Page 34 Wip and Page Analysis (Patreon)

This page is quite a doozy and has taken some time to figure out, but I think I’ve finally got a handle on it. I’ll break it down here and describe what we're looking at. In the previous page we saw a shadowy figure present Marvin with a tantalizing offer. At the beginning of this page we find him ever resistant. “No!” he cries in the top panel, “I- I need to study for the chemistry exam!”, looking away from the shadow's influence.

The shadow will then show him a terrible vision. His fears are in full view. Billy, Mi-hee, and Envy continue to mock him. Spud is back and Sharlene is fawning over him. A reporter relays the news to the world that Marvin will spend the rest of his life in prison, and will never finish his science project

At the bottom of the collage is Marvin yelling out in fear and frustration. Will he prevail, or crumble under the weight of it all?? 

Initially I had planned for this page to be structured with panels, like every other page, but after some thought realized that overlaying the events would give the feeling of each moment playing out in Marvin’s mind. This is tricky because it requires deliberate arrangement in composition and organization. The page looks a little busy now, but I'm hopeful it’ll be easier to read once tone is applied. 

Below we can see the intended flow of the page. Much of this depends on specific balloon placement, as the eye tends to bounce to the next word balloon in reading order. Getting this placement right may require some resizing of the elements.  

It was really important for me to capture Marvin’s tortured expression. While the first attempt (below, left) captures some of his frustration, there is no life in it. On second attempt I paid more attention to the rhythm of and flow of his expression. I tried to give his gesture the feeling of a crashing wave.  More energy.... more emphasis!

Rhythm is the relationship between pathways. It is the common source to which paths converge, mirror, or reconnect in physical space. Knowing this is one thing. Remembering it in practice is another. This example also goes to show how important it is to retry a drawing if the first one doesn't get you want you want. It isn't just doing the drawing over. It's trying it again with a different mindset. 

Anyways, there is still much work to be done on this page, but I’m hoping to have it up as soon as I can. I hope you all enjoy this inside look and self analysis. Hopefully it’s interesting while giving you a little taste of what’s to come.