Page 39 Process (steps and write-up) (Patreon)

Page 39 is what you might call an moment of improvisation. As I’ve mentioned before, things are going *slightly* off-script. The script, of course, still serves as the basis, and provides direction, but little things change as I take advantage of opportunities along the way. This is the fun and joy of being in control of one's own project. Billy’s face, for example, was never meant to be grabbed by Marvin in the previous page, but it felt funny and appropriate, so I went with it. What to do now, other than to lift him sky-high, showcasing Marvin’s strength and setting the mood for what will follow.  

Starting with a meager thumbnail, I brainstorm a wide shot with a fish-eye perspective. The four panels below were meant not only to show the fellatio in action, but also the two girls staring back at Sharlene. We were going to get a glimpse of her reaction here, but ending the page on that note felt too sudden, plus Billy’s interaction with Marvin needed resolving. More on that soon.

Once the idea is in place, I start with some very basic planning of the figures, trying to get their placement and scale right. Billy’s figure is too long here, but this was more to get an idea of what his pose would look like, rather than to get it looking right. After all, how would one look, being lifted from the face?

With the rough sketch underneath, I make another pass at the figures. This time paying more attention to the details and trying to dial in the look. This took some work, and even some mirror posing to get the angle on Billy right. Although I have a fish-eye perspective in mind, I actually cheat and don’t apply it the characters. Doing so would create some unwanted distortion in the bodies, but in not doing so they will inevitably look bigger than the background. I decide it's a compromise I can live with, and move on.

Now comes the interesting part. Curvilinear perspectives are created of mathematical curves, receding to vanishing points at angular distances. It isn’t possible to guess these curves. You could spend hours learning how to construct these measurements in silent torture, or you could learn how to understand them, while working with grids. Clip Studio actually provides wonderful perspective rulers to plot and position your points, but it lacks something this complex. Instead, I reach in my bag of tools.

David Chelsea’s Extreme Perspective For Artists comes with a DVD of orthographic grids and lattices for cylindrical and fish-eye perspectives (and it can easily be purchased via Amazon). Also, for those of you looking for a good book on understanding perspective, I recommend his first book, Perspective for Comic Book Artists. The grids come at different angles, so figuring out which one to choose is key. Here I choose angles at 45 / 45, and 20 degrees. This means vanishing points are equidistant along the horizon, with the top vanishing point barely in view. 

In order to make use of this grid in a way that will benefit me, I flip it upside down, so that we’re looking up, toward the ceiling. Scaling is also important here. If I scale the grid too small, the characters will look too big. If I scale it too big, the fish-eye effect loses strength, and the characters will shrink. There is no method I know of to help here, so I try a few options, and go with my gut feeling, placing the horizon line somewhere around Marvin’s knee.

On top of this grid, I make rough approximations of the background. The two-tiered structure of the cafeteria is somewhat simplified in order not to take away from the foreground elements. I also tried to make sure at least one vanishing point was visible in the frame, so that we could see the scale of the background as it recedes.

Now the hard part. Curves are drawn with precision along their respective routes, becoming straight as they reach their vertices. Spacing is tricky too. You can’t use the same measurement tools to space out repeating objects (such as poles), so intuition and experience in drawing regular perspective environments will help here.

Lines are complete, and the end results are… well, not too bad. The scale is off, and the characters are too big, as I anticipated, but I’m also guessing that no one will notice. It saves me my sanity in having to apply the same effects to organic characters, while also giving me what I wanted.  

As I work on the rest of the page, I decided that it would be far more fitting (and perhaps more humorous) to show Billy’s enraged reaction to what he is being subjected to. Leaving on this note is better, as it sets the stage for the next few panels. Sharlene will have to wait just a page longer.

Tones are finalized, while being careful not to let any dark values creep into the background. I want the power of the perspective effect to shine where it belongs without fighting for attention. The most important part of a background like this is that it elevates and enhances the foreground image.

I think that covers it for this one. I hope you enjoyed this look at the process and find it useful. Thank-you again, dearly for your support and helping me create this comic, one page at a time. I'll be back soon with something sexy and fun!

Till then!