V5: Page 006 Thumbnail (Patreon)

Volume 5, Chapter 13, page 006.   This is the thumbnail layout for the first page of the story!    V5 is starting off with a bang.

Preceding it will be the usual title page, publisher page, foreword, recap page, and a chapter title page.  

Even with all the details so rough, a thumbnail like this is critical for guiding my efforts on the art.   Thumbnails often require more thought than the actual drawing process- how many panels are needed to convey the action?   What are the camera angles, and why?   Is a zoom lense used, a wide-angle lense, bird's eye view, worm's eye view?   The different options will offer subtle variations in tone and feel to the content within the panels.

 Panel shapes- regular, irregular?  What are the basic emotions of the characters present?   How are those being shown with body language and expression?  Is the action too rough, needing clarity?  Or is it too heavy-handed and pedantic, lacking dynamism?  

These kinds of choices are the tools that a comic artist has at their disposal to convey pacing, mood, and other key elements.  Cinematographers can leverage camera motion and sound-  a comic artist can't, so they need to pay attention to these other levers of conveyance.  

Thumbnail layouts are also excellent for editing.   Far better to critique and redo a thumbnail layout than a page of polished artwork that has consumed days of effort.

I'll post the further stages of artwork on this page as it's completed- blueline pencils, final pencils, color flats, and shading.