Warning, what follows is a bunch of app detail that may cause your eyes to glaze over if you aren't familiar with the process of digital inking on a touch screen. So I'll put the pictures first and the yak-yak for later.
I've been doing the pencils in SketchBook Pro, printing it out at 11 x 17, inking by brush, and scanning back to Photoshop. But Procreate DOES have the brushes I was hoping to get in SketchBook! When I first tried it, it didn't seem to have it, but a friend of mine Tweeted about it, and I tried it again... must have been some updates came through!
The Procreate files can be exported as Photoshop files or JPEGs as well, and the ink layer transfers/saves as ink pixels only, rather than a white "page" with inks, so it's instantly ready for coloring in the digital, which is something else I couldn't make happen in SketchBook. ALSO, Procreate saves files MUCH better. I can switch between apps without losing data, which Sketchbook does ALL THE TIME. AND you can stack or rearrange or rename the thumbnails in the Gallery. Another MAJOR plus.
Now I'll be 100% digital.
Sometimes I feel like I'm cheating, but the fact is my 48 year-old hand-eye coordination ain't what it used to be when I was 23. The app gives my brush line the steadiness I may never be able to reproduce again naturally. And I can apply the stylus at a better angle and more confidence when I'm going in. With the brush, there's always the trepidation of failure, dripped ink, shaky hand, etc. With ProCreate, it's as natural, correctible, and anxiety-free as pencilling.
And I do still feel that it's 96% my ability on the "page." It's me knowing where to lay the lines, me choosing where the heavier line should be, me making the proportion, placement, poses, everything. Only now when I do it, I don't ruin my efforts with a janky ink line.
I'm telling you, I could only be happier if one of these characters came to life and married me.
