Ready. Set. ACTION! (Patreon)

How to make movement dynamic and keep continuity flowing in your comic pages!

LET’S GOOOOOO! Here is a fight scene between Sandalphon and Aziraphale. I wanted to show distress and panic followed by quick decision making.

Define the start of an action sequence clearly, this is the OH SHIT, IT’S ON moment. Sandaljerk grabs azi by the throat. Here I show emotion which is very important to add substance to the action (otherwise…YAWN) through their eye contact and facial expressions. This shows intent and makes the audience react with sympathy or anger!

Next page I show Azi react using his whole body. TRICKY! This is where knowing your anatomy is KEY but also USE THOSE MOTION LINES.

Azi elbows the arm attached to his neck while wrapping his (delicious) thighs around Sandalfucker’s neck to keep him from disengaging and getting the higher ground again.

Next I zoom in to his eyes. He is stressed so eyebrows stay UP but he is focused.

I zoom back out to show where his eyes are looking as he drops his weight bringing Sadasshole down with him.

Making sure the character’s eyes follow where the action is heading is a NONNEGOTIABLE. It is imperative and allows your art to foreshadow what is going to happen without needed text saying “ AND HERE HE FINDS A ROCK AND WILL SMASHY SMASHY HIM WITH IT”

Now we have a zoom in of azi’s hands grasping his found weapon and pulling. USE THE ACTION LINES to add heft to the object. Your audience will KNOW it’s heavy and moving fast.

Sandabouttodie sees what’s coming so I add panic to his expression . Azi KNOWS he’s about to get brutal so his face matches his emotions! EYE CONTACT AGAIN! He’s looking at his target.

Then the conclusion of the scene ends with motion lines to show speed, heft and the impact. Boom. Bye bitch.

While roughing your scenes out, make irregular shaped framing to heighten the emotion behind the scene! Jagged edges help with chaos. Slanted rectangles to show speed! Have your characters break out of frame to open the art up to breathe!

But most importantly HAVE FUN! This is the rough stage! Keep it loose and lose yourself in the scene! This is where our artist brains get giddy!

And keep going!