The Last Day of Rain Update: 28th of September 2024
Sketch experiments with different brushes
A version of this post was originally published on the 28th of September 2024, in a private newsletter to my Kickstarter backers. I’m now making all the updates available to the public, so you can see how I create my comic books.
Hi there,
Time flies! 🪰 I hope you’re doing well, settling into the first days of Autumn, or Spring, if you happen to be reading this from the other side of the Equator.
From Storyboarding to Comics
I don’t have flashy visuals for you yet, but I’m getting back into the flow of things. The two courses I finished a couple of weeks ago made me rethink the way I compose images, and I’ve been using the new chapter as an excuse to experiment. Below are two pages where I tried different brushes and different levels of detail to work out which one feels more comfortable (and faster!)
I’m trying to worry less about details during the first step of sketching. To not be afraid of making mistakes with anatomy and perspective, and focus on where the characters and elements will be positioned. If I were working for a client, this step wouldn’t be presented to them (unless they specifically asked): it’s just a bunch of lines that make sense to nobody else but me, but it’s a necessary part of the process. I’m a lousy sketcher, eh.
The next pass of pencilling, followed by the line art stage, is where the shapes will be solidified. Eventually, you’ll see some of that too!
This 3-step technique (thumbnail → rough → clean-up) is commonly used in storyboarding, and it makes it easier to focus on different aspects of the scenes one at a time. For example, if I’m thinking about whether my character’s face looks accurate at the same time as I’m thinking about where to position her, it will take me much longer to finish the panel because I’m making multiple decisions at the same time and it’s counter-productive.
Cheating with Blender
Something else I’ve been playing around with is using my 3D model to generate lines that I can incorporate into the drawing, to save some time. When I worked on the last chapter, I drew over the 3D models because I didn’t know it was possible to do this. The technique is commonly used in feature animation films, and maybe in TV too. Yet another tip learned from studying.
Here’s something I’ve been playing around with for one of the spreads:
It’s not quite there yet, and I’m playing with the settings still. I’m considering adding more details to the 3D model, so I don’t have to draw all the windows and street elements. Then I can take pictures of the backgrounds from multiple angles and cut even more drawing time. 😈
Here’s the current status of this image on the actual page, with very rough thumbnails of where the characters are going:
This is it for now in the world of Carol and Art!
See you soon and have a great rest of the weekend!
Claudia
Thank you for reading! The four chapters of The Last Day of Rain are available in my online store at shop.claudiamatosa.com.
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