So I wrote this page. Then I thumbnailed this page. Then I drew this page. It wasn’t until I started to color the page that I realized that Oli should be dead. How would he survive that fall? I spent a few minutes thinking about a way to fix it. But then I was like “hey this is a comic. This is shiver bureau. This is a normal thing in their world and of course he’d be able to survive.” Even if he did die he’d just come back in a few issues in typical comic fashion.
Cars! Every panel is cars. I was really worried my art skills wouldn’t be able to handle my writing. Actually there is a lot of stuff in this second volume that has me worried and this first chapter is the least of my concerns. But the good thing is that if I can get through it I know I will be a better artist when the dust clears.
The car going over the hump is one of my favorite things. It’s one of those things that stuck out to me when I was a kid watching movies and tv. I don’t know what it is about it. It is equal parts silly and exciting. Which is kind of how I tell my stories and approach my art. Go figure.
I had been thinking about these panels since I wrote them. Trying to figure out in my head how I would lay them out. The one I was really worried about was the swerve. How do you get all the energy of a car going out of control in a static panel? I guess you just use a lot of “noise” with lines and dust and splashing water and dirt and whatever you got.
We are about to get into a lot of car action in the next few pages. I always get a little nervous drawing cars. They are so geometric which clashes with my loose style. But I tried to keep it loose anyways. Basically sketch the gesture of the car the same way I would for a character and just go with it. Even if it wasn’t “anatomical” correct. I like the way they came out. Also really liking this batch of pages coming up. Maybe just because of the fact that I had to face my fears about drawing cars.
