Rough Layout

I had to do some commercial storyboards tonight, so I didn't get much time to work on the comic. I'm still working on my rough layout. Here's my page 2 and 3 spread. This is how I layout my comic. I figure out all the panel work and poses at this stage. You'll be amazed how much this helps when I get to the final pencil stage. My guesswork is done for me. Once I finish roughing out the whole book I take some ref photos, then pencil, then watercolor. Sounds pretty simple.

This spread is the introduction to one of the main characters, a young honey collector of the Eastern Reaches. His character is based off my son, Kodo.

My friend Leonard Robel loaned me a photo book called The Honey Collectors of Nepal and that's where I got the inspiration for this character and for his introduction. These Nepalese guys scale sheer cliffs and brave swarms of stinging bees to harvest honey and beeswax. I already had the character written into the story, but he was a minor character. After I gave him the background as a honey collector, I found that he ended up being very important to the story. It's amazing how the background of a character can open up new story possibilities.

I ended up creating a character based off Leonard too. I'll show him to you tomorrow.