If you were insane you could use black paper and white ink.

Back when I did my stint on Empires and the Revar artwork, both of which required far too much solid black, the ink of choice was a thinned black gouache rather than marker or india. Just something you might want to try out. There are a few bottle inks which dry to a deep, rough-surfaced (so you can work over them) black, but I can't remember the name of the stuff.

*Tosses furrified Salvage-One based script away.* Salvage missions were always the fun stuff for SF rpgs. Never knew what you'd find...Or who else would want it, and how badly.

I've had SCAVENGERS on the back plate for years but knew I couldn't do it AND ROOMIES at the same time. Now that the first strip is over, now I cna play with space ships. :)

Gauche is an option, I suppose. I'll not rule it out.

Yeah. All of us have stuff on our back plates. I've had stuff on the back plate since 1982.

Did you ever see Salvage One? XD

I use Pilot Extra Fine pens. Its cheap, but works. I always found that it works evenly, but bleeds through to the page behind it. Never scanned any so I don't know how well they end up, but it is a thought.

For large areas of black, I don't use ink, I use paint. Generally black airbrush opaque works the best, or you can also just use any solid black craft paint.

You can also try messing around with the black areas in Photoshop by selecting them and darkening the levels.

I don't want to use Photoshop to 'fix' things in this comic. I want to keep it as organic as possible. Part of the blotchy look gives it a warmer feel to it I feel.

Except space is *not* warm, and unless you're trying to suggest a nebula, the blotchy look just looks... blotchy. (IMHO)

But otherwise, this is looking great so far.

Are you saying that it's cold out there with no kind of atmosphere?


Hmm, now if only there were some goldfish shoals, nibbling at my toes.

I want to be shipwrecked and comatose, drinking fresh mango juice.

So this is a comic that's just starting out? Awesome! Now I have the urge to look at the first few strips and keep up!

If you need something darker why not just use photoshop to get it the way you want it to look after the fact?

yay i like this one

Higgins Black Magic. Bestest stuff there is.

Barring that, any decent quality India ink will give you good results. Use a flat brush to cover the larger areas.

Got Higgins Black Magic now, but it seems too thin and watery to me. I'll have to check out Daniel Smiths this week and see what they have in stock.

If it is too thin for you, then leave the cap off the bottle for a day or two and let it dry out a bit -- but not too much! My "Regime Change" poster, which you may have seen at MFF or FC, is a hand-colored print and I used Black Magic on most of the black areas (especially on the cat). Otherwise, as I noted above, Higgins also makes a regular India ink which might be a little thicker.

Also, what kind of board or paper do you use? That can also make a difference.

And, as Marc Schirmeister (a/k/a "Schirm") pointed out to me many years ago, India ink is murder on brushes. So keep 'em clean, but expect to replace them fairly regularly.

I've just remembered I saw a space-furry comic years ago from you(I believe). I remember a roo-shaped Enterprise parody with poch-cargo and a bunch of federation kangaroos... Am I right?

ROOSPACE, a silly parody that was short lived.

It's still exist on the net? Could I get a link?