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Jme
•
3yr
added comment inPage layout faux pas
Asked for help
Page layout and design is new to me, got some questions around things like:
- where the horizon line falls in each panel on a single page
- the mix of shots used in panels for a single page
- when and when not to repeat information within multiple panels
Am very confident with writing but translating writing skills to the types of skills that are unique to comic stories is proving challenging.
Are there some common faux pas or things that good comic artists should typically try to avoid when it comes to page layout? More specifically, in my early storyboards I find myself worrying about things like:
- Is it OK to have ~2 panels on a page (especially consecutively) where the horizon line is the same height, or the height of the horizon line hasn't differed significantly between the two panels?
- What to avoid when using the same types of shots for ~2+ panels on a page? i.e. Establishing/long shot > med > med > med > closeup? My initial thought is that this is fine so long as the angle of each shot differs in a meaningful way, but in practice I'm skeptical that there are lots of pitfalls here that can make the end result boring or off.
- What to avoid when using panels to establish setting, i.e. after the initial establishing shot, tips and tricks for revealing more of the setting and environment in a way that's interesting and meaningful prior to introducing characters.
- Using the same perspective multiple panels in a row , i.e 2pt perspective several times in a row on the same page, and so on.
Possibly overthinking a lot of this, but any general advice or things to avoid in terms of page layout would be appreciated.
Ron Kempke
3yr
This may answer some of your questions or at least get you thinking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdWsNp5KWdE&t=3148s
Charline B.R.
3yr
I should say I share your struggle exactly so take my words with a mountain of salt.
Many of your points depend on the kind/type of story you want to tell. Slice of life and adventure have their own different language, noir comics and humor too, etc... Yet their is no exact recipe.
One thing useful for any : every panel need to have a goal, don't waste space and time for something that do not add to the story.
You can absolutely have multiple long establishing shot if needed, e.g. to show a very large area or changes in a large area. Make sure it build an expectation for the audience thought.
If you feel you are struggling to know "what to put here to get to the next interesting part", then maybe it need to be discarded, be brutal for your own sake.
Also instead of looking for what technic is good, maybe try to focus on something easier to grasp : idea/meaning and ambiance.
You can look for movies that are in the same "family" as your story and check how they storytell and rythm everything. That could relieve you a bit at the beginning and there is no shame in taking inspiration here.
One of the rude thing I learned is : start even if unsure, because you can't test what do not exist.
Do a few pages, very roughly to avoid spending time on details, then look at how they articulate together.
Redundancy will be easier to spot. Unwanted inbalance like too much text in one page or too many little panel opposed to the general pace will also be easy to see.
Finally, have alpha- readers. Don't tell anything about the script and ask them what happen. The delta will tell you where you need fix. Also beginner tend to over-charge with info and details, it's okay to let the reader with a bit of mistery and add details on the go.
I know it's probably not the answer you expect, sadly it's only with material that we could help you more in-depth...
Cheers :)
Page layout and design is new to me, looking to get some insight.
M0GAKU
•
4yr
Asked for help
Followed along with proko doing beans... compared to his mine feels a little off... like they are longer in a way idk... some help will be appreciated <3
I think you've got the gist of it; once you become more comfortable, try to loosen up your hand and your lines (you want loose, confident strokes that are intentional); I think that's why you're feeling that yours look somehow different from Proko's. For the actual goal of the exercise, however, it seems you're establishing a solid foundation (a couple may be a little long, as someone else said, but you're still capturing the motion correctly).
James Doane
•
4yr
Cool idea! As far as masters, I always liked Rembrandt. I do a lot of digital portraits, and I really like Aaron Griffin’s work (aarongriffinart on IG) and Ivana Besevic (ivanabesevic.studio on IG), but there are a lot of others. I also really like the painting style of Solomon Omogboye (solomon_omogboye_studio on IG). Kevin Beilfuss (kevinbeilfussart on IG) does very cool figure paintings.
I’ll add more as I think of them… there are a LOT of great artists out there!
Nobody knows everybody, would be great to share favorites around -- and maybe gain new favorites as a result ("favorite artist" either in terms of aspirations, art mentors, artists you do your master studies from, anything really).
Couple of my favorites:
- Grace Liu (https://nargyle.tumblr.com)
- Elle Power (https://twitter.com/EllePowerr, mostly known for her art/animation on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9Q3i5w6-Ug)
