scarygoround

Steeple issue 2 roughs

Added 2020-05-22 14:29:49 +0000 UTC

Steeple was an unusual project in that I did a full script, as I would for another artist, then roughed it out before pencilling and inking. I don't usually work this way. My usual process these days is to make a full issue/story page-by-page breakdown, then scrawl out the dialogue onto a rough approximation of the panelling, roughly laying out the characters as I go. Something like this:

(Above: Giant Days issue 48 roughs)

On Steeple I ended up having to halfway letter the issue in order to do tight panelling. This wasn't good use of my time, but since about 2008 I've had set text to work with when I draw, and I feel lost with a placeholder blob where the text would be. Also, I don't know how big to make those placeholders. I didn't even letter the final book... Jim Campbell lettered the issues from scratch when I was done.

I roughed the pages in Procreate on the iPad Pro, somehow this seemed to be the fastest way to do it. I did 11 pages a day. Eyes like dinner plates.

I don't ever want to make comics like this again... if you don't know how hard a comic book letterer works, cut and paste a few dozen lines of dialogue from Word to individual Adobe Illustrator text boxes and see how sane you feel. Triple click. Copy. CMD-tab. Select. Triple click. Paste. Slide balloon roughly into place. Start again. FOREVER.

But I did get five wild-looking rough comics out of it, issue 2 is attached to this post and I love the energy of the drawings. They're not like my normal pencils and not like my normal thumbnail roughs.