Had lots of fun planning this page out, with the first panel being that weird little window on dumpsters peering out where we can see Em having landed in said dumpster, then JC’s upset response being scrawled on the back of the dumpster’s inner wall. Shading made a world of difference here. Oh, and notice the straps on the footwear enhancement…
My first draft was from Em’s perspective, sneaking up on JC, but ultimately decided her shadow over JC would be more effective by swapping the 2 panel to capture JC as she’s messaging Em. Who knows, maybe I’ll compile a collage of outtakes if enough folks care to check it out down the road.
This spread was SO FUN to create! Parkour plays a big role in the Emby universe, so I had to come up with a way to present that without losing flow. It made the most sense to me to keep the environment static, and each pose of Emily would serve as the next “panel”. Using an old abandoned parking garage allowed me to naturally create the bottom half of the page as the final panel with Em climbing down the side and running back out toward the alley, setting up the next page. I loved the way this turned out so much, you’ll most likely see this technique used often throughout Em’s adventures. 🙂
Breaking up the shading with a little natural lighting by way of blank space. Plus, it makes sense for where Emily’s running (and hopping!). Call it a cop-out? Nah, the details’ are about to ramp up, my lovelies. -L
Not much to say about this page, just continuing from the last panel and going with it. Emily soon discovers that JC’s special footwear discs give her added speed and traction, allowing her to literally run up buildings! Pretty neat stuff. JC’s a nervous wreck because she didn’t fully calibrate them to Emily’s exact specs…
showing 2 pages here, before and after I’ve added digital shading. 😊
Emily is rather impressed with JC’s specialty footwear disc, and gets a little carried away! I’ve always been a fan of drawing lyrics, so a portion of the Emby universe is dedicated to bringing those lyrics to life. Throw on “Gravity Hero” by Rabbit Junk while viewing this page and the next for a teaser of this lyrical idea. More lyrical action to come, in BIG ways!
On this page, I mixed soft and flat digital shading to really help Emily stand out from the background – the brick wall of Bunny Brews – as she runs down the alleyway, and gets a little carried away upon realizing the speed she’s afforded by JC’s peculiar footwear discs! …even though they’re not quite calibrated…
Back in the day, one of my favorite things to draw was a full page spread of characters from a web comic I worked on, BLS. There was no canon, it was just cool to draw a pin-up style for these characters I had been drawing. It’s a simple thing, but now it’s become a major part of the Emby story! Hope ya like my warped perspectives! 🙂
Now, the real fun begins! Emily’s about to find out what JC’s brilliance is made of. The large hands exchange serves as its own panel, as well as an introduction to my style of borders. Why not use them to compliment the story? More soft shading here. I think I’ll use that technique for daylight, and hard shading for night. Hmm..
A break in routine. Emily showing her playful impulsiveness. From here, we have a change in scenery. I can only draw two folks sitting at a cafe table so often before getting bored! More soft shading here, and conventional panel borders are about to take a back seat. 😉
