Hey Silverline Family, I reached out to one of our outstanding artists and asked him to tell us a little bit about his process. Luis Czerniawski is a prolific artist that has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to both penciling and inking. In this month’s entry, Luis talks about his thought process when he first approaches the shadows on a page.

Why I Keep Coming Back to the Shadows

Hello everyone, my friends at Silverline have asked me if I could tell you a little about the process of how I work, so here we are. I hope you don’t get bored.

When I start a job, I always try to imagine what the inking will look like in the end, since it is the part that I like to do the most. That is why sometimes it varies a lot from job to job or sometimes even in the same book.

I always start by tearing through the script and imagining what would be the best way to show each panel. When I start, I never make a very finished pencil. I always sketch and start to shape it with the ink. It’s a habit that I have.

However, I always recommend making a good and neat page in pencil first. Here I show a very old page where I made the pencils in detail and the inks were all worked in brush:

My favorite tool is the brush, it can be Winsor and Newton, Pentel etc, or any good round tip brush. I’m currently using markers from size 04 to 07 and I make shadows with the brush.

Here below we can see two examples not so old from a couple of covers where the shadows are loosely made and are more impressionistic.

As you can see, sometimes I use a dry brush and I usually finish the job with some washes. I love the grey tones. I think it’s part of my nature and I can’t stop doing it.

I‘ve done work for different companies and they were not all were looking for the same style. Maybe that’s why my approach has changed throughout the years, or maybe one morning I woke up with a clean line and the other week a dark line. 

It must be my karma, but I always go back to the shadows since it is beautiful to see how those shapes appear with the brush. Some production companies hire me simply to correct and beautify their work with these kinds of details.

Some ask me why I don’t draw and ink digitally, which is much faster etc. I have the tools and I’ve tried it, but the truth is that I like the traditional method and in some cases, it comes out faster by hand than by machine. It is beautiful to see and feel when I apply the ink on the paper and, obviously, while listening to good background music.

Here I show you some panels made in different ways and styles, almost all made with markers and only the black ones made with brushes, such as wrinkles, funds, etc.

Well, I hope you are not bored by the many examples I brought to show you. 

I walked this whole road alone. I learned on the go, and this is how I learned.

I learned by ruining hundreds of drawings but it helped me to understand a lot of things. Experiment with different tools and inks, and never stop looking at art. We’ll always be learning or discovering something new.

Now it is easier since they have everything on the internet but still, you have to sit down and stain your hands. So, draw, draw, and draw, don’t get mad, and be very patient. I still keep doing it and am learning every day.

I would like to continue saying many things and giving many tips to help you all. Maybe this little note can be the first part, and I’ll do another. Everything will depend on you and conquering your doubts. If I can help, I’ll be here.

Below are some other inking examples: