ILL292--Comics2--Pencils and Inks
Teacher John Heebink
Tue 12-3pm

WEEK 1-- Policies, Materials List, Assignment and Supplemental Art!

Housekeeping:

Free admission for AAU students to SFMOMA?

Class Policies and Philosophy

Updated Supply list

• Pencils, of your preferred hardnesses
• Sanford Col-erase Blue or Light Blue Pencils . ALWAYS bring to class.
• 2-ply Bristol board 11 x 17"
• Kneaded and Pink Pearl or synthetic erasers (e.g., Staedtler-Mars White)
• 30/60/90 triangle--the bigger the better. Look for one with a raised straightedge for inking
• Raphael 8404 Series Kolinsky sable brush, size #2 or #3 or #4 , (or the less expensive Escoda 1212 series, size #2 or #3 or #4) available at Pearl Paint and Jerry's Artarama. OR, alternatively, an excellent brush pen: Brush pens can be found at the Kinokuniya Stationery Store, 1581 Webster, Japantown, on the 38 Geary bus line.
• Pen nibs and holders (I'd suggest Hunt 102 and an assortment of others. I like the Deleter nibs and holders from Japan. They are available at the Kinokuniya BOOKSTORE in Japantown. Deleter makes it own holder that fits all three styles of Deleter nibs, so don't buy nibs without the holder.)
• Pelikan Waterproof or Speedball Super Black India Ink (Higgins Black Magic is a passable second choice.)
• Pentel Presto or Pro White or Dr. Martin's Bleedproof White or Pilot Correction pen or other correction pen
• Micron Pigma black pigment liners, sizes 03, 05 and 08, two of each
• drafting tape or dots

Carrying a sketchbook is a good idea.

Always bring blue pencil, black pencil, erasers, paper and a ruler to class!

Demo: roughing in perspective

In-class assignment: two panels with figures, in perspective

Homework Assignment #1:
Do six thumbnails and three layouts for the attached 3-pp. script. Thumbnails (two alternate versions for each page) can be small doodles. Choose the better thumbnails to develop into layouts, one for each page of script. Layouts should be sized between 6" x 9" and original art size. Examples of layouts provided (see link below). You decide where in the action to put the panel breaks: that is, which exact moment to show, how much story you should try to tell per panel.

Retro-script:

The Characters:
Vegas -- Handsome guy, about 34, with beard stubble, long sideburns and shaggy medium-length brown hair. He's wearing a thin, dirty overcoat and looks like he might be homeless. He is subject to vivid but fleeting visions and has a paranormal power: He can create sudden good luck for himself, but it's always at the cost of bad luck for someone innocent nearby.

Charlene -- Waitress at the diner

The Padre -- A skinny old white man in a tattered, dark, western-style "duster" or long coat. He has a wild, insane look in his eye and carries an old revolver similar to the ones Clint Eastwood had in The Outlaw Josie Wales. He has long hair and a beard, as if he'd been wandering in the desert for years. He is an arsonist -- and mysteriously immune to the physical effects of fire.

PAGE ONE
In close-up, Vegas is startled out of his thoughts (a flashback on the preceding page) by feeling the Padre's gun barrel on the back of his head.

Pull back to reveal that Vegas is seated at the counter. Panicked diners flee.

There follows a couple panels' worth of exposition by the Padre here. He's talking about how unhappy he is that Vegas survived a fire earlier in the story, and that he has been following Vegas. Someone named "The King" has no further use for Vegas, the Padre says.

In an extreme close-up (of his hand), Padre cocks the revolver, by using his thumb to pull the hammer back.

Vegas uses his power as the trigger is pulled and the gun explodes in the Padre's hand, appearing to shred it. Vegas ducks in that instant.

But the zero-sum game nature of his power takes its toll: Behind the counter, Charlene falls back, wide-eyed and panicked, shot in the chest.

PAGE TWO
Again Padre's thumb is on the hammer of the intact gun. (We realize that the foregoing violence was just a passing vision of Vegas'. The challenge for you as a storyteller is to make it instantly clear, visually, ASAP that this is a "reset." Repeating the size and framing of the prior closeup of the Padre cocking the hammer may help?)

As the unhurt Charlene stands frozen and almost cowering behind the counter, The Padre still has the gun to Vegas's skull. The diner is now empty except for these three, with cups and food wrappers scattered. Vegas' hands are up and he says gravely, "I deserved to burn in that fire. I still do." He looks shaken.

The Padre looks happily surprised by this. He lowers the gun a bit and eases the hammer forward, saying, "Amen to that." Vegas' words of contrition have bought him a little time. (The Padre discards the idea of executing him on the spot, but we don't know what he's up to yet.) His hands still held up, with great sadness in his eyes, Vegas quickly says "sorry" to Charlene. She asks what for.

He starts to say "For whatever happens to you" (because of the use of his power), but The Padre cracks him on the head with the butt of the pistol before he can use it.

PAGE THREE
Some minutes or hours later, Vegas' consciousness returns from blackness. We see him in extreme close-up, looking very bleary and disoriented. Basically face down on the car seat, he has bled from his nose and mouth

He discovers he is handcuffed to a rail in the caged-in back seat of a cop car, driven by the Padre.

The cop car zooms across the nighttime desert, on a dirt road, past dramatic rock formations and some of those oil wells with the see-sawing pumps on them.

The Padre has a lit cigarette lighter in his hand "God has given you a fine day, Vegas..."

To Vegas' alarm, Padre throws the lighter onto the front passenger seat, where it instantly spreads. "A fine day to die!" (The Padre himself cannot be harmed by fire, and tosses the lighter casually)

For this week, just thumbnails and layouts. Gathering reference at this point would be a good use of time, and might influence your layouts in a good way. I’d suggest reference especially for the gun and the diner setting, but also perhaps for the characters and their outfits and the rock formations.

MORE-- On the next page: examples of page layouts to clarify the concept and maybe inspire!

NEXT WEEK: Review of key concepts, deciding what to do pitch on.

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