Thumbnails
January 30, 2009
Thumbnails are useful, but they take the wind out of my sails. Once I see the page on paper, in any form, it’s finished in my eyes; but they can save a lot of time in the final art stage. Below is the thumbnail that goes with the script I posted a few days ago. This was my solution… is it the best, or only one? No, but it’s mine. Depicting action in comics can be problematic. Some writers break it down too much, and others cram too many things into one panel. Doug kept things smooth usually, but one panel on this page caused me fits. In panel four, Mack disarms one thug of his pistol, while hitting another one at the same time. The wife and I study Krav Maga, so gun defenses are something we’ve seen, but it requires a lot of effort to pull off. Granted Mack is a combat fighter, and able to do this, but drawing it in a panel is another thing. I decided to show the pinnacle moment for both actions, where Mack strikes one attacker, and has made the defensive move to secure the gun. Ideally, I might have added a panel or two, but there is a fine line between showing action and slowing down a page. You don’t want to slow the pace with multiple panels, as each person reads a page at their own rhythm. Unlike quick cuts in a movie, you can’t control how long the audience spends on each shot. There are tricks to shorten their time on a page, like deleting back ground details to focus only on the figures, but more panels still equal more time.
The other problem was how to show that this was a story told by a mob guy who’s head is seen, but who was not physically part of the action. I tried to have my separation come from the different perspective angles on my subjects. When I showed Mack in an overhead shot, I drew the mob guy from a low angle. When Mack was in long shot, I placed the Mobster in a close-up. Does it work? I hope so.
Come back in a few days to see the finished art for this page. We’ll see how things changed from thumbnail to final, and the different problems I had in executing the final art.
Finally- some COMIC stuff
January 29, 2009
Shawn-isms
January 26, 2009
Whenever we get to Nashvegas (as we call it), the wife and I always try to spend time with one of my oldest friends, Shawn. We love him to death, as we both think he’s one of the funniest guys we’ve ever known, and certainly one of the most thoughtful. His holiday care packages are nothing short of brilliant- but that’s another post- when I can give you pics and a proper example of what I mean.
Anyway, this past Christmas we saw Shawn, and he’s one of the few that can get me to shut up for a minute. That’s because he’s a storyteller, in the truest form of the Southern tradition, and man is he good at it. He’s always funny, never having to go back to repeat anything, or add forgotten details. It’s like a well rehearsed comedy routine, where the story flows out like a river that you get swept away in, and along the way you find gems. Some of those are the little embellishments he makes, metaphors that, not only clarify, but bring a smile and laugh with them. This sort of practice has typically been a tradition in the south, but we just call them Shawn-isms. Here are a few we think are brilliant.
1) She’d be ugly in a bathtub full of diamonds
2) That place was so small you couldn’ cuss a cat without getting a mouth full of fur!
3) She was ugly enough to haunt a nine room house with two bathrooms!
4) She was all torn up- you know “wheels on the bus go round and round”, well she got tossed under it.
5) She was so ugly she’d make a train take a dirt road!
These were just a few, as it didn’t dawn on me to start writing these down until it was half way thru the visit with him. I don’t think enough of us use these colorful metaphors any more, so I say it’s time that we as Americans save this grand ole southern practice. Use these whenever possible on a daily basis. Make your own, share them with friends, but try, try, try.
We can’t wait until we get the chance to see Shawn again.