For those of you that frequent my web-bursts via this site or Twitter, you know that I postponed drawing full-sized pages of Payday in order to try doing thumbnail layouts. And you know that I have said on more than one occasion that I really, really, really didn’t like doing them.

In case you haven’t heard that before, here it is: I hated doing thumbnail layouts.

It’s not that they weren’t productive, overall. My last, full, penciled page of the book was page 19 (which didn’t get posted; I posted page 18 if you care to look). When doing the thumbnails, I laid out pages 20-52. That’s right, I got to page 52 in layouts.

The problem is, I lost my feel for drawing the main character, it wasn’t fun, and I didn’t sit down to draw the thumbnails in a consistent manner. The work was sporadic. So, while I don’t have to think as hard about what to draw for the next 33 pages, I still feel like I’m behind.

Actually, I don’t have to think too hard about the next 32 pages, because page 20 is penciled:

My general method for making comics is that I write a script for myself, then I go directly to full pencils, laying out the pages as I go along, often two at a time to make sure everything is visually cohesive. Since Payday isn’t a scripted comic, I’m making things up as I go along according to the story in my head. Doing layouts for this sort of comic was like a) writing a script, but not as fast, and b) an extra step.

On one hand, I’m glad that 52 pages of comic are solid and that there are only a few more pages to go after that. Using my thumbnails I should – should – be able to pencil through them quickly. On the other hand, the thumbails weren’t that fun to do, and it was a bit of a demotivator.

Time to brush it off, suck it up, and move forward. Page 21, here I come.

Pencils for page 18:

I like this page if for any other reason than the storytelling. I know there are no words written out yet (except in scribble), but the juxtaposition of the characters and the pedestrian traffic light makes for good implication in that particular scene, I think.

One thing I re-realized while drawing today is that I need to re-adopt the practice of getting the pencils completed just enough to be inked. The pencils aren’t the final version and yet I’ve been trying to get them to look semi-tight. Probably because I’m trying to beef up my illustration skills. I need to find a balance that allows me to practice illustrating while penciling, yet get them done well enough so that they’re ready for inking but aren’t actually finished pieces themselves.

It’s been a while.

I’ve been meaning to post this page for about 2 weeks or so, now, and I forgot all about it. So here it is, page 15:

I like it.

In other news, I JUST finished page 17. How sad. It was an easy page to do but I got stuck on a panel, not knowing what to draw. It happens with an unscripted comic, I guess. I do prefer scripted, but I’m bent on finishing this one as I started. I see much work ahead of me.

Contributing to my slower productivity is that I’d been setting aside drawing the pages in favor of doing other things… things still comic-related, but not Payday-related. Technically, this is fine, since my mornings are dedicated to comics, but Payday is supposed to be a priority.

Thirdly, I’ve felt like garbage the last couple of weeks. Perhaps I’m in a funk. I don’t know. I still get up to do comics every weekday morning, but I feel like I’ve gotten very little done in the way of Payday, even though I’ve accomplished a few other comic-related tasks. Tomorrow morning I will get up and kick my ass back into gear with the pages. The current scene is almost done and I can move on to the next scene, which should give me a small jolt.

I was about to say that composing music is much more instantaneously gratifying because it can be done faster, but then I remember that I have a 9-year-old computer running Sibelius 5.1 and it is sllloooooooooowwwwwwer than a snail eating molasses.

No real stories. Just pages 12 and 13:

I like page 13. It’s simple, fairly direct, and certainly one of the more spacious pages.

On a related note, I’ve decided to forego the weekly updates and just do a “Payday Progress” blog. These will, of course, be specific to that project.

I’ve managed to stick to my morning drawing schedule (with the exception of yesterday, but there were good reasons), which I’m proud of. However, this Friday-update thing is, I suppose, too relaxed. I did a good job keeping up when it was every day, but with so much time in between I’ve tended to miss my Friday posts.

In any case, here are three penciled pages from Payday (click on the thumbnails to view “full” size”).

Pages 3 and 6:

And, the one that took me about four days to complete, page 9:

I’m not a big fan of page 9. I don’t know if the page is simply too mediocre for the amount of time it took me to finish it or what. I know that the waitress’ face in the bottom two panels really bug me; it’s too long. But, I must move forward. I need to get more pages done and I can’t afford to spend more time on this page. The goal is to get faster and more efficient, right? I can always fix things later when I’ve completed a huge chunk or, preferably, the entire book.