Does anyone know of any good inking tutorials using Inkscape? I found microugly's post about using the (calligraphy tool) and (tweak tool) which is really good info. However, it's not quite what I'm looking for. I was hoping there was something out there with a more step by step approach. Maybe I should just search for generic digital inking tutorials (drop inkscape from my search term) and then try to apply what I find to Inkscape.

I guess I'm looking for answers to these types of questions...

1. When inking with (calligraphy tool), do you typically zoom way in and then try to match the width of the original strokes exactly (if not, please expound)?
2. When inking with (calligraphy tool), to fill a large block do you switch to (freehand tool) or (bezier curve tool) and then outline the area?
3. Do you typically use 100% black ink with 100% opacity?
4. Do some of you prefer to ink with (freehand tool) or (bezier curve tool)?
5. If so...
   1. Do you center your lines on pencil strokes and then adjust the stroke?
   2. Do you zoom in and create closed paths based on the pencil strokes?
6. For areas like hair, to what extent do you ink it, and to what extent do you let color take over?

I guess the majority of my questions can be answered, "Do what works for you", and I need to just keep using Inkscape until I find out exactly that. But I would still love it if people wanted to share how they ink (with Inkscape!!) to perhaps increase the climb up the learning curve for the rest of us noobs!

thanks!

-Abro

Here's an attempt I made at inking some pencils I drew recently.
Original in pencils, scanned, and then inked exclusively with (calligraphy tool). I used my wacom tablet and *tried* to take advantage of the stylus pressure to vary line width. Wanted: More Practice!!

abrogaticus wrote:Does anyone know of any good inking tutorials using Inkscape?

This isn't exactly what you're looking for but it can help
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/23068
http://www.inkscape.org/screenshots/gal ... k-path.png
this one is a bit outdated http://www.inkscape.org/screenshots/gal ... comics.png

I dont have a tablet but Ill still try to answer, don't take me too seriously

abrogaticus wrote:

1. When inking with (calligraphy tool), do you typically zoom way in and then try to match the width of the original strokes exactly (if not, please expound)?

yep, zoom in just enough to see the entire line to be drawn and adjust the "brush" width

abrogaticus wrote:

1. When inking with (calligraphy tool), to fill a large block do you switch to (freehand tool) or (bezier curve tool) and then outline the area?

I guess it depends on the area, if its really big, weird looking (not line-like) I might try Beziers but otherwise Calligraphy will probably do a quicker job. It all boils down to whats easier and quicker, the results are more or less the same (once you get used to Calligraphy tool).

abrogaticus wrote:

1. Do you typically use 100% black ink with 100% opacity?

yep

abrogaticus wrote:

1. Do some of you prefer to ink with (freehand tool) or (bezier curve tool)?

doubt it

abrogaticus wrote:

1. For areas like hair, to what extent do you ink it, and to what extent do you let color take over?

I guess this depends on your drawing style and characters, some will have more solid hairdos and some more spaghetti-code-like-dos

Your drawing looks great, though I think you can do better and make the lines softer

for solid areas, I use the flood fill tool in SVN. just do all the outlines first, then flood fill the solids in.

I'm coming in late on this but I have a few comments in addition to what others said.

abrogaticus wrote:When inking with (calligraphy tool), do you typically zoom way in and then try to match the width of the original strokes exactly (if not, please expound)?

I zoom, but I also enable "Width is in absolute units" under Inkscape Preferences > Tools > Calligraphy so I don't need to adjust my width everytime I change zoom levels.

When inking with (calligraphy tool), to fill a large block do you switch to (freehand tool) or (bezier curve tool) and then outline the area?

Using the calligraphy tool is a little clumsy since you have to literally paint in the area. I would use the pencil tool if it had a mass setting, but I find controlling the tool with a tablet a bit like skidding on ice. I do use the bezier tool when precision is required. But most of the time I use the paintbucket tool available in 0.46

Do you typically use 100% black ink with 100% opacity?

Yes

Do some of you prefer to ink with (freehand tool) or (bezier curve tool)?

Rarely. I don't pencil for the reason I said above. I will use bezier for simple stuff or if I need to be very percise. Even then I prefer to lay the line using calligraphy tool then tweak it with bezier as required.

If so...
Do you center your lines on pencil strokes and then adjust the stroke?
Do you zoom in and create closed paths based on the pencil strokes?

Before I had a tablet I would lay the ink with the bezier tool using just the stroke setting (no fill), then I would convert the stroke to path and tweak the object as required.

For areas like hair, to what extent do you ink it, and to what extent do you let color take over?

Look at how other artists do it and choose which suits you best.