Long John

I am not a detail-oriented artist. After doing the work to put details into an establishing shot for a scene, I do admittedly avoid complex backgrounds from that point on if I can. Such is the case with this scene. But laziness isn’t the only reason for the sparse backgrounds in this scene. I really want to try blocking in setting and depth with the colors, shading, and texture rather than complicating every panel with detail (re: the implication of the beams that stretch across the ceiling in panel 1). I’m not sure it was a success, but it was a fun challenge and I learned a lot. If anything, I didn’t want to distract from the “acting” happening in this part of the scene, the tension and misunderstanding that’s building to an inevitable conclusion. In a sense, I tried to do some “black box theater” for this part of the scene as a way to make it all about the interaction that these characters are making worse with every choice.

The thumbnail for this page. Dialogue notes included. Click for larger version.