
About Adam Carlson
View all posts by Adam Carlson →
Adam is a painter, illustrator, and web developer. He lives in Brooklyn New York and has no cats. He loves to paint and draw the human figure. He is passionate about ink and all things nerdy and geeky. By day he is an assistant pre-school teacher and by night he is a sci-fi super freak! He has had his work hung at the Philosophy Gallery in Paducah Kentucky and is currently working on his next show.
This entry was posted in Captains Blog, Geek Speak and tagged Chris Samnee, Comics, Frank Miller, Frazetta, Inkers, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, Mignola, Tomer Hanuka. Bookmark the permalink.
3 Responses to Best Inkers: Past to Present
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Thanks Joe! And yes, Bernie Wrightson is pretty sick too! Another all time favorites. I loved his Frankenstein stuff and he could draw a pretty sweet cthulhu!
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buifs says:
hi!!!
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Love the list Adam but I have to give props to one of my favorites dude, Bernie Wrightson.