Thumbnail sketch layout of double page spread
PART OF MY COMIC STRIP PAGE LAYOUT SERIES
The previous article in this series was about how Don Low uses a comic strip layout for his urban sketching, and I reviewed two examples of his single page spreads of people. Today we’re going to look at one of Don’s double-page spreads. Don is an Urban Sketcher based in Singapore, who is an avid user of sketching with ink lines and brush pens.
Left Hand side of the sketchbook spread
On the left hand side page, Don has used a similar compositional layout that we reviewed in my summary of his single page spreads. But this page layout has slightly different dimensions, making the top panel shorter and the bottom panels taller.
- The top panel is a wide shot
- The two bottom panels are mid-shots
In the bottom panel, it’s a 2-person sketch facing left, followed by a single figure facing right, creating the same visual flow as previously.
Right Hand side of the sketchbook spread
On the right hand side, Don has flipped the dimensions of the panels, but has made the bottom panel larger, so rather than being a mirror image of the facing page, it’s a more dynamic juxtaposition.
- The top panel has two mid-shots
- The bottom panels is a larger mid-shot
There’s no wide shot with a lot of people, instead we have a 2 person, 1 person, and another 2 person panel.
Even though the natural flow of the eye usually starts on the upper left of this two-page spread, because of the larger figures and the use of negative space in the big panel on the bottom right, this panel becomes the focal point.
This visual pull is helped by the use of additional negative space on panel in the bottom right on the first page. After scanning the focal point image, your eye automatically hops back to the title on the far left and continues down the natural visual path of a comic book layout.
There’s a varied mix of three panels with tonal shading on objects in the panel or in the background, and then three panels with more negative space. It’s very effective to have the three panels which are bordering the central spine, to have more negative space than the panels on the outside edges of the page (with the exception of the large focal point panel).
Summary of these Comic Book Spreads
These comic book spreads use a mixture of high contrast, negative space, and tonal shading to keep the sketches dynamic and interesting, and this is helped by the using a variety of different panel sizes to keep the visual flow from feeling static and mundane. What I find most interesting is the obvious visual impact of these sketches – being achieved without a splash of colour!
Lot’s of food for thought for someone like me who’s really interested in incorporating more comic book spreads into my sketching practice.
