Sequential Practice

A little something different this week.  Sequentials!

Not only that, but I go a little into the process from different thumbnails up to a semi completed page.


 This is my first attempt at a layout.  I don't have a script, I am just spit balling right now.  I know I want a city, PITT and Spartan.  I always loved PITT.  He was just so brutal and made no apologize for not being anything more then that.  And then Spartan (or is it Cyclops?) I just really dug his design.  I didn't understand his leg fins but I didn't care.

So that first panel is supposed to be a city...hey I am just thumbnailing, leave me alone.  Then Spartan faces off with a foot.  Then close up of Spartan.  Then PITT being stoic.  Then fight.  Then PITT chokes out Spartan. 

I thought it was a little tight and the panels didn't really breath.  There was no WOW moment either.  All the panels are about the same size too.

So this is the second attempt. There may have been a couple other panel sketches. I will try to keep better track of all my skribbles and not erase them all.

Starts with the city.  Then PITT crouching in foreground, Spartan in background.  CU of Spartan and then aggressive PITT.  Then attack.

Not much different then the first one.  I thought the panels had more room and panel 4 was more exciting.  But PITT was way too small in the last panel.  LAME.  I do like panel 4's PITT pose but it wasn't meant to be.

Here I get rid of the cityscape and just show the side of the building with a energy blast and PITT jumping to safety.  Tried a more interesting composition in panel 2 with PITT kneeling in the foreground and framing Spartan in the background.  But the pose didn't really work with the shot, his leg would have been in the way.

This one didn't change much, I tried to make PITT bigger in the last panel.  But it still was too small for me.

OK, now I am getting annoyed.  Sequentials are tough.  There are a million ways to draw something but prolly only a handful of good ones.

So we go back to the cityscape.  panel 2 I decide to show full bodies on both characters plus some buildings.  Then we do a close up on PITT, notice he is on the other side.  The Spartan charges up.  Then ATTACK.

PITT is pretty large in this last panel, which I like.  I prolly tried to draw the last panel 20 times before I got this. I couldn't figure out the perspective of PITT in the air, Spartan on the ground and energy blast between then. 

I take a step back and decide this is the best I can do right now.  I am moving the camera from long to short distance.  I am moving the horizon line up and down.  I am including background.

So I decide to stick with this layout and now clean it up.  I twisted Spartan in the last panel because the original pose was a little too lame.  However it kind of threw off my alignment of characters.  I could have slid PITT up a little but then I would have lost some of his hand.  I could have broken the panel border but that would have made the reader skip panel 4.

Now I do a quick "ink".  This is really loose for a finished page.  I did it more for practice of composition then taking it too completion.  I figure if I can fire off a lot of these quick layouts then I can get better quicken then if I did a page all the way to completion.  Really after the layout it is just polishing.  So hopefully you're polishing a diamond and not a turd.

All of these are digital.  If I was doing this page for real.  I would have printed out the blue lines above on 11x17 bristol and then pencilled it for real.  And then inked it.

I know it is a lot of steps. but I am still unsure of my skills, so I take a lot of steps.  Maybe in a few years I will be able to shorten the process.

I try to put some thicker border about the characters and foreground elements.  thin lines on the background.  Just trying to create some depth with line weight and quality.