The Beavers #4

The Beavers (1976)

by Dave Sim

(Click image to enlarge)

DAVE SIM:
(from Cerebus Archive #2, June 2009)

...On the fourth strip the problems are still persisting. I'm still trying for the classic pen line / brush line look but it's still too dark, especially for a theoretically "gorgeous day". I'm trying to be such a purest that I've eliminated the dot tone from Red's sweater in favour of a horizontal stripe.

(It's really an important step... ultimately I would decide that the visual impact of tone against pen lines was more important than "pen line purism"... and that would evolve... eventually... into the decision to do a completely grey tone character against pen line backgrounds: Cerebus)

But for the moment Gene [Day]'s offer to ink the strips was a godsend: all the inking questions would be up to him. I already had made all the writing, design and pencilling choices.