I wanted to do some new monster illustrations for Halloween. So here is The Wolf Man! My all-time favorite classic movie monster! I ended up doing as much of this drawing as I possibly could using only an ink brush. I only resorted to using my dip pens (quills) for those dense, atmospheric lines blowing through the trees in the distance, and a few little touches to add some texture to his clothes. But everything else was done with the brush.

There was another situation that came up this week - besides Halloween - that may have inspired me to do this drawing, and approach it the way I did. Earlier this week I stumbled into a friendly online debate with a couple of other comic book artists I know - on the subject of old-fashioned, "traditional inking" (the kind of inking that involves pens, brushes, paper, and a bottle of ink) vs. the new trend of "digital inking" (the kind of inking that involves a Cintiq or computer).

Knowing that both of these guys were big digital fans, I should have kept my mouth shut. But you see, I am not very smart. I had to ask, "So, guys... I keep hearing so many comic book artists these days talking about digital inking, but I've never heard anyone explain what makes it better or why anyone would prefer it to real (traditional) inking."

My two tech-savvy friends immediately listed the endless advantages of digital inking over traditional inking - the most prominent being "It's faster, so you can get more drawings done in less time." and "It's not messy. You don't have to worry about spilling ink." And "You can fix mistakes instantly."

I tried to argue in defense of line quality, line variation etc... But I don't think they were convinced. I felt like an early 1900's guy on horseback telling guys driving Model-T's that those noisy contraptions would never be as reliable as a good old horse.

So this is gonna sound like such a pretentious, "artist-y" thing to say, but that conversation - and working on this Wolf Man drawing a few days later - reminded me that one of my simplest pleasures in life is drawing with an ink brush. I know that must sound weird. But I was having kind of a bummer day when I started this illustration, and was in sort of a low mood. It was just one of those days. Yet as soon as I dipped my brush in that ink bottle, and started creating those fur textures on the Wolf Man's head, I instantly cheered up. And working on those gnarled, twisty tree branches only brightened my mood more.

I am not trying to say one technique is better than the other, I am just saying - I love this technique. For me, personally, digital inking with a machine will never replace traditional inking with a brush. The fact that it's NOT perfect - that you CAN'T have 100% control over it - the fact that you have to play with it - half telling it what to do, and half responding to whatever it decides to do - that LACK of control is the fun part. There is just an unpredictable sloppiness to inking with a brush, which adds so much more life and spontaneity to a drawing. You gotta learn how to wrangle it, but once you do, the brush can make everything you draw feel so much more organic and alive.

Maybe a computer could duplicate every single one of these effects (?) perhaps even imitate that random, unpredictable quality that real ink has when wet bristles glide against paper (?) but if so... I haven't seen it yet. Maybe someday I'll be surprised?

I question the digital stuff, but I am not slamming it, or criticizing anyone for using it - Of course not! We all lean toward different tools that work better for us, depending on what our intended goals (or art styles) are. I certainly enjoy digital coloring and adding text to my artwork with Photoshop. But coloring and drawing are two different things. And when it comes to drawing I guess I'll be a grubby, traditional artist with black ink smudges up to my elbows till the day I die!