Inker & Hamilton
The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional American comic book production. In his seminal work Understanding Comics, cartoonist and theorist Scott McCloud categorizes the final execution of lines -- traditionally the domain of the inker -- as the "Surface" stage of the six-step creative process, noting that this is the aspect of the work most immediately apparent to the viewer.
After the penciller creates a drawing with pencil, the inker interprets this drawing by outlining and embellishing it with a pencil, an ink pen or a brush with black ink. Inking was necessary in the traditional printing process as presses could not reproduce pencilled drawings. Another specialist, the letterer, handles the "inking" of text and word balloons, while the colorist applies color to the final inked art submitted by the inker.
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