Sunday, February 27, 2011

 Have to admit it's getting better

Frustrated - I like to get four pages done a week (ideally I want to finish five pages) but only managed 3.5 - the last page proved to be quite a monster, as the entire page took place within a mini-van, had toddlers (so hard to draw - you mess up one line, and suddenly they're gremlins), and an absolute deluge of Spanish dialogue.

BUT I am encouraged, because I was looking at my pages from about ten months ago (before I stopped working on Power Out in what I might look back on as one of the dumbest / smartest things I've ever done) and compare pencils from two panels.


circa May 2010

Last week
I'll admit to something you're not supposed to admit to: while Power Out got a lot of positive feedback, it also got some negative feedback. In fact, a couple of people really freaking hated it, and one of the main things they hated was the main character. Have to say this affected me, and I've taken special effort with all my endeavors this time to make Justin an appealing looking character, to give him charisma. Or, at the very least, keep him from looking like a total chump. I think it's been pretty successful so far.

Here's a rough I did on the fly that I was very pleased with - I have the whole book roughed out, but every once in a while I'll come across a scene (this was Maya leading Justin out of his house) that I probably mailed in, so I redo it. The results were fun!
Maya looks great here, but Justin looks pretty meh. So in the final version, I gave him this funny, rubber band quality. Good times!
Only 113 more pages to go...

3 comments:

Michael Lapinski said...

Again with the great insights.

I've also found feedback to be tough when it also touches on something you already know and have had to publish due to the need to get it out there AND have already worked through by the time the work sees print.

Re: toddlers. It's the truth. I've seen some great artists turn out kids that look like dwarves masquerading as children. Children and pretty girls - not easy.

Re: Justin. I always found him charming and engaging because of the way you've rendered him as wan and aloof.

Unknown said...

I've always like the current (old) Justin.
I just grabbed the book to review the Maya panel and I like the book version better. It wasn't your original rendering (as seen here)- but it also isn't completely rubber bandy- it shows his hesitancy and resistance to the force that is Maya. It gives a subtle context.

Take feedback with a grain of salt but always remain true to your characters and their intentions.

natsch said...

Beth, that is actually a new panel for a new page, even though the scene echoes the previous one where Maya grabs Justin on the street.