Comics Artopsy #2
More layout dissection
Hello everyone,
Today, I’d like to show you a little bit more of my layout process and even include a glimpse of how I build my backgrounds with the help of pre-made perspective grids that you’ll see on the third video (“details 27”).
So, on these two pages, 26 and 27, you can observe how I really start from scratch, modify and change things all along the way. Some pages are easier to layout than others. It hasn’t happened on Spectators yet, but I remember ending a layout, being not entirely happy with it, and starting it all over again with a whole new approach.
For those interested, attached are my layouts for the first 20 pages of Spectators:
Hope you enjoyed these! Stay tuned for more about inking and coloring, and please let me know if you have any suggestions about specific steps of the process you’d like to see or know more about.
I’ll leave you with these four steps of my process on page 26, from basic composition to finished colors…
Fun anecdote: Early in my comics career, I sent my own hand-drawn sample layouts to an artist, who kindly told me, "Never, ever do that again." And I never have!
Anyway, thanks for the fascinating window into your process, Niko. I've told you this many times, but your "loose" layouts are tighter than many artists' finished pages.
Thank you for giving me such a wonderful insight to the way you work. It is always crazy how things come to life and how you can give a piece of white paper so much emotions. Thank you again