Logo with apologies to rappers from NWA. Shout out to all my peeps from South Central Working that J.O.B. trying to stack up the Benji-mans at that Staple factory. Julio, you da man. Yo, Dolores and crew.
"At what point do you consider composition in making your comics?"
That is a very good question, and I will do my best to answer it here.
First, the way I work and the way that I think about story and composition has changed dramatically over time as I have tried new things to see what is working best for me. This will also be the case for you. As you move forward and do more pages, your style of working will change. So, keep that in the back of your mind as I discuss story and composition.
I am a very firm believer in creating and modifying working processes. There is always room for improvement and experimentation. An artist needs to be open to change while at the same time trying to streamline their approach.
Story always comes first.
That is a very good question, and I will do my best to answer it here.
First, the way I work and the way that I think about story and composition has changed dramatically over time as I have tried new things to see what is working best for me. This will also be the case for you. As you move forward and do more pages, your style of working will change. So, keep that in the back of your mind as I discuss story and composition.
I am a very firm believer in creating and modifying working processes. There is always room for improvement and experimentation. An artist needs to be open to change while at the same time trying to streamline their approach.
Story always comes first.
Story is the thing that makes comics, TV, or film important. There are many occasions where I see artwork that is of lesser execution but has a compelling story and I prefer that, and most people react to that before anything else. The flip side is that really nicely rendered work that does not tell a good story will not connect with viewers/readers. There are even occasions where an excess of gloss and polish hurts a story.
For composition,
I usually go scene to scene thematically and page by page in practicality. What does this mean?
For composition,
I usually go scene to scene thematically and page by page in practicality. What does this mean?
When I started producing comics and stories, because I struggled with the actual act of drawing, inking, writing, and one hundred other elements I thought I had to master, I usually constructed stories by building one panel at a time and asking myself "what goes next?" Often, I did not know what was happening in my story as I built it. This works or can work for smaller pieces. What I came to realize was that this has a very strong limitation in longer stories.
We have talked about the use of thumbnails a lot. The primary purpose of the thumbnail is to get the ideas out of your head, one drawing at a time and one page at a time. However, a great benefit of using a thumbnail system is that if you are thinking about it properly as a transitional step in creating the artwork, the thumbnail now becomes a place where you can test out different layouts, camera angles, and story techniques without wasting time producing finished work that does not satisfy what you are looking for.
I am actually in this process now, right now, as I build my story for The Spider and The Mountain. Thumbnails allow me to play around with the composition and placement of panels without committing. There is nothing more frustrating than being halfway into inks or colors and deciding that the story is not clear, and that the composition should have been changed.
I will work based on a script, notes, sketches, diagrams, photo reference, or other aids in the following manner:
IDEA
Once I get through my scene or story in a first go through, I lay out the thumbnails of the pages to look over and compare to one another. After I see everything, I go back and make adjustments by moving panels, combining panels, changing the shape or size of panels. Since each page can be anywhere from one to ten sketches each (or more), I have a lot of drawings to consider.
NOTE: I know that a lot of people are producing thumbnails on the computer and then using layers to build up the artwork. This is valid and if it works for you, then I say fine. However, one limitation with the computer is that the very ability to make change after change effortlessly means that you are never looking at comparison sketches side by side and considering them against one another. It is a flaw I feel.
Still further into the idea of page layouts and composition. Your panels should always support your story. ALWAYS.
When I look at composition as a whole, the entire story - I usually have an idea of where I want my impact panels to be. I am thinking about my full, half, and two-page spreads.
When I look at my scenes (which I usually make from one to five pages in length), I am again considering the story and also looking at what kinds of variety I have. Do I have enough closeups in the scene to connect with readers? Does the scene feel anchored by enough establishing shots? Are there silhouettes needed? Does the story move? Etc. Having the thumbnails allows me to make adjustments before pencil art and inking start. I am thinking about composition here at this level too.
When I do individual pages, everything is composition! Usually I will think of my page with one main idea in mind and build around it. This allows me to concentrate on making sure I communicate that idea with everything else I put on the page. It is hard and takes practice but worth the effort and all the comics that have inspired me over time are those that take page design seriously.
When I do single panels, I just want my framing to be clear so that information can be easily absorbed. If the importance of the shot is the guy reacting to his phone, I usually don't show that with a wide establishing shot. In comics, individual panels and single drawings have less importance than the whole story. People will read through and fill in details using their imagination to create movement, sound, and emotional impact. Composition is still important at this level but I usually think of it in terms of clarity. Am I being clear when I show this panel? Or page? Or scene?
If I am breaking down a written script, I usually look at what the main plot points are going to be and how I can translate them visually into comic storytelling. This also takes practice and usually an author will overload a reader with information in prose that needs to be made much more dramatic and simplified in the art phase. For myself, I like to work with piecing the visuals and the concepts together while including key dialogue. The text and dialogue take up physical space in the final version, so I usually block that in on my thumbnail also. I change my dialogue while I am working. Lettering can be done on a separate layer so it can be edited easily.
Composition and comics go hand in hand. Still, it is probably best to not worry too much about the composition. It will come with time and practice. Place your emphasis on making sure that you are getting your ideas out on paper where you can edit them. Once the story is built, you can go back and revise and move things around knowing that you have the story you want, and revisions will just make it stronger. Clarity in storytelling is a top concern.
By the time you get to pencils and inks, there should be very little problems with composition to mess around with. At those stages, you are more interested in the actual drawing and making your black plate.
This is all I have time for this morning. This topic is a big one and I can only show you some of my struggles and what works for me. I will only try to show you processes that make sense but you are more than welcome to disagree or try different combinations until you get your own working methods. My recommendation is to do original short stories of five to ten pages. This will teach you how to set up scenes. A longer-form story will simply be composed of a string of scenes. Making comics and narrative art is challenging and fun, like a puzzle that you create for yourself to solve.
Subscribe to this blog to receive notifications (so you never miss a post!).
Share your favorite posts with like-minded creatives.
Comment and ask questions or make requests in the space below.
We have talked about the use of thumbnails a lot. The primary purpose of the thumbnail is to get the ideas out of your head, one drawing at a time and one page at a time. However, a great benefit of using a thumbnail system is that if you are thinking about it properly as a transitional step in creating the artwork, the thumbnail now becomes a place where you can test out different layouts, camera angles, and story techniques without wasting time producing finished work that does not satisfy what you are looking for.
I am actually in this process now, right now, as I build my story for The Spider and The Mountain. Thumbnails allow me to play around with the composition and placement of panels without committing. There is nothing more frustrating than being halfway into inks or colors and deciding that the story is not clear, and that the composition should have been changed.
I will work based on a script, notes, sketches, diagrams, photo reference, or other aids in the following manner:
IDEA
SKETCH/WRITE
THUMBNAIL/WRITE/REVISE
PENCIL ART
INK ART
LETTERS/WRITING REVISIONS
COLOR
PRODUCTION
Once I get through my scene or story in a first go through, I lay out the thumbnails of the pages to look over and compare to one another. After I see everything, I go back and make adjustments by moving panels, combining panels, changing the shape or size of panels. Since each page can be anywhere from one to ten sketches each (or more), I have a lot of drawings to consider.
NOTE: I know that a lot of people are producing thumbnails on the computer and then using layers to build up the artwork. This is valid and if it works for you, then I say fine. However, one limitation with the computer is that the very ability to make change after change effortlessly means that you are never looking at comparison sketches side by side and considering them against one another. It is a flaw I feel.
Still further into the idea of page layouts and composition. Your panels should always support your story. ALWAYS.
When I look at composition as a whole, the entire story - I usually have an idea of where I want my impact panels to be. I am thinking about my full, half, and two-page spreads.
When I look at my scenes (which I usually make from one to five pages in length), I am again considering the story and also looking at what kinds of variety I have. Do I have enough closeups in the scene to connect with readers? Does the scene feel anchored by enough establishing shots? Are there silhouettes needed? Does the story move? Etc. Having the thumbnails allows me to make adjustments before pencil art and inking start. I am thinking about composition here at this level too.
When I do individual pages, everything is composition! Usually I will think of my page with one main idea in mind and build around it. This allows me to concentrate on making sure I communicate that idea with everything else I put on the page. It is hard and takes practice but worth the effort and all the comics that have inspired me over time are those that take page design seriously.
When I do single panels, I just want my framing to be clear so that information can be easily absorbed. If the importance of the shot is the guy reacting to his phone, I usually don't show that with a wide establishing shot. In comics, individual panels and single drawings have less importance than the whole story. People will read through and fill in details using their imagination to create movement, sound, and emotional impact. Composition is still important at this level but I usually think of it in terms of clarity. Am I being clear when I show this panel? Or page? Or scene?
If I am breaking down a written script, I usually look at what the main plot points are going to be and how I can translate them visually into comic storytelling. This also takes practice and usually an author will overload a reader with information in prose that needs to be made much more dramatic and simplified in the art phase. For myself, I like to work with piecing the visuals and the concepts together while including key dialogue. The text and dialogue take up physical space in the final version, so I usually block that in on my thumbnail also. I change my dialogue while I am working. Lettering can be done on a separate layer so it can be edited easily.
Composition and comics go hand in hand. Still, it is probably best to not worry too much about the composition. It will come with time and practice. Place your emphasis on making sure that you are getting your ideas out on paper where you can edit them. Once the story is built, you can go back and revise and move things around knowing that you have the story you want, and revisions will just make it stronger. Clarity in storytelling is a top concern.
By the time you get to pencils and inks, there should be very little problems with composition to mess around with. At those stages, you are more interested in the actual drawing and making your black plate.
This is all I have time for this morning. This topic is a big one and I can only show you some of my struggles and what works for me. I will only try to show you processes that make sense but you are more than welcome to disagree or try different combinations until you get your own working methods. My recommendation is to do original short stories of five to ten pages. This will teach you how to set up scenes. A longer-form story will simply be composed of a string of scenes. Making comics and narrative art is challenging and fun, like a puzzle that you create for yourself to solve.
Subscribe to this blog to receive notifications (so you never miss a post!).
Share your favorite posts with like-minded creatives.
Comment and ask questions or make requests in the space below.
Sign-Up for the unofficial Billion Hero Studios Newsletter by sending an email with the word "Newsletter" in the subject line to: billionherostudios@gmail.com
Thank you for visiting, participating, and collaborating in the storytelling experience.
Thank you for visiting, participating, and collaborating in the storytelling experience.
Rick Arthur, founder
Billion Hero Studios
Billion Hero Studios
The power of storytelling
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