Brute Creation Comic Dev Blog

Welcome to the Brute Creations Comic Dev Blog. Join me (JD) as I figure out how to make a fantasy comic series with no comic making knowledge.

How many panels are too many per page? Where do I even begin to learn how to write dialogue? Do I even like linework? I thought I did…. but now… hm.

I'll be stumbling through the process here with the hopes that this blog can keep me motivated to grind through the work, avoid future comic making pitfalls and get the first issue of Brute Creation under my belt.

Page 12 is live over @brutecreationcomic

Page 11 is live over @brutecreationcomic

When I started Brute Creation Tumblr announced it would allow AI to scrape images for training. Now Instagram is doing the same thing. It was such an effort to get things set up, and I wasn't ready to tear it all apart and start over. I'm still not ready to jump ship just yet.

Adventurer! You've stumbled across a Dungeons and Dragons themed webcomic! If you enjoy Brute Creation, and are a d&d nerd like me, maybe you would enjoy my comic Dames and Dragons. You'll join Seles and Ausk as the fumble through dungeons and life with bad puns and jokes. Head on over to Dames and Dragons comic. Adventure awaits! -JD

PAGE 10 of Brute Creation is live over @brutecreationcomic

Thanks to those who have been following the dev blog and the comic blog! This last week has been rough with some not art related things going on. So seeing those likes and kind comments have really helped boost my spirits.

I've not been feeling the drawing vibe lately, but hopefully I can shake it off and get back to just enjoying the process.

Page 9 of BRUTE CREATION is up over @brutecreationcomic

Crop of a panel in progress, it's nearly in it's final stage! One great thing about working in vector is I can drag drop and resize without worrying about messy pixels. Freeing me up to make a small handful of angles for complicated things like the drifters or Myka's glider and drop them across multiple panels. Flipping, scaling, skewing and spacing out the use of repeated assets can help keep things from looking too repetitive. If it happens that's okay, in the grand scheme of things it's better to have a completed comic than worry over a few repeated birds in a panel. Read the comic over @brutecreationcomic

Pages 8 is live over @brutecreationcomic

Let's break down a panel of Brute Creation. This panel looks simple, but subtle composition choices going on. I'll walk you though it- JD

First up I've thrown a thirds grid over the panel. We've got Pine talking into the radio right on a grid line marking a third. Placing him right on the line will draw the viewer's eye to the character. Myka is off center, favouring the screen right third line. Moving her slightly towards this line keeps her from being dead center in frame. Things dead center frame will look... well, dead. It's a good thing to try and avoid, unless it makes sense narratively. Generally things on thirds lines, or their intersections will draw the eye. There's more to the rule of thirds than just this, but it can be found online with a quick search if you're interested.

The general shape the characters make is triangular. Triangles are a really strong compositional shape. They're dynamic, and keep the viewer's eye bouncing between their points and in frame. There are several triangles repeated in the panel, brown panel wall, the tip of the wind gauge fin, and the negative space behind the panel wall. Repeating shapes can also unify the composition.

Leading lines, lead your eyes through the composition. Using your character's eye direction is a surefire way to establish a leading line. In this case Pine's eyes drop down to his suspender we follow that line to the bottom of the frame and across to Myka's hair up to her eyes and then to the wind gauge fin, which points us back towards Pine. It's a circle that loops the eye around frame. Pine's screen right arm also leads back to Myka's head.

This one is pretty straight forward. The space around the characters is asymmetrical making it more interesting visually. This is kind of a repetition of keeping things off dead center.

For lack of a better word I've called this a frame bumper. The idea is that the frame bumper is anything that keeps the viewer's eyes from leaving frame, bouncing it back to focus in frame. Pine's head breaks the panel frame here, leading the eye into frame from the previous panel. BUT it also counter balances that strong directional line the wind gauge makes and bumps it back into the frame. His eye direction helps focus the viewer's eyes back into frame also.

So there you have it! Even a seemingly simple panel can have a lot going on compositionally. Hope you found the breakdown helpful. Happy drawing! - JD Reblogs welcome with hashtags please! #brutecreationcomic #brutecreation #brutecreationcomicdev You can read Brute Creation over @brutecreationcomic

A throwback to a panel that I really enjoy. I might break this panel down in a later post, as it feels like the composition has some interesting stuff going on. -JD

Chipping away at the comic today. Pages 1 -6 are up to read on @brutecreationcomic

Brute Creation is also on Instagram if reels are your jam.