THUMBNAILED IT!

Hey friends! It's Rori here for this week’s process blog update.

Currently the 1st draft of the script is done and edits have come in. I’d wanted to get a jump on things, so I made the calculated risk to start thumbnailing, knowing some things might change, and being okay with that trade-off. I often retool layouts a lot between the thumbnail and pencils stages, so I was comfortable with none of this being final. But, lucky me (and congrats to Gibson on nailing it!) there were minimal edits! So now I find myself in the thick of thumbs…let’s talk about it!

My thumbnail process has never been something set in stone. I think I may have used a different thumbnail process for every work I’ve done. However, one thing they all have had in common is I’ve drawn them REALLY SMALL (think stamp-sized). The last few years I’ve settled into thumbnailing directly on the printed script for comics where I’m working with a writer. This has worked well for those shorter pieces, but, this being a 250+ page graphic novel, I knew in my heart the chaos had to yield to a little order ;)

So, for probably the first time, I sat down and thought about what I wanted, needed, and could live with for a thumbnail setup and process. Some highlights from my list:

big enough to show clear layout & panel details for my editor’s and others’ review
small enough to retain dynamic energy & quick production
in proportion to final pages so I don’t have to adjust at pencil stage
room to do multiple versions of the same layout
laid out in spreads
room for notes
kept in one or more sketchbooks in sequential order

The set up you see here is what I settled upon as workable: three spreads per 9x12 page, the left half being the first version, the right half being open for me to rework the layout (which I've done here a couple times), with room for notes and sketches. I'm only using the front side of the pages right now, so I can use the facing back sides for more edits and sketches if necessary. I guess just because I appreciate chaos, doesn't mean I can't get VERY organized, haha!

Importantly, though: my goal here wasn’t to “correct” the old ways I’d done thumbnails, because those ways did work, but to create a new system to meet new expectations. And for every decision I made, I had to ask myself the most important question: can I maintain this? The most pristine organization is moot if you can’t maintain it.

ANYWAY! I hope you enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at my process. I'll post more as I go along. For now, wish me luck with my 200+ pages to go.

♥R!

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