Becky Hawkins
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Book 1, Page 200
🕑 Added 2024-12-15 20:25:22 +0000 UTCFirst of all: WOO-HOO! PAGE TWO HUNDRED!!!
It's so gratifying to have a few pages to just draw the heck out of this highway. Especially since Barry lets me ignore his script:
This page is divided into three panels, one on top of the other, each taking up a third of the page. There are also a few narrative captions floating over the panels.
Panel 1 shows the car stopped at a scenic lookout point alongside the highway. Some of our six are still in the car, others have gotten out. They’re all looking at the waterfalls.
Panel 2 is a shot of the car going through Mitchell Point Tunnel (or something very much like it).
Panel 3 is a distant shot of the car moving along a high road alongside a big cliff or drop-off, beautiful scenery. Or some other beautiful scenery - in chat, you just suggested “Could be neat rocks on the water or a mossy tree or a lodge.” Anything you want to draw is good.
A word balloon comes from the car (it can be Kansas speaking, but it isn’t important we be able to tell that).
I started laying out the page by dividing it into three panels. After sketching within the panel lines for a bit, I concluded that a waterfall would look more impactful in a very tall narrow panel. I tried the waterfall panel on the left and the right of the page, and preferred it on the right. I thought that a tall majestic nature-panel would provide a moment of quiet and a natural point for someone to realize they're hungry. For the panels on the left, I chose sights that would bring the car down the mountainside, from a scenic viewpoint to the bottom of a waterfall.
I'm glad Barry brought up Mitchell Point Tunnel, but it's too cool for one throwaway panel and deserves a cameo later.
A good way to convey the grandeur of the scenery within the confines of a comic panel is to show relative sizes. The scenic point is very high up because the boats look so tiny next to the people. The rock in panel 3 must be huge because it's so much bigger than the car.
Panel 1 may have sent me into a rabbit hole about boats and barges on the Columbia River. Paddle-wheels were on the way out in 1941, but still around. They were gone for a few decades, but came back in the 80's as a tourist attraction.
Panel 3 is a spot I saw on previous bike trips. I just love the shapes!
Thanks, as always, for your support on Patreon! It means a lot.
