JL8 #264 Production Journal Update 05
Added 2018-08-07 21:03:34 +0000 UTCHaving gotten the script written, the thumbnails drawn, and the pages laid out, I'm now doing a little bit of visual development pre-production work before I sit down to draw in earnest.
This update takes place out on the playground area behind the school, as alluded to by Barry in the previous strip. However, the Schwartz Elementary playground/backlot has only been seen a few times over the course of the series, and has never been all that well defined.
While drawing the previous strips, I found that I spent a lot of time going back and forth between reference materials trying to make sure the classroom was properly on model, and I didn't want to waste that much time again, so I decided to draw myself a rough blueprint of the layout of the schoolyard ahead of time. On the left hand, you can see various notes, such as what strips have featured the schoolyard in the past, as well as notable landmarks that I wanted to make sure I remember to include.
Now, this is all pretty rough, but it's readable to me, and frankly that's all that matters. When you're producing work all by yourself, preliminary work really only needs to make sense to you and you alone, because you're the only person that needs to understand it. Keep that in mind if you're working on your own projects, because you don't want to waste too much energy or enthusiasm on stages that never even reach your audience. Save that gusto for when you're working on the final production that'll be seen by your readers.
As always, questions and comments are encouraged! Talk to you soon!
-Yale
