It's the artist
In art, new artists always want the "newest and best" tools. Having the newest and best tools doesn't always make for good art.
The best examples are the silver age and prior comics. What they used was basically a no. 2 pencil, a basic pen (originally it was one of those interchangable nibs and a bottle of ink) and a brush with ink. Not too many things huh?
I used to use a no. 2 pencil, and a bic pen (lol) and made brilliant art
Hawk Girl here was done with a no. 2 pencil (ticonderoga)
Now for the older comics examples:
And LUCKY YOU today ya'll get to see part of my collection of silver age and prior comics!
The image below is commemorating the end of the NY newspaper strike. This is from my mom's collection (taken out of its casing for this wonderful photo-op)
The way they made this was a ruler, pencil, pen, ink and a brush
That's it.
These people practiced hours just to get good with their materials that were fairly cheap, and easy to resupply.
Now for some more "modern" artwork
A THOR page
Same process. Ruler, pencil, pen, brush and some ink. (apologies for the blurry photo) Those "white spots" you see is white out from the original artist.
These have shown me that I can make some great art with the most basic of tools & that you don't have to spend $400 on some super spiffy markers that dry out in 3 weeks.
If you're low on cash and want to make art? Grab some tempra paints, grab some bic pens, and basic pencils. Ive even seen amazing art with Crayola crayons!
You don't even need to be "super talented" to do this either. A little bit of practice, find a comfortable medium, and you can do it!
And for those comic fans doing the "THEY'RE OUT OF THE BAG! NOOOO!" like I was: they have been in a plastic container (a large bag) flat, and in a safe for many years. These papers are about as white as they can be, very little yellowing etc, and are back safe again in a dark dry spot.
For the comics on the side: they are in a similar condition, nearly pristine and white pages, sealed again and all that ^_^
I will post photos of my comic collection (originally my mom's) at a later date. However that will be multiple posts. There are a lot of em