Page 12

November 13, 2011

With this page I tried to take some risks with the style and use of colour to match rising tension with appropriately intense visuals, something which bizarrely may have reduced production time on paper and digitally. I would probably of had this one out in three to four days if I’d worked straight, but prep for the symposium and my computer’s current helpful habit of locking up every few minutes (thank you again repair centre) held it back a bit.

I’ve tried to make a stronger connection to my noir influences here by using heavy shadowing in place of crosshatching; hence why drawing took less time thanks to details being obscured. It’s primarily a stylistic development but to keep it credible I’ve had it brought in with a scene change to somewhere which would assumedly be darker instead of the washed out spaceport lobby. It’s also worth noting that by blanking out the features of the entering figure (Scratch) we get a sense of Curt’s situation within the cubicle – being unable to determine their identity, enhancing the sense of an unknown menace.

Special mention should also be made of the colours. Thus far I’ve predominantly stuck to browns/oranges complimenting greys/blues in an effort to manifest the clash between organic and artificial at the heart of the story. What I can’t help but think though is that Curt forms a sort of anomaly in the scenario, being completely human and unfamiliar with the station and its occupant cyborgs.

When choosing colours for my character designs I decided on the green colour scheme for Curt to emphasise his personality and flaws. So it is that here I’ve drenched the toilets in overpowering shades of green in an attempt to subconsciously extend Curt’s character to the environment and atmosphere; emphasising his phobia’s, sickness and generally cowardly nature without having to unload a ton of exposition on the reader. In the same way the blast of blue light which accompanies Scratch’s entrance contrastingly emphasises her cold personality and firm manner, while also enhancing the sense of her bursting in on Curt’s life as the blues run over the greens.

I’ll tentatively say that I’m happy with this one as it seems to deliver the sort of striking impression I’d envisioned in the script. I worry that the flow of the panels could be clearer perhaps, while it’s let down by some of my usual wonky anatomy but otherwise it turned out much better than I frankly expected it to.

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Posted by Ozy

Page 7

July 25, 2011

Keeping in mind the criticisms I outlined in my last post I deviated from the script briefly to make the page you see above.

First and foremost I wanted to demonstrate some of the experimentation and noir stylings I promised in the planning stages. Scenes like this will feature more later in story but I felt that after the last module’s feedback providing an example of my intentions would be a good idea. There are other more substantial reasons for this addition aswell; I formerly spoke of a concern that introducing more heavily stylised elements later might seem jarring, appearing to be a complete change in style rather than a natural progression. Ideally this page will sooth the issue, easing such features in rather than snapping over at the drop of a hat.

In terms of narrative this also addresses a few minor concerns. Besides breaking up the scenes with Curt and providing a momentary change of pace, it also brings Scratch back to the reader’s attention after a short rather than long absence. The page is intended as a reminder she’s also on the way to the same spaceport for an as yet unknown purpose. Much like the stylistic elements it’s all foreshadowing for what’s to come.

As my research would suggest I borrowed art ideas from 100 bullets and Sin City most prominently here, taking a creative risk and using techniques I’m not so sure-footed with, eschewing detail in favour of stark light and shadow compositions. I wouldn’t say the lighting is exactly realistic, but it does remain plausible thanks to the tight alley – providing just enough credibility for heavy shadows in an artificially lit setting. Originally I’d planned to highlight more of Scratch’s face, but opted for an almost complete blackout as thematically it seemed more appropriate; with her motives as yet undetermined shadowing her features projects a disturbing sense of ambiguous menace, the only discernible parts being her prosthetic implants/replacements and a pair of determined eyes. Determination for what remaining to be seen.

While I’m happy with the overall impression the page gives I do have a few minor issues with it all the same. The figures themselves turned out pretty nicely but it feels as though too much space is wasted on the right side of the composition. Given the diagonal direction of the light it makes sense that the wall would be blacked out, but all the same if feels like more could have been done with that general area. I flipped parts of the panel layout and toyed with the idea of putting text bubbles in to the fill the space but ultimately there’s not much I can do to fix it. It does give the page a sort of stark intensity which I like but in future I should be more mindful of how I use the space.

Minor faults aside hopefully the page doesn’t do anything to upset the pacing of the main narrative and enriches rather than weakens the overall reading experience. I’ve got some way to go nailing down the exact style but at least now I’ve made a genuine stab at it.

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Posted by Ozy