I'm not sure what I have this blog for, since I have facebook, twitter and instagram accounts, but I'm going to figure it out. Perhaps it would be a good place to share information on my process rather than to simply showcase art. The art is floating about, and it's bound to settle somewhere on this site, so I think I'd like to use this blog to explain some of the things about comic art and storytelling that I've learned in my limited time. For the now, here's an example of my "breakdowns".

This is from the very first page of "THE CROW: SKINNING THE WOLVES", and it's unique in that James gave me plenty of freedom in the storytelling. I detailed the process in the trade paperback, but I'll try and go through it a little more here.This i… — This is from the very first page of "THE CROW: SKINNING THE WOLVES", and it's unique in that James gave me plenty of freedom in the storytelling. I detailed the process in the trade paperback, but I'll try and go through it a little more here.
This is how I usually approach a page. I find a piece of scrap paper and work it out in ballpoint or pen; no pencils, otherwise I'd be inclined to perfect it and that's not the point. For me the breakdowns are from the gut, and the fine tuning comes later. If I'm responsible for dialog I'll write it in the side and use loose balloons in the panel to try and make it work with the composition of the art. This page is a little bit of a cheat, as it's really a "splash" broken down into panels to signify a camera move. The idea is to start with the snowflake and the eye follows it down, presumably into this hand, which (reading left to right), follows with a pan over to the soldier with his weapon at the ready.