Whateverland USA

Author notes

Page 5

Indybot

on April 14, 2009

ARGHBLARGHL PENCILS PENCILS PENCILS (Translation: Sorry folks, no time for half-arsed inks and edits this week! *shrug* It happens. I’d rather have to fix it later than miss a Wednesday, this early on.)

I did come up with one exquisitely elegant solution, if I do say so myself, but ultimately decided that it was a tad too distracting to actually use. You may witness the results here: http://www.drunkduck.com/Whateverland_USA/gfx/5AB.jpg

(I then took it further "to the max," as you can see here: http://www.drunkduck.com/Whateverland_USA/gfx/5A.jpg )

Actually, though I would like to have time to ink everything, I also really like being able to see the underlying gesture guidelines in the finished product. It’s one problem I have with using a lightbox and non-photo pencils – I want to ink it, but I hate losing all those little sketchy lines. (For example, I loved how Faith Erin Hicks would leave in the “equator line” when drawing a character’s face in D101.) Buuuuut…I can’t just leave it at the sketch stage, since that’s poor presentation, and any computering would look out of place. I’ll have to find a happy medium between my love of messy art, and my desire for a legible, finished-looking product.

This page got the best response out of early test audiences (AKA fellow art students), largely because of the composition. I was inspired by Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen, and how panels would often mirror each other, giving the page a great sort of symmetry.
I fear that drawing on a schedule has compromised the composition of the newer pages, since the time I can spend on each page is limited. But all that should change in the future, when I am free to draw at my leisure. Happy thoughts!

Slowly starting to feel four piddly panels per week can’t quite cut it? Take heart! In due time you’ll start to see pages that vary from four to eight panels, and that’s just the pre-deadline stuff. Once I’m free to draw at my leisure? Who knows!

Possible Changes I am Looking Forward to:
1) Not feeling the need to condense everything into as few panels as possible.
2) Having the time to color pages if I so choose.
3) The freedom to spend as much time as I want on a given page (provided the buffer holds out)
4) Eventually updating more than once a week (Again, provided I can beef up the buffer enough.)

Man, I sure am making a lot of promises, aren’t I? FutureTimes Indigo better not disappoint us! You hear that, me-to-be? You better measure up!
(*grumble* Stupid future self…thinks she knows more than me…just ‘cause she does…*grumble*)

By the way, the only reason I drew Leech in those clothes was to show off her spots in panel two. TA-DAH!

I was still trying to figure out how to draw Leech’s hair back then. I’m afraid the length tends to fluctuate a bit, since my first goal was to get the shape right. (Oh, who am I kidding? I STILL favor getting the shape I want over getting the length right. Expect Leech’s hair to grow exponentially over the course of chapter one.)

When I sat down to do the newer pages, I found myself vexed by her black and white hair. I only saw the hairstyle hers is based on once, and the lady just had her hair in a pony tail. So when it came time to draw running about Leech with her hair down, I was at a loss. My solution was to make a Styrofoam mock Leech Head with black and white yarn hair. I find this both useful, and delightfully creepy.