There is no secret ingredient or fancy tricky trick that will automatically make you better. I can give you all the tutorials, art books, and instructions in the entire world, but PRACTICE is what you need.
Those million tries per line you’re doing? That’s how I started. I would draw the exact same line several times. I had hit Ctrl Z so many times, I had actually taught my hand to find it without even looking. But that’s just practice, and practice is the biggest part.
Now with that in mind, there are a few aspects of inking that you have to be thinking about as you go about it. How thick should the lines be? Where should they be thicker and thinner? Should I make this line in one stroke or two? And in general the larger forms (the larger shapes, the outlines of the figure, etc) will have thicker lines than lines meant for smaller items and details. Things that are up close will have thicker lines than those far away. And backgrounds are usually better with thin lines so they don’t take attention away from the characters (this is especially true if you don’t color your stuff). There are also exercises you can do that will help practice controlling your pen (or tablet pen).
I also want to tack on one last piece of advice and that is OBSERVATION. The next time you see a work you really, really like, don’t just say “Woah that’s cool!” Ask yourself “What makes that cool?” How’d they do it? Was there a specific brush they used? Where are their lines thicker or thinner? Perhaps there’s a specific color choice they’d made? Blah blah blah. And if you can’t come up with an answer for it, it never hurt anyone to just ask.
Lastly be confident. Don’t worry about getting great just yet. Even the greatest chefs in the world had to learn how to cook simple rice before they could become great. Don’t be scared that you’ll never get better. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look right. Because every one of those thoughts will either A) hinder you or B) be entirely untrue. Believe in yourself and your ability to improve. If you drew a picture and you don’t particularly care for it, just finish it. Finish it, and if you really want to, throw it away and try the same picture again. But never worry about it. When I started out, I never cared if I wasn’t as good as the next guy. Because I wanted to draw. And I would draw every day (superheroes, my friends, characters I’d made up on the spot) regardless of how good I thought it was. Because drawing was fun. Art is fun. It’s not a competition (even though some people make it out to be). It’s just the creation and forming of ideas into a form that you and/or other people can enjoy and love.
