Hello!
I've been heads down a lot recently, focusing on panel layouts and design for the first issue of Dark Time. I also took a break and did a little bit of traveling to see the mountains in Colorado, which was immensely inspirational!
Also, because I am in love with old film and antique film equipment, I had to pay a nickel to view this Mutoscope in Colorado Springs. I find this kind of stuff cool, so I wanted to share it. The problem is that it appears inappropriate, but it's really not unless you lived over a hundred years ago.
First, I had to find a nickel, that was the hardest part, haha!
Disclaimer: I made a GIF of it, link below, but it might prompt you that it's inappropriate, so maybe don't open it at work.
Transforming the Script into Comic Panels
I started this script a long time ago by writing it as a film script since one of my degrees was in film, and that is the format I am most familiar with. I figured that I could translate it into panels later. So, my script is not as specific when it comes to layout and panel format. I have been translating it to determine exactly what the panels should be and how they would appear on the page. I want to be creative with the paneling, so I am putting a lot of thought into the panel design.
Next time, I am going to use a comic script format for my 2nd draft of the script. I feel that writing freely in a first draft without worrying about panels or pages will be best for me. Good thing I am the artist drawing this as well, haha! I have told multiple people that one of the biggest reasons I decided to learn how to draw was because I feel like I would be a terrible client. I'm so glad I went through that journey and continue to do so because I've found that I love it.
Adding Descriptions & Dialogue Next to Thumbnails
I decided to use my template for thumbnailing. I have to tell you they are messy and awful-looking things, but they get the point across in my layouts and help me iterate. I also did the thumbnails with physical pencil and paper because they are so tiny. It's also much faster and easier for me to get these out traditionally.
Some examples of thumbnails:
After my first pass, I took photos of the thumbnails and imported them into my computer so that I could put them in the correct order and annotate the dialogue and panel descriptions next to each page. This was purely an organizational thing for me. I had to force myself to be neat. I am also used to annotating work in my design career, so it made the most sense to me.
Next: Iterate and Refine Thumbnails!
My next step is to iterate and refine the thumbnails for the best layout and composition. I am also determining if there are places where I can be more concise with actions to cut down the page count.
....Next, Next Steps!
Begin Rough Sketches of Pages
After I am done refining and feel good about all of my layouts, I will start with large rough drafts of each page.
Line Work
I will then upload those onto my iPad and use Procreate to digitally do the line work.
Rendering
Color, Lighting, etc.
Lettering
My plan is to pull the pages into InDesign and Illustrator to do the lettering. I want to experiment with digital lettering versus hand lettering or some interesting combination of both. We shall see!
Follow me on my journey to creating my dark fantasy comic book / graphic novel, Dark Time.
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