The Role of Thumbnails in Comic Page Design
Thumbnails are the initial designs for comic pages that serve as a blueprint before creating the final sequential art. Sometimes, I use only a portion of the original idea such as 50% or less, because pacing changes can help to tell a better story.
Panel Size and Rough Layouts
Determining the size of the panels is very helpful during the conceptual stage of designing my rough layouts. Depending on your schedule, these sketches can be quite loose and only your imagination as the creator can understand the gaps that need to be filled. Writing notes off to the side of these simple figures can save a lot of time. This way, I won't lose sight of my original intent.
Flexibility in Comic Layouts
Creating layouts for comics can be a fun process, as it allows for exploring interesting "what if" scenarios. However, it's important to be able to adapt and change these ideas if they don't fit the overall narrative. For instance, while my initial idea in this sketch was to have the Holoreaper visit Wantedman in a fever dream, I ultimately decided to introduce the Blood Raiders instead. One lesson I've learned is that it's better to work on the comic issues as a whole rather than one page at a time.
Simplicity in Thumbnail Creation
Thumbnails are the one area of comics you don’t need to overthink. Layout what comes to mind first, and you will be able to tell very soon whether you’ve made the right composition decision.
Thumbnail to Detailed Drawing Process
Thumbnails to be are the roughs before the roughs. I usually draw a 6 page comic in tiny thumbnails on one page. Then, I craft the roughs of those pages in a light blue pencil after I was happy with the initial design. Next, I added the 4H (hard) pencil on top. To finish the drawing, I ink with a brush or microns in full detail.
Hope you to get to do what you love today.
Your Homie,
Read Wantedman, Cyber-Western Comic by Sapo.
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