In my opinion, the hardest thing about comics is paneling and pacing...we'll discuss panels today.
So i've read a few books about effective paneling and layout and I do understand the basics. For the most part I'm content with my paneling skills. They help get the story across and don't really cause any confusion, but I feel that I could be doing more with them...I'm still slightly confused. My problem is that I feel my panels are way too basic, there really isn't much excitement or intrigue to them. I know it's all about experimenting and learning as you go with things like this but I guess I need a little shove.
So I was wondering if any of you guys knew about any online tutorials, had any tips, good books or any page examples of awesome page layout. I really want to see how different artist handle their panels and camera angles depending on the mood/scene/action.
Very Great and Talented Artist who I consider my pals and Inspirations
oh but yeah, what i also meant to say is how people also feel like they need to have interesting panel layouts, but again flashy isnt the best. many of the best graphic novels use a simple 6 panel format or an 8 or a 4 panel layout. Setting an even pace with a repetitive format causes for a greater emphasis on pages with 16 panels or splash pages. so keep that in mind as well.
That was my main problem, my pages always sit between 6-8 panels and I was really beginning to think I didn't know what I was doing because I felt safe with those panels. So yes I need to remember panel repetition! Wow, Thank you!
well one thing that i've heard from my professors and professional comic artists is that when you first start drawing comics you usually feel that you should be doing more with your panels but really if you think about it panels are there to set a pace to a story and making them flashy or whatever only draws away from whats inside them. as far as dealing with how panels effect pacing collect a series of comic pages for yourself and pay attention to how fast your eye moves across the page, figure out the difference between a lot of small panels or only a couple large ones. notice how a borderless panel can act like a visual stop sign on a page, making a break in the flow of a story. it really comes down to experimentation, observation, and content/style/preference.
I do that often I actually keep a stack of comic books around whenever I attempt to do any pages. Lol even though it would be very insightful I don't know if I have the guts to ask him to spare time for one of my questions!
so... hope that helps get the ol' noggin turning.
i mean, you watch sean murphy, his panelling stuff is awesome.
you should ask him to write one of his long rambling yet informative journals on it...
especially for Action/Scenes...