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Creating Comics Tutorial - Penciling: Locations Locations
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Penciling: Locations
By Zorikh Lequidre

1. Locations
Where does the story take place? Are there scenes indoors? Outdoors? Does it take place today? In the past? In the future? On another planet? What does the decor of a room tell about its inhabitants? Where does the light come from? How big is the space and how far away or close together can the characters get? How can you design the space to allow the action to flow through it in a believable manner? Is there anything the audience should see in a space early in the story that will come into play later?

These are just a few of the questions you should ask yourself. Collect reference material. Like the costumes, you can look around you, use libraries, magazines.

Life drawing can be no end of help. Sketch locations. When you see a room, or a building, or a field, or a tree that looks interesting to you, sit down and draw it. Then when it comes time to put it on the page, you've already solved some of the drawing problems. If you don't have the time to draw, carry a camera with you often and build up a file of reference material.

While you are getting your reference, think of how the action will play through the space. Draw a floor plan, or a map, a schematic drawing of the location. You may have to adjust this several times, just like the character sheets, as you read the script over and over and get new ideas. That's what this step is all about: so that you don't have to scrap hours worth of effort because now something doesn’t work.

Next: Penciling: Props and Vehicles

Comics & Sequential Art cover

Will Eisner; Format: Hardcover ISBN: 0-9614728-0-4 and Paperback, ISBN: 0-9614728-0-2; 154pp; Publisher: Poorhouse Press; Pub. Date: 1985

Graphic Storytelling cover

Will Eisner; Format: Hardcover ISBN: 0-9614728-3-9; Paperback, ISBN: 0-9614728-2-0; 164pp; Publisher: Poorhouse Press; Pub. Date: 1995

How to Draw and Sell Comic Strips for Newspapers and Comic Books , Alan McKenzie; Format: Hardcover, 144pp.; ISBN 0-89134-214-1; Publisher: North Light Books, F & W Publications, Inc., Pub. Date: 1987

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Back to:
Pg.1: Definition and History of Comics
Pg.2: Comics Today
Pg.3: Terms of the Trade
Writing: Story and Plot
Writing: Script
Sample Script
Penciling: Tools: Short Answers
Penciling: Tools: Furniture and Paper
Penciling: Tools: Pencils and Erasers
Penciling: Tools: Straightedges and More
Penciling: Creating Characters
Penciling: Character Sheets
Penciling: Costumes
Penciling: Locations

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Penciling: Props and Vehicles
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