Having agreed to draw Greg's script for the fanzine 'Dogbreath' I received the commissioning email and script from Dave Evans on 3rd September 2011. I had really enjoyed working on 'The Big Scab' with Greg and I was looking forward to fleshing out his latest story. One of the good things about Greg's scripts (from my point of view) is that he provides just the right amount and type of information for each panel. In doing so he leaves me a little wiggle room to use my imagination which can make all the difference to the finished look of the artwork.
I had been drawing every panel for my comic strips on different bits of A4 paper and then scanning them in for the last few years (I liked the freedom created by this, rather than being restricted to drawing the whole page on one big bit of card) however I had decided to go back to the old methods and was producing all six pages for this story on A3 220gm heavy weight paper.
I got cracking on the artwork and managed to get all six pages done in the evenings by 20th of September 2011.
In the 'Pro' world of comics seventeen days is way too long to complete six pages however: for an unpaid small-press artist with other time commitments I felt sure this was ok....but as ever I wanted to do better on my next script.
For those interested in how the story 'Blood from a Stone' was developed here is a link to Greg Meldrums blog where he talks further about his idea's and more importantly...(LOL!) praises me!
http://hisowndrum.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/youre-doc-doc.html
Below I have provided the page layouts for the six pages. In previous projects ('The Graduate' and the 'Big Scab') I had produced more elaborate page layouts. For 'Blood from a Stone' I decided to save time by drawing quick 'thumbnail' sketches for each page. Then if I was happy with the layout and story telling aspects of each panel, I would start on the page right away.
Above: Page layouts for page 3.
Above: Page layouts for page 4.
Above: Page layouts for page 5.
Above: Page layouts for page 6.
Should you wish to read 'Blood from a Stone' you can buy a copy of Dogbreath No. 25 via this link...
http://www.futurequake.co.uk/shop.php
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