Original Art Question

[Zhuge1]

I've seen several listings on eBay for original artwork that lists the art as being "inks over bluelines"

Out of curiosity -- what exactly does that mean? Is it the case that the "bluelines" are basically a copy of the pencil art that the inker works with? Or something else (I've seen where some pencilers primarily work with blue pencil). I'm assuming so as I've gotten some original art that's only the pencils (with no inks). If it is a copy, what process do they use to translate the pencil art into bluelines?

Here are some examples, for instance:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PROTECTORS-5-p ... SwtnpXnqvN" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Marvel-Zombies ... Swa81XSNmc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Shadowman-End- ... SwExlaUCUS" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[magnusr]

I don't think there's an exact answer. The inexact answer is that the pencil art is in blue, which will not reproduce in the printing process, and thus does not need to be erased. Basically you can see some of the pencil work behind the ink work. However, what is not certain is whether the blue pencil work is original or a copy.

/Magnus

[paradise]

A lot of artists, specially older ones, liked to draw pencils in blue ink because they did not need to clean them up as much and even then, they were lighter and cleaned up easier. Barry Windsor Smith is one example:

[Zhuge1]

A lot of artists, specially older ones, liked to draw pencils in blue ink because they did not need to clean them up as much and even then, they were lighter and cleaned up easier. Barry Windsor Smith is one example:

So it sounds like the bluelines aren't a copy of the pencils in that case? But rather, the inker is working with the original "pencils" (done in blue ink/pencil) when they ink the work?

What about situations where the original pencil art is still available? For example, I've seen several pages from Butch Guice that are available and are just the pencils (example: http://cdn.davekarlenoriginalart.com/im ... 001005.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). For those pages, is the inking done on a copy (or digitally)?

[paradise]

Yes I am not a fan of it but yes, this days artists and inkers sell art by photo copying pencils, and inking over those copies. There should not be 2 copies of the same page.

In my BWS example, it's different because this piece was never inked. BWS did layouts in blue line and then other artists used his guides to draw their own covers. He was basically the art director.

[Zhuge1]

When photocopies are done, are they in blue ink? Are they somehow printed on typical boards? Or something else?

[Zhuge1]

When photocopies are done, are they in blue ink? Are they somehow printed on typical boards? Or something else?

If anyone else is interested, I did find this link that basically answers the questions I asked above:

https://comicbookinvest.com/2016/12/16/ ... cting-102/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[sonicdan]

Here's a piece I wrote for All-Comic that discusses some of the different techniques.

http://all-comic.com/2016/portfolio-rev ... echniques/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;