See, I told you having to draw Shawn’s face like that was going to be an issue. I didn’t want to do it again so bad, I put it off for 8 and a half years!
On a serious note… this actually was a really challenging comic. I forgot how to use the wacom. I didn’t have the right fonts installed anymore. I’ve lost all my preset actions / brush settings. I forgot how to draw the characters.
I’m like… so out of practice, and I can see how far I’ve slid from where I was 8 years ago.
But, I’m excited to get back there.
Might be a bad choice not to show Shawn’s disfigured face in this comic when the punchline revolves around his disfigured face… but I still like the aesthetic of the third panel. Sooo. Toss up?
Plus, I didn’t have to draw his face!
I forgot how much of this process is figuring out a way to cram the artwork and the dialogue into these ‘standard’ dimensions you find in newspapers.
I’ve considered just deviating from this size format (let’s be honest - I’ll never be in the papers), but part of me worries that if I give myself unlimited space, I’ll USE it. I end up cutting out about 40% of the total dialogue I’d initially wrote in an effort to make it fit, and I think the comic ends up reading better for it. The same joke, with tighter dialogue.
But getting there can still be a challenge.