Shifting Sands

 Hello Dear Readers!

Guess I'm a bit late on my posting here. Sunday got away from me - darn work!  But here it is... 

Page 8

On a previous page, when Fancy radioed the base and asked for permission to engage, I have changed the text a bit so that they say "Permission granted, but we're guests here, no weapons" (some day I'll revise the image on this blog).  That revision makes the top bit of dialogue a bit more understandable. That directive to not use weapons is why Capt. Fancy doesn't just shoot down the enemy jets right away.

The first two panels of the hand on the stick were pretty challenging and I'm still not quite happy with them. The angle feels off. Anyway, if I ever get to doing clean versions which will necessitate CG models, I'll model a cockpit so I can get this sort of thing right.

I like the movement from 3rd to 4th panels - I feel you get a sense of the jet coming in hard and fast from above. I'm not wild about the gun sounds ("Baka baka"), but... small details. I like how the pilot of Cardy 2 still seems a bit gormless.

Hope you like it!

Landmarks

 'Allo Faithful Readers!

A turbulent week it has been, but yet, I give you... Flight of Fancy, Page 7!!!

Page 7

Before beginning this page, I knew I was going to need some sort of landmark, something about which the action could happen so the audience (I.G.) could understand who's who and where they are in the environment and in relation to one another. Thus, this mesa that was introduced in the previous page and continued here and in the next pages too.

I like the 2nd panel (bottom right).  I hope the multiple images are clear that they are of one jet seen at various points in time, not 3 different jets.  Looks dynamic and exciting. I also like how that jet's motion connects to the next panel.

Incidentally, this is the second version I did of this page. I don't think the other version worked because I was trying to shoe-horn in some action that I couldn't make clear. It is interesting to come up with ideas and try to make them out. If they work, great, but if they don't, well, I just roll with it and alter the story around it.

Keep You Guessing?

 Hello my good friends - I.Ghost...

Here it is, page 6!

Page 6

The third panel (the long one in the middle of the page) was pretty tough. I drew it a few times before deciding it worked well enough. The impact of the enemy jet into the rock face doesn't have the punch or force that I wanted, but I thought I could re-work it if/when I ever clean it up.

The bottom panel is another example of some nice rock / environment drawings.  I really like how the mesa - the large, flat topped hill - turned out. You can see and understand the terrain. I think the shadows also really help.

Again, the flow of the jets through the shots looks clear and understandable to me, but if they don't to you, let me know, hey?!

One big challenge I had with this sequence is that I wanted to make it interesting and fresh, novel, but having never flown a fighter jet and not knowing anything about aerial combat tactics, I didn't really know what would be likely or even possible and I kept worrying that the action I was drawing and what might come next would be obvious to the viewer, but I think (I hope) I have been able to surprise you. 

Unfortumately, you'll have to wait for the next instalment (pages) to see if indeed it was predictable or not!

Anyway, I hope you like it.

Little Lines Add So Much

Hello Hello!  

Here is page 5 of Flight of Fancy.

 

Page 5

Those cockpit drawings, tight inside the space with low angles are pretty tough. Creating a CG model of the planes and putting a virtual camera in there to get things looking right will really help. But that's waaaaay down the road, up in the air... choose your metaphor.

I like the 2nd panel. It turned looking really dynamic and the perspective works well too... I think it is because of the little lines in the background around the left-most jet on that helps make it look fast, shows movement, but also help suggest the perspective of the environment.

While doing more pages, I find sometimes the action gets confusing - which jet is that? Is that the good guy or bad guy? etc... Colour and decals on the jets would help, but I was also wondering if at the start of the book inside the hard cover, there are a bunch of drawings of different jets, labelled with a bit of info about what country uses those jets and then on the dust jacket there could be-

Slow down, Tiger!  Let's just get this thing drawn before we wade into getting it published!

Reversals

 Hello hello!

And here, is Flight of Fancy, Page 4!!!

Page 4

So, two things... I've gone back into the first posting for this series and put page 2 at the top of the post, and page 1 below it, so that if you want to see them all in succession, go to the bottom of the first post, then scroll up, and voila, you can read them in order. 

And along that idea of reversals, I like how the flow of action happens between the 2nd last and last panels here... the pilot ejects from the jet, then we see the action lines as he flies and drops (through the panel border)  into the canyon wall in the final panel. It has a fun, circular feel, that even if you don't get the first time around, it is entertaining to "reread" the action there. Let me know if you think so too, or how it could be adjusted to be clearer.

I've done a few pages more, and am finding two things... A) it is hard to draw explosions - I think the inking will really help make them clear- dark on the outside, glowing flame roiling on the inside and B) I need to come up with more "sound" words... BOOM, CRUNCH, CRAK etc. gets a bit repetitive and are not very imaginative.