cameronstewart

One of the things I will always hate Kevin Smith for is the scene in Chasing Amy set at the comic convention, when a fan argues with Banky about his inking, calling him a "tracer." I can't tell you how many times people have quoted that scene at me to be funny, forcing me to politely smile and change the subject as fast as possible.

Having said that, a lot of people still don't understand what an inker does, but it's certainly not tracing - the inker takes the pencil drawings (which define the composition, storytelling, character "acting", etc) and adds weight, texture, form and atmosphere, turning the rough pencils into finished print-ready artwork. The best penciller/inker teams are true collaborators, with each bringing something to the artwork and making it better than the sum of its parts. I started my career as an inker and now I'm going back to it for the SG comic.

Below are David Hahn's pencil layouts for an early panel in the first issue, and my final inks overtop...

(first person to say "tracer LOL" gets a slap)