Preview LTTL Graphic Novel Backgrounds

Written by Sabine ten Lohuis Friday, 24 June 2011 14:33

This week I've still been working on the concept art for the graphic novel. I still can't show too much of it, but I can show some small concept sketches I made for the backgrounds. The story is going to take place in several different locations and these are just two of them. 

I made these small sketches to figure out the lay-out of all the different settings more precisely. They don't need to look pretty or have a certain mood yet, because I just made them as a sort of map for easy reference. If I have little sketches like this with a very simple viewing point which shows the entire space, I can use it for reference later on while drawing the story to figure out the perspective in each panel. 

I'm also not sure about the colors for the comic yet, I'm actually making a lot of color tests this week (which I can't show yet). But coloring everything in gray tones like this helps me to establish a certain balance in the image. What's going to be darker and what objects should be lighter to have a nice balance, things like that. I can then use this as reference to choose colors with the same kind of feeling and value later on.

The little blobs of color next to the sketches are just for documentation. I'm working with a lot of different tools and media and sometimes it's hard to distinguish what I used for what. So I quickly jot down how I drew everything using what tools. It might come in handy later on and it also helps me to understand my own working process a little more. Figuring out what works and what doesn't is very important to me, it helps me to keep on improving my artwork.