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Hi Peter,
I would not suggest scanning. Scanning will produce too much glare off the page, which is too harsh for the soft details. It is important to be able to control the angle of incidence of light on to the page and then back into the machine that is taking the image.
I control the lighting by taking photographs of my work. This way I can control the way light comes onto the page, control ambient light, and concentrate the camera on the image, the whole page not 100% filled with the illustration.
The camera I have is between a snappy-happy and a DSLR. It has a manual setting that allows me to control the aperture and exposure. I fix the aperture and take between 8 and 10 photos each on a different aperture. All I do then is select the image that I feel best does the sketch justice. I don't have a predetermined aperture as each sketch is different and requires different settings. Also, different apertures reveal or dampen subtle features, which is then important to determine for yourself what is best.
I don't do any type of digital manipulation. No Photoshop, no Paint, nothing. Just photography.
My set up is not elaborate. I don't have a studio set up. I just control the lighting in the room with black paper to shade the piece being photographed.
Don't forget that using a digital camera is not any different than manipulating a scanned image. The difference is you have total control over the image, with a scan you don't. Sure, you have programs to change things, but if the information isn't there in the original image, everything else is just catch up.
I know that this is not what you have asked about. But I feel it is important that other methods be suggested and explored if the one that's proposed has significant shortcomings that other methods can overcome.
Cheers,
Alex.
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