I hate when that happens. You have a sketch you're really happy with and you donnnt want to Ink over it incase you make a mistake. Nice sketch though, I'm really digging your strips.

The funny thing is, since I've switched from pens to markers, I make way fewer mistakes. Markers do bleed, but they offer more friction and don't follow the pits and pencil grooves in the paper.

Yeah that's what really annoys me about markers =|. Do you have some method for stopping it? I try to draw the lines as fast as I can.

When filling in black areas, I outline the area with a rollerball ink-based pen (not a gel pen). Markers won't bleed through the ink outline. That allows me to draw the eyes and noses. I've found that Sharpie fine-tipped markers are a good, cheap alternative to Micron Pigma pens. I don't like gel pens at all, or rollerball pens thicker than .7mm.

When bleed is simply not acceptable, and I want a line thicker than a rollerball will allow, I use a water-soluble marker. Vis-a-Vis overhead projector markers are my favorite for that. They don't bleed -- at all -- and they are incredibly brushlike! Of course, they also aren't that dark, and while they dry quickly and don't smudge, you have to keep the finished art away from humidity, or else your ink lines will turn into rainbows after a few years. I draw on card stock and keep my drawings piled together, so the moisture in the air won't eat them. I only scan stuff into the computer, anyway. I don't sell my art, so permanence isn't an issue for me.

I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!

Good portrayal of miffed-ness. =3