Norm, Cate and I met up a few weeks ago to discuss the scene where Josh meets the bullies. We needed a new approach to the scene, as the old way wasn’t working.
We sat in a cafe and threw some ideas around; in the end, we’d come up with this.
Doesn’t look like much, I’m sure- let me zoom in a bit…
The idea was to have a number of tall panels with a continuous background, and different scenes playing out at different times.
Here’s my rough sketch, where I’m working out the body language and facial expressions of the characters.
I scanned it in and cleaned it up- here’s the panel on the far left after a bit of editing:
…then I used the rough as the basis for a cleaner pencil sketch.
I’ve just started colouring this scene- the sky will be overcast, which could make the lighting tricky. I’ve found some good reference photos though, so I’ll use those as a guide and get onto it.
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Author: James Foley
James makes books for courageous kids. He’s the author/illustrator of the S.Tinker Inc graphic novel series for middle primary: Brobot (2016), Dungzilla (2017) and Gastronauts (2018) star Sally Tinker, the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve, and Joe Tinker, her stinky baby brother. The fourth in the series, Chickensaurus, is out in late 2020. He is also the illustrator of the Toffle Towers series written by Tim Harris. James’ earlier books My Dead Bunny (2015), In The Lion (2012), The Last Viking (2011) and The Last Viking Returns (2014) have all scored several honours, including children’s choice awards, shortlistings in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year awards, and selection to the International Youth Library’s White Raven list. The sequel to My dead Bunny - There's Something Weird About Lena - is out in late 2020. James comes from a long line of queuing enthusiasts. Follow him on FB/twitter/insta/youtube @jamesfoleybooks, or at www.jamesfoley.com.au .
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I scanned it in and cleaned it up- here’s the panel on the far left after a bit of editing:
I’ve just started colouring this scene- the sky will be overcast, which could make the lighting tricky. I’ve found some good reference photos though, so I’ll use those as a guide and get onto it.
3 thoughts on “Sketching a scene”