Hi everybody,

I do hope that you’re enjoying the comic so far! For this post, I thought I would share a little bit about the creative process of the page, so you can see how Rachel and I work.

For starters, this page didn’t exist in the original flow. Instead, pages 3 and 5 segued directly into one another. While this seemed alright initially in the thumbnail stage, we quickly learned that the layout of the spire structure where these characters are walking was a bit confusing without some proper establishing shot to sell the “building within a building” layout.

This was most problematic in the panel with the characters walking up the stairs and looking out the previously-established window. If you don’t recognize that the scholar there is actually in the outer “shell” of the building, it can be a very confusing panel. So Rachel and I devised a middle page to establish the unique architecture of this building, called “The Spire of Gair.”

The first order of business was to create a model. Rachel took a page from David Petersen’s process when it comes to complex structures and camera angles, building herself a simple model. However, unlike David’s physical models, Rachel built hers in 3D:

From this render, Rachel was able to add the windows on the center spire, the connecting struts, and the other ancillary details to fill out the structure. From there, it was just a matter of re-translating everything onto the page!

Speaking of which, we’ve got three more pages for you this week – one tomorrow, one Thursday, and then we will begin our weekly Saturday postings. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post a comment here or to send us an e-mail at thewesterndeep@gmail.com!