Well i can only speak to my own preferences, but those prefs are based on 11
years exp in the Comics industry and the animation biz.
When i work on comics i usually start out working in a soft led pencil on a
sheet of 11 x 17 cartridge paper, i work very rough, fast and dirty and i
don't stop to erase unless the lead build up requires it. At this point im
concerned only with the form and composition, blocking out the page and
refining the larger story telling issues, and getting the structures down
firm.
Once i'm happy with this stage i tape the roughs to the back of a sheet of
Strathmore Bristol smooth finished 100 lb, and i move the operation to the
light table. I've tried a lot of non repo pencils and nothing is as good, or
in my opinion worth bothering with other than Sanford Col-erase Pencils,
Light Blue (20068) or Non-photo Blue (20028). The non-photo may be to light
for your liking - the Light Blue should work fine so long as you don't lay
it on to hard, generally you wont be bothering to erase the blue, that's wy
you use it, it dose'nt reproduce, but if you need to that is why you want to
use this brand, aside from going down like butter, it also completely
erases.
So, we have the roughs, taped to the back of the bristol, on a light box. if
you don't have one, GET ONE! if you want to work in illustration or
animation or comics YOU WILL NEED ONE.
For the time being you can improvise with a cheep 13x24inch sheet of
Plexiglas, a small fluorescent lamp (you can find them at most hardware
stores), and a good large cardboard box - at least 17x22 inches and 6inches
deep. Cut a 11x17inch hole in one side of the box (make sure the box is big
enough to do this) tape the plexi glass over the whole and put the
fluorescent lamp inside and wala! a light box.
Now you pull the lines out you plan to ink by tracing them in the blue
pencil on the light box. When you finnish you can move back to your regular
desk and start inking. It works like a dream and its fast. I also find that
my work is more fluid, capturing some of the energy that went into the
roughs. And you dont need to worry about hard or soft or whatever pencils.
