The Prey Fights Back
1d
Dan Blodgett
Wasn't sure where to post this...
I've been drawing a lot lately. A lot. Studying the figure, drawing lots of academic poses, master copies for anatomy, etc. You know. Boring stuff. I mean, it's fun, too, and I love it. Drawing people is always awesome, no matter what. But... it's not exactly what I want to make for the rest of my life. If in another few years I'm still just pumping out only anatomy studies and nothing else, I might just go insane, haha. I need to create! Not just study!
To the point: I'm about to finish a sketchbook for the first time in like 20 years, which feels like a monumental occasion. So, to celebrate, I'm going to attempt an original illustration in the style I enjoy the most. That gritty comic book style of the 70s and 80s. Bernie Wrightson and John Buscema come to mind as major influences. Also, Frank Frazetta. Can't deny it; Frazetta's an influence even on me, who has been on record dissing him recently, haha. Does that make me a hypocrite, haha?
Anyway, I want to put all that studying to the test, so to speak. One day I aspire to illustrate my own graphic novel, so this is the direction I need to start taking things if I ever want to do it at all. So, here we go!
This is the sketch I settled on as a first draft. It's just a mechanical pencil scribble, so of course it's not very clean, but I think I got it to a point where it's at least clear enough for an initial critique. A Yautja (Predator) ambushes its prey in a swamp, only for the man to turn the tables on it and stab it through the neck with his sword. There are still some areas of confusion and some inconsistencies I need to iron out (gotta figure out a background as well) but overall I think I captured the poses pretty well, and I'm not mad at the composition, either. I think I'll sit with it for a while before redrawing it more cleanly and moving into the inking phase. Unless someone here offers me an awesome idea to change it, I'll probably stick with it!
Of course, any feedback on how I could improve this is greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!
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11h
Congrats on filling the sketchbook! Always a satisfying milestone. On to the next one! This sketch looks awesome, Dan! The poses look well thought out, and have a convincing interaction. I like that you grouped them together a bit in the overall silhouette. I'd only offer some experimental suggestions based on how you already have thought this scene though. This is a fairly outside view of the action. We're viewing this from a far, safe distance! Have you experimented with any close up, or more extreme angles to bring the viewer into the action of the scene? You could try a few thumbnails to explore some different ways of expressing the story here. Keep them small, sketchy, and experimental. You could try a high angle, birds-eye view, to show how much larger the Predator is, no matter how hard the Prey fights back, visually the Predator dominating the frame. You could try a low angle from below the Prey showing them as larger Herculean character to the viewer, but attempting to fight back against the larger Predator presence, looming above. You could also exaggerate the Predator retreating back in the frame from the attack. There's no wrong answer, just try playing with what you want to say about this fight visually. Here's a video on shot composition and visual storytelling from the Marvel Course which may help spark some ideas. https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/mastering-visual-storytelling-angles-shots-and-camerawork-for-comics
Thanks for posting, looking forward to seeing this one come together!
Oh, you're right. I was only thinking about dramatic figures, not dramatic camera angles. Very good point! Hmm... Interesting. The sort of "plain" wide-angle shot to capture the whole thing felt natural. I wanted to clearly capture both figures in full, and I'm not a huge fan of distorted perspective just for the sake of it. But I agree that the storytelling might be enhanced by some camera manipulation.
As always, expert advice. Thank you!
