OUT OF TOWN page 4

Urgh, I've just come off the back of just losing a page of work. It's so tough to go back in there and redo stuff. But I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here. I don't know anyone who likes going back and redoing stuff. So... My files are about 1gb in size while I'm working (28.3cmx43cm at 600dpi in CMYK with all my layouts, reference and perspective layers pasted in). The file gets smaller and smaller because as I work as I delete my reference layers. But at the start I don't tend to save much as it can take several minutes to do so. I find this tedious as it disrupts my delicate train of thought. But I've decided that I'd rather only ever lose two hours of work. So... saving every two hours is now the thing to do.

I had some facetious people comment on my Facebook that you don't get this problem if you work with pencil and paper. No, you don't. Instead you get spilt water, tea and coffee and ink (the last of which I don't recommend consuming).

Avi mentioned I should get a bigger computer and he's right. That just made it onto the list. I need to work fast and my laptop (god bless it's digital soul) is finding that its bones are starting to ache in the morning, its eyesight ain't what it used to be and it's started lamenting about the good old days where operating systems didn't require dual core CPU's and you could walk home safely from school.

But enough of my whining. Let's get onto some HEROES.

This is one of my better pages. I think it's designed well, solid and has some good likenesses.

Panel one was a fun piece of design. It was a piece that I'd conceived at the layout stage. What? Can't you tell? God, it's like I have to draw you a picture or something. I had a great time figuring out the tiles, then the shadow on the tiles. Annette did a stunning job nurturing the design and smoothing it out so it looks cinematic and seamless.

The other design feature is a tribute to Jim's scripting. I don't know if Jim meant to do this, but I was able to halve the page with Claire's scenes on the left and Noah's on the right. It's neat, it's tight and it works. Whether Jim knows it or not, there's a nice visual balance to his writing. Annette and I had discussions about really differing the palettes of the Claire scene and the Noah scene to make sure that the reader wouldn't get confused that we're jumping between two scenes. Even on panels like panel 3 where we don't even see Noah's face.

I've been watching season one again with a friend and I'm just stunned at the change that's come over Hayden. She looks SO different. I personally prefer her original look. She looked more natural and fresh. It's such a different beauty. I think that's what threw me originally. I had a tactic for drawing her and it just wasn't working cos she does look so different. She's so much darker and wears so much more makeup. It really threw me for a loop.

Anyway...

There's this Facebook thing where you write 25 things about yourself. I'm going to include mine here - with the grammar corrected. For some reason I wrote half of it in the first person and half of it in the third. Weird.

1. I constantly get confused for being gay, or (when hanging out with a buddy) a gay couple. I'm possibly the gayest hetero man any of his friends know. My mother found some women's clothes (I was mailing as a present) and even accused me of cross dressing!

NEXT: FRIDAY: Page 5. Peace out. I'm tired and I'm done. Stick a fork in me.