Screaming My Lungs Out (With Nothing to Say)

I swear, I try not to make a habit of having three versions of the same page, but it seems to be happening a lot lately.

So, let’s recap: I’m working on a FutureQuake project. Page one sucks, page two is good, page three… well, here’s the FIRST draft of the pencils:

This was a tough page from the get go. The story is only four pages, so let’s just say the writer is cramming a little bit. I’m not sure if you can tell, but there’s a LOT of information and a LOT of panels on this page. Plus, two of those panels have to be a little larger for dramatic impact (panels one and three). And on top of all that, I added an extra panel (for reasons I explain below). So, how do I lay out such a cluster-screw of a page? Easy. I broke the page in half treating the top and bottom halves like they were separate pages. That little overhanging panel 4 is what sorta joins the page into something cohesive.

Like I said above, this page was originally written with 7 panels, but I added an eighth (panel number four is the added panel). I felt it was necessary for clarity. In the story there is a riot going on. During the riot, the main character escapes through a side door. I wanted the riot panel to be big and punchy while I wanted the escape panel to be clear and legible. Hard to put the two together, so they got separate panels.

I finish off the page and send it off. Response: “The door she walks through in the riot scene is a regular door… the last door she’s going to open is more of a ‘Square Bulkhead’”. Ugh, changes. Always a pain. But two things about this specific change…

1) If you are an aspiring comic book writer, and your story calls for something SPECIFIC to be drawn, include reference in your script… Somehow. Could be as simple as an html link to a picture. It makes drawing more efficient because a) I don’t have to go looking for my own reference and b) I don’t have to redraw when you’re not stoked on the result. Otherwise, don’t complain when what comes back isn’t exactly what you had pictured in your head. (Quick note: I don’t want anyone to think that I’m badmouthing this writer. His request was very polite, not at all unreasonable, and all in all, the change took about 10 minutes. As far as I can tell, he’s a fantastically nice person and I have nothing but the best wishes for him). I’m going to cut myself off here because no one wants to hear me  rant. So, on to point 2.

2) Ego… Every artist has one. Trust me. Mine is large enough to eclipse the sun. But, there’s one thing that my boss, Jen, from Bean Creek (graphic design studio in Scotts Valley) taught me: You CAN’T let your ego get in the way of your work. The fact of the matter is that this is not YOUR project. It’s your client’s money; it’s your client’s project. An understanding of this will make you easier to work with and more employable.

But, truth be told this is something I STILL have problems with. I mean, the door change was NOTHING! It took no time. But still, it irked me for a minute. I mean, these are my drawings! They’re a reflection of my blood, sweat, and growing waistline! Who are you to tell me it’s not good enough!? I WON’T CHANGE FOR YOU OR ANYONE! :: pant, pant :: In the end, all you can do is bite your lip, and redraw the thing…

NEW DOORS all around!

But while I was in there, I realized that I didn’t really like panel five. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I HATE panel five. For a couple reasons:

1) There are 3, count ‘em 3, pictures of the main character walking through or opening a door. I felt like the narrative was getting a little hard to read. Especially in panels four and five. It reads a little bit like she walks through the door in panel four, and then she turns around and closes the same door in panel five. I wanted to drive home the fact that these are 3 SEPARATE doors.

2) Everything in the panel feels a little flat.

3)  I don’t feel the panel has the strong play between light and dark I’ve been striving for.

4) I think the panel is compositionally weak

So. Long story short, I redid panel five and sent off a version two:

Ah, much better. It cleans up pretty much all the problems above, plus I like how the character sorta fades into the dark.

At the point of writing this blog update, I’m not sure which one they want inked, but I feel pretty confident that they’ll ask for version two. Okay… off to walk the dog.

UPDATE: They chose version 3. Woot!