Thumbnails are perhaps the most crucial piece of the comic creation process (at least for yours truly) because they offer a chance to let words and artwork collide on the page for the first time. Like a chemistry experiment, the two components don't always interact in expected ways. Sometimes a particular piece of dialogue will take up way more space than anticipated, or a section that was planned as a single page ends up making more sense as several. In other words, thumbnails offer a chance to goof things up as much as necessary without requiring lengthy do-overs of the final product.
Sometimes, something awesome and unexpected emerges from the carefree spirit of the thumbnail that persists into the final version. On page 22, I liked the two Elementals laughing in the top panel so much that they were added to the final version with only minor changes. Click the images to see full-size:
Sometimes, something awesome and unexpected emerges from the carefree spirit of the thumbnail that persists into the final version. On page 22, I liked the two Elementals laughing in the top panel so much that they were added to the final version with only minor changes. Click the images to see full-size:
Page 23 stayed mostly the same, but I fixed the orientation of the watch face in the final version (Skreer, why would you wear a watch where 12 isn't at the top!?) and combined the last two panels into one after thinking over the note I wrote in the margin. Click the images to see full-size:
Hooray for thumbnails!
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