Thumbs for Artemis IX

Hello!

I have finally started moving forward with my sample pages for the Top Cow Talent Search 2016. My teaching schedule kept me from starting as early as I wanted to but I have now finally found some momentum:)

I thought I would post 4 of my my loose thumbnails from the 8 pages then post my roughs and then the tight roughs and talk about my process and why I go about pencilling pages the way that I do.

Loose thumbs Page 1

Page 1 consists of an establishing shot in panel 1 and a closer shot of Artemis IX's tower showing damage to the building in panel 2. The third panel is an interior shot depicting the work being done to the building and introducing Artemis IX, Brauron and the two female artists.

When I do these thumbs I do 8 of them on an 11 x 17 sheet of bristol. Each thumb is only about three and a half inches tall. I try to do these as quickly and as gesturally as possible referring back to the quick layouts I did when I first read the script. All I'm thinking about here is story-telling, shot selection and being mindful of creating deep space. I also have given some thought to establishing the directionality of my light source just for fun:)

Same thing here. Super quick and gestural. Mostly just stick figures. Keeping my eye on the left/right orientation of my figures and making sure everybody is staying consistent. 

And same thing here...

...and here. 

When creating thumbnails I try very hard to keep them super loose. I keep my body upright and relaxed and keep my hand quick and gestural-drawing from the shoulder. No laboring over any drawing, here, just the simplest of sketches to tell the story. 

It took me about 20 odd minutes to thumbnail all eight pages. I went back and looked them over and felt that I was ok with most of my choices. I scanned them in preparation to creating the next stage of roughs. 

I'm not really one of those comic artists that can jump right into the full sheet of bristol and start creating finished pencils. I admire those that can. My process can be somewhat circuitous but I find that I get less stressed about the work and am way more relaxed and loose if I start small and simple first. 

Because the thumbnails are done super fast I am uninvested in them and can just allow them to be dorky and experimental. 

In my next post I will talk about the next stage in my process and the changes and choices I made in trying to improve the storytelling and look of the pages.

Until next time~

T