Pacing a Page and Making it Dynamic!

by Gibson Quarter

Creating a page that has strong storytelling with exciting visuals is always a challenge…throw in a script from your writer who has their own pacing in mind, and it becomes even more of an art than a science!

When I first started drawing pages, I gave the writer EXACTLY what he asked for. If the script said 9 panels on a page, then by God, that’s what I drew on the page. Now that I’ve pencilled a fair share of pages, I tend to think of the script as more of a ‘framework’ to make cool visuals with. I’m not afraid to switch things up if I think it’ll make for better art.

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Sam Ruano wrote a nifty little script -Polarized- for Holmes Inc. #2.I noticed that in 5 of the 7 pages, the script called for 5 panels per page. In pages #2 and #3 I felt the need to switch up the panel layouts in order to maximize the dynamism and heroism of Edgar and Elizabeth.

Changing the ‘beats’ per page like this also helps to keep the story flow interesting. Having too many pages with a similar panel count per page can put the reader in comfort zone when comics should be about BIG excitement and dynamics. With that in mind, I tweaked the layout as shown and made sure to vary my panel shapes and sizes too.

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Please note that switching beats per page and panel sizes only works if you DONT LOSE YOUR STORYTELLING!

It aint all about the splash page, you’ve got to tell the story clearly too.

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More details on dynamism and laying out a page (including a detailled breakdown of this page) can be found on my blog.

‘Polarized’ is a great script…look for the whole story in the upcoming Holmes inc. #2!

http://gibsonquarter27art.blogspot.com/