So. Layout choices. I'm pretty new to comics, I think I made one in 2021 (?) about Asriel Undertale transing her gender before I had realized I was trans in a different direction that I had previously thought (long story for a different blog post). But I remembered watching this youtube video about how another artist approached comics, and I'm glad that I did, because it made the process SO much more easier and streamlined. It also helped a lot that I got to see what a traditional comic script looks like from my illustration internship where I am doing the character inking for a comic that hopefully should be coming out soon!
I keep managing to go on tangents! But all that to say, I start with a script. I already went in with an idea of the moments that I wanted to write about because I had been thinking about this concept pretty intensely since the Homestuck pilot came out and kind of revitalized my interest in Homestuck. I typically fall in and out of the Homestuck-o-sphere every couple of months. So with the idea and characters that I had in mind, I wrote my script. It looked a little something like this:
After writing my script, I realized that a really important part of comics is paneling, which I have a little bit of experience with from my sophomore illustration class, and I knew thatthe paneling is essential to the flow of the story. It's a lot like storyvaording with less drawing! While I typically use storyboard pro, I've been having quite a fun time taking my iPad out of retirement, and playing with the new Procreate brush update. If you know me any, this is really unheard of as I'm a die hard clip studio fan- But I just can't seem to emulate the texture of the brushes in clip studio no matter how hard I try! Also I respect procreate a lot for being a one time purchase software.
Cough Cough Celcys Cough Cough.
Anyways! All that to say, I've been doing three possible panel flow drafts of each page, keeping in mind the script and shot type (is that language used in sequential arts?? I only know animation) of each panel, and those drafts will typically look somewhat like this:
I will have to say I really enjoy making this comic so far, and I just reached the inking stage. I believe the first installment will only be around 6 pages in total, and I'll work on it as my school schedule allows. Its serving as a test run for a larger comic I mentioned in the last blog post: Project Welkin/Diapause, which I'm equally as excited to get into on this blog. I gotta hype it up before making a first blog post about it for the aura points though. Signing off: Nana-Tawi