I primarily use the larger-shaped patterns
in the main objects in my art, especially in
characters’ clothing or key objects that I want
to emphasise to the viewer. When painting skin
tones, I use half-tone patterns or detailed line
patterns. Once I applied a distinctive pattern on
a character’s skin and received feedback that they
looked ill! I usually apply line patterns or small
and dense shape patterns to the background or
less-important objects in the scene.
Here’s how to alter the size of patterns: first,
open the Brush Preset from Windows. Next, go
to Texture and then adjust the size from the Scale
slider. Note that Kyle Webster Brush Pack is now
offered free to Adobe Creative Clouds users.BLACK/WHITE AND COLOURING
Contrast plays a key role in black and white
comics. It helps to direct the eye, placing the
importance of one object over others. Comic
artists achieve this by varying the weight and
design of their ink work. An image’s focal points
usually feature a strong contrast between blacks
and whites, whereas areas of lesser importance
can be pushed back by reducing the contrast,
using half-tone screen tones.
However, when the contrast of black and white
is applied as repetitive patterns or shapes, it can
become a distinctive detail without breaking the
flow and rhythm of the image. I was impressed
by the bold, black ink work in black and white
drawings, especially the abstract black inkings in
the negative space from Osamu Tezuka’s comics,
and the characters dramatically portrayed in solid
black backgrounds from Frank Miller’s comic art.
I wanted to make use of solid black in my
illustration work, too, so I tried to put a lot of
black immediately after the line-work phase.
Sometimes I put black on shadows, sometimes in
the sky and on floors, and sometimes in random
empty spaces to add a sense of the abstract. I
soon discovered that assigning black from the
beginning not only gives me a sense of weight
before I finish the rest of the artwork, but also
helps me fill out the remaining medium tones
when I begin colouring.
Finally, I tried what I call “negative colouring”:
filling up the canvas with black or dark colours
first and then colouring with brighter or lighter
colours. My series of illustrations NYC Streets
and Urban Landscapes 3 were coloured this way. I
used black fills as a base colour and added yellows,
reds, blues and greens in sections. This gave my
cityscapes a dusky and dim feeling, while also
emphasising the city’s lighting and neon signs.
The techniques used in comics and illustration
look similar, but these are different fields. Studying
their differences and the methods used to achieve
their signature looks enabled me to establish my
style and broaden my body of work. Just as I was
influenced by comics, I hope you’ll also be able to
take inspiration from new styles of art, and use
this knowledge in your own illustration work.“AN IMAGE’S FOCAL
POINTS USUALLY
FEATURE A
STRONG CONTRAST
BETWEEN BLACKS
AND WHITES”
BELOW
Most of my artworks
have a substantial
amount of black
in them.RIGHT
This drawing was
coloured with what
I call “negative
colouring” methods.ARTIST INSIGHT