IITS Creative Process - The Money Shot

Genevieve and I tried to fill our book with many memorable poses and panels. We wanted to, as often as possible, make our characters do something very interesting rather than make a book about "talking heads". However, that goal we strive towards can often make it very difficult to even get a single page done. The three panel page where Kayli lands on the stranger's stomach with both her knees, catches his harpoon, and thrusts it over his face...took forever. We wanted each shot to good as we could make it and didn't rest till they were. If you don't know which page I'm talking about, head over to the store and order yourself a copy of the comic!

Below are three concepts (out of more than a dozen) that Genevieve did for the "Tadaaa!" panel in the book (viewable in the preview we've provided on the sidebar):

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As you can see, each one is very similar to what we eventually went with but Genevieve will keep pushing herself till we get the perfect shot. I have to take some of the blame when it comes to her overworking herself. Sometimes, if I so much as pause one second too long before making a comment, she throws aside the image and starts again. On the other hand, if she absolutely nails it, I spot it right away and she'll put in the finishing touches. Here's the final pencils:

(click to enlarge)

She did the original image "nude" to get the body shape the way she liked it. The image you see in the middle of the three is a scan of the clothing layer which was drawn on vellum (tracing paper placed over the original image). The third image is the final combined pencils before they were inked.

Our process, as you might imagine, can be a bit slow at times. We're doing our best to improve this as we plan the work for our deluxe version of the book and future books. Thanks for being patient!