Comic Book Inking Tips-Making Kirby Krackle

A new video series by Comic Book artist Karl Altstaetter (Artist Deity, Bloodstrike, Q-Unit) In the fifth episode Karl shows his thought process behind creating Jack Kirby's infamous Kirby Krackle!
Thank for checking out my latest video. I'm a huge fan of Jack Kirby. Kirby's iconic energy has become a mainstay in comics and I wanted to give my thought process on how it works. There are lots of different ways to do it this is just my personal favorite. I hope you enjoyed the video. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions.
-Karl
As always you can find more of my art here: komickarl.deviantart.com/
and here are some examples of places I've used Kirby Krackle in my own work.
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[@ShinoSarna]

What I love about this technique is the negative space created by the crackle kind of looks like a complex lightning or radiation stream - with very little actual effort in drawing it. By semi-randomly throwing in some dots, you get a very complex and cool shape. Kirby truly was a genius.

[@KomicKarl]

shinobody he was a master of making something look epic and grabs with little effort. Truly the king.

[@standepain]

I was always told that he used the rubber end of an eyedropper. I've used it myself on several pics. the rubber end lets change the size of the dot as it as the rubber flexes. You don need a bottle of some dense india ink but it works like a charm and saves you on the most important thing...time. I learned this from Tex Blaisdell, who inked just about every book out there.

[@misterballista]

Great Krackle! The best term I've heard used to explain how compelling Kirby's art was, despite its ignoring many key facets of realistic representation, is "surreal dynamism".

[@ChrisBarnesTheMightyChrispy]

I like that this video actually taught a technique. I'm trying to get better at inking things, but so many videos just show the process not the thinking that goes behind them and the why's. I know how to move a pen or brush around, I want to know why I'm doing a certain thing a certain way so that I learn something, not just copying it Thanks!

[@anne-ex4bt]

if you guys want to go to the place where he started drawing go to 2:10

[@Quixotic1018]

I think this is the first video that actually showed the process. Thanks for that!

[@Yamanosei95]

I love how Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes put Kirby crackle

[@LibrarianDraws]

THANK YOU!!! I've been trying to wrap my head around this effect and this explains it really well!

[@brenrich3250]

currently trying to analyse kirbys style for a art challenge i'm doing, thank you so much for this video. even though its a bit dated now. hope your still doing your thang!

[@TheEye22]

Kirby actually used a circle template and went crazy hog wild on a page. I saw a Silver Surfer page that was obviously templated. Wild

[@williamjosephdunn5879]

Back in my comic book days, one of my coworkers used a Q-Tip and India ink to make Kirby crackle. The Q-Tips have enough give so that could control the size of the dots by the pressure you apply.

[@KomicKarl]

That’s a cool technique.

[@Illustrantology]

When I was a child I used to draw the kirby dots je ....

[@jamesmason7979]

Excellent tutorial. I've been trying to learn how to do the Kirby Krackle for months, and I think I'm finally getting it.

[@davidmedina371]

I love it Karl

[@skip5524]

wow a unique style!! I liked, more of this

[@smackroscoe]

Wonderful explanation and thanks for sharing your wisdom.

[@MuscadineDreams]

That's actually really helpful! Thank you so much for posting this.

[@abmangaka]

That's really clever! I do kinda want Kirby Krackle to be a snack of some kind :P

[@agirlyman]

Awesome stuffs man!

[@kennethmeyer6866]

For years Kirby Krackle has plauged me , but this makes so much sense !!!!

[@KomicKarl]

Glad it helped.

[@TheEye22]

@KomicKarl ALL HAIL THE KING!!!

[@corvisthejoker]

@KomicKarl it was a recommend cover up doc martins bleed proof white and the guy at Blick art supplies suggested this white pen it was fat like a marker it had a fine point and a fat point and it just bleed the ink and created gray no white. this was after a few days of letting the black ink dry.

[@tcoreyb]

mmmm.. Kirby Krackle Balls... they're inky and astonishing!

[@shardullokapure2167]

The sound of sketch pens😌

[@KomicKarl]

@Cthulhuized Yep. Pretty much all the major Inkers of this era do. It creates awesome effects. I use Pro White for corrections and brush work but for creating textures and rough random lines the white out pen is great.

[@davesutherland9175]

Great tutorial!!

[@KomicKarl]

It's a Pentel Presto Jumbo white out pen. You should be able to get it at any office supply or art store.

[@PigmangaStudios]

This was very helpful.

[@MatthewFordAnimations]

HAHA you use a white out pen?! that's awesome! XD always snobed them!

[@KomicKarl]

I'll look into doing that.

[@cha5]

I've always connected the Kirby Krackle with atomic fission somehow, but on a massive cosmic scale. Does that make sense?

[@KomicKarl]

@abmangaka Rice Krispies really needs to work out a deal with the Kirby estate and make some sort of treat out of it. Imagine how many they would sell at comic shows.

[@Youngstaavery]

great video, i'll be honest, i didn't think it was gonna turn out as good as it did :):)

[@Scottyno101]

Nice!

[@KomicKarl]

@TheEye22 That is very interesting. That's why he is the king he put the work in to make it perfect.

[@KomicKarl]

@corvisthejoker I use a Presto Pentel jumbo correction pen. I've never had a problem with it. I also use Pro White paint for doing effects in white as well as stars and splatter. They both work awesome for me. I'd also be careful with the black ink you use. Make sure it's water proof India ink. I use a combo of Pelican and Higgins inks. I sometimes use the Koh I Noor ink. I hope that helps.

[@andarks]

MAnga artists also use white out, It;s really useful. BTW I liked this video :D

[@mayam6196]

Yea Kirby Knackle n Pop

[@KomicKarl]

@corvisthejoker What kind of pen are you using?

[@corvisthejoker]

@KomicKarl the ink that i use is speedball superblack india ink and i got it because it was a big bottle figured it was a good deal, but it could have been the ink i also have sumi black ink but it wasn't waterproof and that was a mess in a half figuring out why the black kept bleeding through the white when the white cover up didn't turn blue after it dried. any advice on coloring, should i color my comic digitally via photoshop knowing me i would have to redraw the whole page if i messed up

[@corvisthejoker]

what is the name of the white out pen that you used. i can never find a great cover up they always dry with a hint of blue over the black.

[@DashCourageous]

Did you have an indie hero-scifi book in the nineties, and did some work for extreme comics that was apart of Image?

[@KomicKarl]

Yes. I worked on the book Bloodstrike and I self published by own comics for 8 years. Including the book Deity.

[@lilmorty99]

kirby krackle sounds like a candy bar... now i am hungry.

[@TheEye22]

@KomicKarl FW Artist Acrylic white-out ink, Oentel Presto white ink pen and Pen-touch white ink pens do NOT work. Marvel artists used to use something called SNO-PAKE. That is no longer available. When do you buy Pro White? Thanks for all you info!

[@SeanAhrendt]

Hey Karl any new videos in the works?

[@PocketCraft]

thanks bud

[@jmen4ever257]

Not sure exactly when Kirby started to use the krackle effect, but,from the late 60s welli nto the 70s, Steranko,Smith,Busema,all used the krackle effect.Marvels greatly gotten away from the style Kirby laid out.

[@KomicKarl]

It does

[@beetleajax12]

Love it when he says crackle

[@Artisanprophet]

@cobrakryssing ...if they where invented and had a better lasting ink.. i bet he would...but i think kirby was a brush and quill and a fountain pen man....

[@cobrakryssing]

lol...did Kirby use a sharpie?!

[@DashCourageous]

I knew it. I recognize the name.

[@Hum0ng0us]

Great video! But since you asked for suggestions, can you please make a full tutorial on how to use markers to ink comic art? I can't use brushes, they get really shitty and...sloppy in the brush fibers almost right away, so I use markers, but I'm having trouble doing that since I'm really very shitty at inking and have NO idea of what I'm doing. Thanks m'man!!

[@lorensanders8501]

If you wanted to learn to ink using markers, you should study Neal Adams, it's pretty much all he used.

[@XAVIERCUERVO]

They call it the kirby dots

[@nirindahouse]

huge ... i have to do that for my artwork on david bowie ;-)

[@mochuman]

watch this with subtitles, it gets really hilarious

[@larryguidry2856]

Thanks for posting this, off tomorrow t get white-out pens. Now what possesses 35 idiots to dislike this tutorial???

[@KomicKarl]

I often wonder that? Have fun!

[@pierrelouis8852]

Aahhhhh

[@zipahead]

too messy, Joe Sinott used a template to make the dots

[@eugenegallagher]

You sound like Cleveland from Family Guy! Awesome work though!

[@ElegeantFencer]

@hyperchimp456 hell yes he's wrong.

[@KomicKarl]

@cobrakryssing If he did it was created by The New Gods. lol!

[@furyberserk]

A bunch of noob shitty squiggles... impressed me!? Strange how good this picture actually is. Never using whiteout though.

[@GoddaM777]

Eisner>Kirby- End Discussion :}

[@KomicKarl]

O ye of little faith..lol

[@gobSIDES]

@hyperchimp456 That sucks to have an art teacher who has a tunneled vision of art. Both my teachers were always supportive of the styles I liked.

[@Foxxy._.the_therian]

Stop saying Kirby Krackle!!

[@soltho]

over explained... you take to much time getting to the demo... I don't want to know about sharpie I want to know how you draw