I've been wondering, since I use a micron myself, about why my inking was so bad... It's not really a matter of practice, but the size. I use .01 to archive my art, and I really am starting to think it is too thin for me. I wish I could get a pen that had the precision of a ball-point pen, but had the great qualities of a felt-tip pen. :/ So my question is, should I look for a different type of pen, or go with a bigger size of pen? Possibly .03? I used a .05, makes my work look sloppy. I'm asking this because I have recently done a piece of work, and inked it in. Not only was the piece of work fairly bad, the inking came out horribly. So I have to redo the whole picture on Photoshop with the vectoring tool. (And I really dislike the vectoring tool.) :( Help an artist in need! ;0

I use Zig Millenium pens. I bought them at Wall-mart for around seven bucks (I think) and they came in a set of five ( .2 mm, .25 mm, .35 mm, .45 mm, and .65 mm tips). So far they've worked better than my set of microns. I don't know if they're what you're after, but they're nice pens and could be worth a shot.

I think I'll look into those, Icy. Zio, glad that you asked. :] I actually use Microns myself, and also excel at le traditional wayz of Inking no Jutsu. XD I know where you're coming from... I really didn't like Microns myself at first, because they were just felt-tip. I used to use Pilot P-700's and Pilot P-500's. They're gel ball-points and are excellent, if I say so myself... however, that's just about the only sizes they come in, and they can be rather thick sometimes. ^^; I got into using Microns because I actually practiced with them (I didn't like them because I thought they made my lines look all fuzzy... :[ ) and it turns out they're awesome to use because they vary in sizes. Any way, the question at hand~! XD You could look for a different type pen... I think variety is really awesome, because sometimes I still use my P 7/5-00's. .01 is a bit thin, though... Usually I recommend using the smallest size Micron for major details - even maybe for hair. :] I wouldn't necessarily use it was line art as a whole. And anyway, using multiple sizes at once on one inked pic is really helpful - because having to ink a picture with just one size is a bit flat and boring. ^^; Usually for my inks, I just stick with .005, .02, .05, and a brush pen (which is only in one size, sadly... XD) And for more of a bold outlining I use the brush pen or a Pilot. :] As for as Icy's recommendation goes, I dunno about that one. XD If she says they're good, I even want to look them up! Like I said, variety = AWESOME...POSSUM... >.>; But, ah... sorry for the novel. ^^; There's my two cents.

In terms of inking, I've always found Microns to be good for smaller details. I use Staedtler pens, and they've never given me a problem. As for size, for regular lines, I use a 0.2 Staedtler pen. 0.3 is a good size when you're using Microns, but I'd suggest getting another set of thicker pens. Check out [url=http://www.staedtler.com]Staedtler.com[/url]. Hope that helps. ^_^ Oh, and Sharpies if used correctly work great for thick lines. :D

I used to use Microns, but i found I broke the tips or frayed them very easily and I finally gave up on them.. i moved onto Staedtler pens (specifically the ones made for graphical design) and I liked those much better.. you still get the quality but its a bit sturdier pen and comes in just as many sizes