Part Five: Pencils
Explore the pencil stage of The Last Abraxan. Where the characters, forms, and settings take shape
With the breakdowns complete, I started the pencils, which were also done in Procreate. I’m amazed at how much the pencils in Procreate resemble real graphite. These were drawn directly over the breakdowns, usually as another layer in the same file. My pencils aren’t particularly tight, especially when I’m inking them myself. I generally indicate textures and shadows, but often in a rather sloppy way. I didn’t focus much on the actual line weights or forms. I included enough detail to communicate what's happening in each panel, but the rendering itself was somewhat loose, leaving room for more expression during the inking stage. I didn’t have a full script, but I had a general idea of what was being said and by whom, so I penciled everything to leave space for dialogue to be added later.
as with the breakdowns, I did these not just for the comic pages, but for the other pages I would need to illustrate, such as the merchandise ad, subscription ad, Hostess ad, and toy soldier ad.
Previous: Breakdowns
Next: Inks & Letters