INKING JIM LEE's INFINITE CRISIS #6 COVER

**MattBrady** · 03-25-2006, 01:43 PM

Newsarama’s friends over at the Sun of Gelatometti blog are once again giving readers insight into the artistic process… this time inker Sandra Hope is breaking down her inking process over Jim Lee’s pencils of his cover to Infinite Crisis #6.

The following five different stages of the cover, along with Hope’s explanation of her process…

1.) “The first thing I do when I get a penciled page is take a few minutes and look at everything on it. Before I put a dot of ink on the page, I have to be sure that I know everything that's happening. What's going on with the figure, the foreground, the middle ground and the background?

”What is everything made of? What's flowing across his boots? Is it dust? Light? Smoke? Energy from the ground? How do I ink the busy background and foreground to support the figure, rather than drowning it out?

”What line weights do I want to use on Wonder Woman's head piece and the Bat-thingie to catch the viewer's eyes without making these objects obnoxiously bold?

”These are just a few of the things that must be considered to make sure everything works together once it's all inked. “

2.) “Before I start inks, I always make a copy of the pencils for reference. Soft leads will fade very quickly and it's usually very difficult to read.

”I like to ink faces first so the character's expression is as true to the pencils as possible. After that, I'm all over the page. I don't have any specific order or direction in which I'll ink. On Jim, I like to use brush on most of it including backgrounds. Before I fill in the large black areas, I will use a quill and mark all the scratch marks, folds in clothing, or anything else that I want to come back and pop out with white at the end.“

3.) “At this point, it looks like Superboy is almost finished, but he's not. I've only inked the contour lines and filled in the large black areas. The only area I've rendered is his face and hair. Most of both are done with brush and a little quill for a few of the hair strands. I've also inked the frayed, torn areas of his cape in quill. “

4.) “With Jim's pencils, the real hard work begins when you start on the rendering. Mr. Williams makes it look so easy, but it's not. There are sometimes three or four sets of line renderings flowing into one another, so it's REALLY hard to get them to work together without making it look like a total mess.

”It's kind of a fun and challenging little game. This phase also shows some dry brush on the Bat, Wonder Woman's head piece and under Superboy's cape. Dry brush is a little difficult for me because I don't do it very often, but it is fun. “

5.) “Finished! Yay!

”I finish off the background behind Superboy with brush and a lighter line weight. The foreground, at his feet, is finished with a heavier line weight and more blacks.

”The final step is to come back with white and pop out a few more things. For instance, the gleam in his eye and the shine on his armor are done with some clean white feather lines mixed slightly with dry brush whites to soften it up.

”I finish off the whole thing by throwing down some white cracks and dings in his suit, Wonder Woman's head piece, Green Lantern's lantern, etc...

”DONE - Whew, now I need a nap!

”NOTE: Make sure you have someone standing by to yank the piece away because there's ALWAYS a little more tweaking you can do, especially on Jim. “

seethruhero · 03-25-2006, 01:58 PM

wow. just wow. That looks incredible. I CANNOT WAIT.

dairylives · 03-25-2006, 02:02 PM

TAN-FASTIC

algertman · 03-25-2006, 02:04 PM

ass whoopins for everyone

Dood Lee · 03-25-2006, 02:05 PM

Absolutely amazing.

WiseManShazam · 03-25-2006, 02:06 PM

Hotness

JT Skywalker · 03-25-2006, 02:21 PM

Best Infinite Crisis cover yet. Bar none.

~JTS

virginsinner · 03-25-2006, 02:23 PM

I haven't been a fan of Jim Lee's art style after the crap-o-rama that is All-Star Batman. But his Infinite Crisis covers totally make up for ASBAR and the early trannies-in-spandex Wildcats days. They're compelling and they move the story forward in some askew way.

And who would have thought Superboy in underwear by Ikea would look so damn creppy!

SirChasm · 03-25-2006, 02:25 PM

>obligatory gushing comment<

Heh this looks nice though, I like the Death of Superman cape in the background... nice touch.

rrcivil · 03-25-2006, 02:26 PM

So looking at the cover what can we find here...

- Superman's cape
- a Batarang
- WW's tiara
- A Green Lantern power battery

Anyone spot anything else?

nafannataz · 03-25-2006, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rrcivil
So looking at the cover what can we find here...

- Superman's cape
- a Batarang
- WW's tiara
- A Green Lantern power battery

Anyone spot anything else?

I think he is holding Wonder Girl's lasso

Doblecorso · 03-25-2006, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rrcivil
So looking at the cover what can we find here...

- Superman's cape
- a Batarang
- WW's tiara
- A Green Lantern power battery

Anyone spot anything else?

Left Eye of Cable. Or Longhshot...or even Shatterstar...that's truly creepy...could be Superboy the third summers brother?...ummm...i think so.....

Bwahahahahha!!!!!

ejulp · 03-25-2006, 02:38 PM

is there a database somewhere that shows exactly what most inkers use,
as far as supplies go?

BlueThunderArmy · 03-25-2006, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ejulp
is there a database somewhere that shows exactly what most inkers use,
as far as supplies go?

"When inking Jim Lee, I use a 20¢ Bic pen..."

Love that cover! Fun article.

Don Mega · 03-25-2006, 02:51 PM

Looks VERY good.

Wow, who´d ever thought that a Superboy would ever be the "Star" of an important event.

MaSaKaRi · 03-25-2006, 02:53 PM

Absolutely awesome work. This just goes to show how inkers are so underrated, they matter a lot, and are definitely highly talented artists.

DWEarhart · 03-25-2006, 02:54 PM

Could DC use this for the cover of their 2nd print instead of just the pencils only version.

Please....

astronato · 03-25-2006, 02:58 PM

Great cover.

Superboy Prime is badass. I would buy a Superboy Prime ongoing.

I can't say I like everything about Infinite Crisis or the new DCU. I don't. Didn't care for portraying Earth 2 Superman as such a sad putz but I do like Superboy Prime. I hope he desn't go back into mothballs for another 20 years.

Send him (and Alex Luthor) to the future in the Legion of Superheroes book.

Punchy · 03-25-2006, 03:04 PM

Not half bad.

I prefer Perez's covers though.

Regulator · 03-25-2006, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by astronato
Great cover.

Superboy Prime is badass. I would buy a Superboy Prime ongoing.

I can't say I like everything about Infinite Crisis or the new DCU. I don't. Didn't care for portraying Earth 2 Superman as such a sad putz but I do like Superboy Prime. I hope he desn't go back into mothballs for another 20 years.

Send him (and Alex Luthor) to the future in the Legion of Superheroes book.

I'd pass on a book about a whiny brat, even if he's the most powerful being in the universe.

mavinga · 03-25-2006, 03:19 PM

This was pretty neat toa follow as it happened.

tyopot · 03-25-2006, 03:24 PM

i wish there were more articles like these! its great and informative!

now u know how important an inker is! they don't just trace !!!

try it ! its very hard to do !

blankpoint · 03-25-2006, 03:24 PM

Great cover. I'm hoping they keep the Lee cover for #7, as well as the complete version of Perez's cover, completely secret until the issue hits stands.

Rudy913 · 03-25-2006, 03:52 PM

With all due respect to "Mr. Williams", I'd have to say that Sandra Hope has done a superior inking job on Jim's pencils throughout this series. I don't think his stuff has ever looked better and that's a testament to Sandra's talents. She's definitely no tracer.

pato · 03-25-2006, 04:06 PM

That looks awesome, SBP is going to kick some ass!!!