Nunavut, p.5 before and after edits

The left and right pages of this comic, Nunavut, were completed months apart. As part of my final coloring class, we were required to edit and color a black and white series of three pages we'd previously done. This project is unfinished and very well may never be completed, but this was a wonderful example of the importance of backing away from your work and coming back to it with older eyes.

First, the lettering was completely redone. The original lettering used a font that was difficult to read and had a very digitally rendered feel. The new lettering is in hand drawn balloons with hand lettering, a good touch to match the rugged folk-tale nature of the story!

Secondly, I changed the first sequence of panels to more accurately read as time passing. Sometimes the simplest edits actually have the most power!

The big change was the amount of redrawing and detail work was added to the environment. It's important to note that the black and white comic page was actually done for a 24 hour comic challenge. Likely, the page got no more than thirty minutes of time to ink. This fast rendering time means that there's absolutely no time to put into details that I'd like to include, so getting the opportunity to go back and work in the personality of the space was a luxury, but what a difference it makes! Suddenly, this is no longer just a cave, but specifically Yuka's (the long haired character's) cave! 

If there's anything to take away from this, it's that our first impressions for panel layouts can often be strong and sound, but the working of that composition may need another pass before truly being considered 'done'. Even doing it purely for practice on a page can show how much you've grown since working on the original. 

I hope you guys enjoy seeing some of these 'behind the scenes' pieces, such as school work and written explanations. If you'd like to see the other two pages from this series, please let me know!