Penciling a layout...

Today I sketched out a few panel scenes from beats/frames of a 2-page story that I finshed writing yesterday. Bruce Mutard knows which one I mean (wink, wink). Like many of you already know - after I've written (and re-written) the story - I'll break the script up into beats (ie. panels), and then proceed to free-sketch those panel ideas onto simple paper (below):



I'll then arrange each of these sketches onto a rough composition of how the final page will look (Notice I've marked numbers on the above sketches, indicating which panel they belong to in the comic), just so i get the scaling and proportions right. Y'know, so the word balloons fit comfortably and everything breathes properly. I couldn't imaging penciling straight onto the final art board (like others do) and then erasing a dozen times just so everything fits. Argh...! I can see why many get to hate making comics if you're doing it this way. But then again, everyone has their method... Whatever works for you.

- Bobby.N

www.bobbyn.com