Calla of the Sea complete!

Here is the finished art for Calla of the Sea, inked and lettered.

These pages I inked with a Raphael 8404, which is a change from the usual Winsor Newton's I use. Honestly, it feels like a perfect brush, I had all the control over it I could ask for and it felt more sturdy in my hand. I still like and will use the Winsor Newtons but I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked the Raphael.

My inking strategy this time around is trying to focus on bounding lines and keeping the art unified. I love the use of bounding lines in Wade Von Grawbadger's inks so I was trying to channel him while at the same time trying to keep things that I like in there. Overall I think its a success, concentrating on an area and the lines within it really helps me stay focused on line weight and how that influences the panel. I was still able to do wispy lines, but they feel more controlled now, so I'm happy with that. I also tried to break away from as much of the dark noir shadows that I've tended to use a lot. My inking professor Shawn Crystal recommended I try to find a balance of their use, so here is my first attempt at it.

I'm happy enough with these pages, which I'm sure will change in a few days. But I did my best on them, so it's time to move on to other things. Next time I want to try inking while channeling the inks of Chris Samnee who is an artist I very much so admire. I played a little bit with it in the bodies in the last page of Calla. I think that's a good natural step, as I've spend the last year getting better at drawing the figure, so now I can start focusing on good use of contrast on them.

Thanks for reading and I hope Calla was enjoyable! It's certainly a step up from the pages I was working on a year ago.