When you hear that phrase, if you're a digital artist, the first thing that comes to mind is a setting in your favorite digital-art application, probably Paint Tool SAI as it's best-known for this, or PhotoShop with the LazyNezumi plugin. (Or Clip Studio Paint, as this YouTuber attests...). But this is neither of these.

I got the idea to take this photo while inking a conbadge for  lei-lani during FursonaCon, the completed version of which you can see here. Those of us who do digital art are aware of brush stabilizers. Paint Tool SAI is best known for them, and it's an especially helpful tool when inking penciled works.

In this case however, the inking is via a brush dipped in India ink, and instead of a digital canvas, it's a sheet of bristol. The stablilzer? those long bristles of the brush I'm using to ink the image. Yes, I'm one of those deranged holdouts who still ink with a brush and bottle of India ink (when I'm not doing that part digitally). Mostly I do this at cons, since it produces very smooth curves versus rapidiograph or Micron-style felt-tip pens--at least in my experience. This close-up view of the brush's contact with the paper illustrates another trait this method has--it absorbs minor stray motions in your hand, whether induced by your own muscles, or by someone vigorously erasing something at the other end of your artist-alley table :D. As long as you have the bristles trailing the body of the brush and sticking to the paper, the lines and curves will come out smooth.

Brush inks on penciled bristol. Camera: Canon PowerShot SX720IS