Black Condor Vs. Black Condor Inking Commission

Inking Commission by ~SyntheticPlatypus on deviantART

Pencils: Larry Guidry

Inks: Me!

So I won't lie, it was a bit intimidating inking a piece of art drawn by an already established artist. What happens if I messed it up? Luckily, the whole process went as smooth as butter.

I worked in small increments daily, because inking while fun can be a tedious and tiring procedure. Coupled with my fear of screwing up, little bits seemed the way to go.

I worked where I was comfortable first, namely the people. I used several sizes of Sakura Micron Pens in order to keep the detail and vary the thickness of the lines. I used a large black marker for the big areas of black.

The transparency in the human looking Black Condor was difficult, I didn't want everything to look the same in DC, it had to look like something was in front of it, even though the cape was see-through. Uber thin lines and cross hatching the ink pen for shading became my new friend.

The Helmeted Black Condor was a different kind of challenge. In the practice sketch of the cover that Larry Guidry he very much drew the feathered cape that this Black Condor has. I think he forgot to finish it in the final draft cause I had to. Another terror of messing up, drawing and inking my own stuff on someone else's work. Eeek.

I saved Washington DC for last. Which also took the longest. I don't really ever draw landscapes and what a landscape this was! I filled in the darkest areas at first and then worked with my thin pens to fill in the rest of the detail.

Walah!