When she started her career, comic books artists drew entirely by hand. There were no Photoshop or Cintiq available. Only ink and paper. If you made a mistake, you re-started all over again.

Do you remember the old classic Disney movies like Bambi and Snow White? Disney animators drew and painted each single frame by hand.

I have hard time to put pencil and paper away and replace them with the computer too. When I was going to the Art School back in Italy, Photoshop was quite new and only big graphic designer agencies used it. We learnt to draw everything by hand, even lettering. I remember this big Letraset fonts book making copies of the selected font and draw it free hand.
Now, it's enough go on Dafont.com and download as much fonts as you like. Thanks God!

Everything changed completely in the last decades. Digital art made enormous steps and its related products are getting more affordable and friendly user. That made it easier for younger artists quickly adapt and learn new techniques with technology.

Youtube changed the game too. There are plenty of tutorials for every subject. And most of them are really good. Back in my days, you had to take a course or go to the library.

A Generation thing might be one of the reason why older Japanese artist still use pen nibs. Maybe, but it's not completely true. Some young Japanese artists use pen nibs to draw their manga too.

Some may say that mangaka have assistants that help them while American and European comic book artists work by themselves so mangaka have more time to apply in drawings with traditional art materials than western artists.
I would say no. This is not a good reason. It is true that mangaka have assistants but that's because in Japan publishing deadlines are insane.

Manga are published weekly in magazines. When a manga gets popularity, the publisher publishes the story in volumes for selling all over Japan and other countries.

In Japan, every mangaka assistant has a specific role. Some assistants may draw just the backgrounds for a page another one may just ink the page and so on. It is practically impossible to finish a chapter ready for publishing by yourself in a week. I can’t even finish a page in a week!

So, why some Japanese artists still use pen nibs?

The true is that drawing with a pencil and inking with a pen nib creates unique lines different from one to another that only your hand with a pen nib can create and cannot be duplicate over and over like in a computer so the image that you just created is unique. For this reason, your drawing has personality and has your style which is your signature.

Now, I know some of you may disagree. But If you really pay attention to most of the manga and western comic style out there you will notice that are almost alike. Drawing on the computer is nice and faster but sometimes I see these beautiful artworks look too much similar to one another. Their are great drawings but with no personality.

I follow several artists on Instagram. They creates amazing drawings with the computer, no doubt. But honestly, if I don't read the name of who posted the artwork I can't recognize who draw it because they all look the same.

I don't blame the using of computer. Art schools teach to the students to draw manga in a certain style because it sells. So they learn to draw in that way from school, and these young artists won't find their own style. DC and Marvel comics are not exception. There is a mass production of anime and manga, and comics in general. Stories are shorter and pretty much similar to each other.

I might be wrong, but I grew up watching anime. They were different styles and you could recognized who drew it. Miyazaki, Takahashi, Monkey Punch are great Japanese cartoonist and you can tell the difference in their style and stories. You don't need to figure out. Their drawing style is their signature. Unfortunately, it's getting lost.

At the end, every artist use whatever art tools prefer. There is not a real rule to follow. But it is important don't forget that we are artists and create our own personal style is vital not only for ourself but for the art in general. Comic books are an expression of art no matter what some people say. There is nothing more artistic than create a story with characters and described with images. So, for all the newbies who want to create comics I give you an advice.

Begin to draw with traditional art materials. Learn as much as you can. Don't just draw comics. Buy some good art books or watch some tutorials and learn how to draw in different styles with different materials. Charcoal, pastels, acrylics, etc. Draw everything; animals, inanimate objects, natures elements, landscape. Learn the prospective, and the human and animal anatomy. How to create shadows and lights. Learn the basics and then improve your skills watching other artists and learning from them. Remember that an artist never stop to learn, no matter how good he or she is. Once you know these basics, you are ready to draw a comic book and you can apply your skills on a computer too.

Drawing is like learning a language. You can't start speak a language without knowing verbs and basic grammar rules. You have to study and then apply what you learned.

There are other types of pen nibs these are for calligraphy and are not for drawing, so don’t waste your time and money.

There are different types of pen nibs for manga. All of them have different drawing purposes;