Sigune’s How Not To Draw Comics – Part XVII

[sigune]

This is it then: we have reached the comic’s last two pages. It took me two years to complete this seventeen-page story; it is also the first comic I have ever completed (my most impressive feat of arms before that was to get stranded at page 23 of one of my interminable sagas). Of course I didn’t work on it continuously, so the two years are a bit of a distortion – actually I drew more than half of the story in the last six months of the term, and most of the time I wasn’t in a particular hurry. It is also the first of my comics projects to get shown outside my small circle of close RL friends. In several ways it has been, for me as an amateur comics artist, something of a milestone, and I can’t help being a little bit proud of it, even if the thing has plenty of flaws.

I hope you enjoy the story’s end!

The Comic So Far:
Page One
Page Two
Page Three
Page Four
Page Five
Page Six
Page Seven
Page Eight
Page Nine
Page Ten
Page Eleven
Page Twelve
Page Thirteen
Page Fourteen
Page Fifteen

You Are Here:
Having been lured to the Shrieking Shack on a night with a full moon, Severus Snape is about to have a most painful encounter with Remus Lupin in his wolf form when he is held back by James Potter. The two boys manage to make their way to the safety of Hogwarts in time, but though Severus has escaped with his life and all his limbs, Sirius’s potentially lethal plot has made a deep impression on him.




25. In Which the Author is in as Much of a Panic as her Characters Running from a Werewolf

By the time I had finished page fourteen, I was almost desperate. Johane Matte’s deadline was upon me, and my story wasn’t yet at an end! In fact, my outline asked for some twenty pages in all – but it was absolutely unfeasible for me to draw five pages (fifteen had been the very first one to be done) in only one week. I would have to end the tale sooner than originally planned. Actually I had wanted to draw Snape’s confrontation with Dumbledore, because I hadn’t shown any of that in my prose story either, and it seemed an interesting episode. But it would take three pages – three pages I didn’t have the time to draw. I very much regretted having to cut them, but I had no choice. Without Dumbledore, I could finish the story in only two more pages, and if I worked very hard, I could do those within the space of a week. (In the end, I had to take two days off work in order to make it, but don’t tell anyone. Not that it’s anyone’s business how I choose to spend my holidays, but still…)

In any case: watch me panic. I had to improvise, which in the case of comics is a tricky business. But o miracle – I ended up pulling it all off in a way that doesn’t make me blush :D.

I started off with one particular image, of Snape’s anger breaking through his tears:



I pretty much built the rest of the page around that face – literally; it ended up right at the centre of page sixteen. On the sketch page below you can see that I composed the dialogue in pencil. I also broke it down in panels. It is a tiny bit more extensive than what I ended up using; that usually happens when I transfer the text onto the page. Below, drawn with a brush pen, is a first tentative visualisation of the dialogue.



This was the basis; I continued from there to fill the page. If you compare the sketches to the final product, you will notice that I didn’t play around much. As soon as I struck on a convenient image, I used it. I just didn’t have the time to do a lot of experimenting. Luckily pages sixteen and seventeen don’t require much in the way of spectacle; the story is after all slowing down to its ending.



There are several bits about page sixteen that I like – for instance, Sirius and Peter arriving on the scene and lifting some of the gloom. (I found throughout the story that Snape imposed a dark atmosphere. Even before I read how in HBP he redecorated the DADA classroom, his personality left that same kind of imprint on my style. It was always a relief when the Marauders showed up and brought a little light-heartedness with them.) But I guess my favourite bit is the last, broad panel that shows the dynamics between James, Sirius and Peter at that moment; I’m also very fond of Peter’s face in that one – it’s one of the few times that it came out exactly the way I wanted it :-). The sketch shows up on the same page that holds the text for page seventeen (I was composing them together), as well as one of the things I had been aching to draw for some time: McGonagall with her hair down! :P



I had the text and a few images that I liked. That is when I drew a thumbnail to fit everything together. (I’m not sure of the logic of the sequence I followed here *g*… The proper thing to do is probably to get a thumbnail first and then skecth what you need, but - well, I remind you of the title I have been giving to these entries...) There was quite a bit of moving around before all the panels were in my view adequately placed.



There are no further sketches for this page. It is mostly heads, and heads are easy. I drew them directly on the final page.

This time, quite contrary to my usual practice, I pencilled both pages before starting to ink number sixteen – I wanted to be quite, quite sure that everything would fit, because I knew I couldn’t afford to draw an extra page in case it didn’t. It was the best way to go about it, I think, but it was pretty blech. I don’t know whether it is proof of hard work or rather of lack of practice/faulty technique, but inking two pages in a row left my fingers aching something terrible. In fact, I began to wonder whether I couldn’t do a comic without inks in the future XD. But at least I had made it in time. I could send the story to Johane, and prove to my friends that I am perfectly capable of finishing a comic, though admittedly a short one ;-).











…Actually, this is where a big chunk of the story only just begins, isn’t it? At least, that’s how it seems to me :-).


Thank you very much for reading, and especially for commenting :D. You have made the sharing of this story a great pleasure to me!

Comments

[pervert-bitch.livejournal.com]

OMG, McGonagall is such a bitch! Snape has just passed through a traumatic moment and she diminish him! She ought to be bitchslapped!

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Aw. I think she's trying to remain more or less impartial and chastise both parties at once... *g*

[pervert-bitch.livejournal.com]

Well, true. But that is NOT what you said to a poor guy who has been seriously traumatised! That kind of blame the victim attitude is not making wonders for Snape's self-worth.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

I know, you're so right! But in canon - maybe it's typical of the wizarding world? - everybody seems to just brush the incident aside as if Snape is simply being childish. That's so horrible :(. Poor Snapesy.

[pervert-bitch.livejournal.com]

I know! I mean, McGee and Dumbles are cool and everything, but that is the one thing that totally makes me want to kick their gryffindor arses to the moon and back. You cannot brush aside things like that... things like that influence, change and warp people!

[purpleygirl.livejournal.com]

I salute your studiousness, toil and patience, I really do! Thank you for sharing the painstaking process and lovely end results.

And for some reason I find your interpretation of McGonagall here really rather endearing. (I think it's the fluffy slippers. *g*)

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Hee hee - yes, well, if she was going to let her hair down, she might as well go all the way and wear fluffy slippers too :P.

Thank you very much! :D

[http://users.livejournal.com/phistolemon_/]

the last thing minerva says is.. so... damn... fitting.
I mean, I don't like the way she reacts, she's a little too strict with snape most of all but then again it's so her imo :) and well.. it so seems like a thing snape sticked on to after this incident... to bear defeat with a little dignity next time - wow.

loved his very last expression. the hint of bitterness on his face already then.. sigh.

you did an awesome job on this entire comic :) very, very awesome!

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! :D

I do think that this werewolf episode is the start of a lot of things for Snape - that it had a profound influence on the way he sees people. McGonagall's remark isn't meant to be so cruel; in canon she is often extremely strict in speech (even without knowing all the particulars of the situation), though she will relent a bit in her actions (for example, not punishing Harry quite so severly as she could have done). Here, though, Snape is just not in a state to think of that sort of thing. I am quite convinced that the people around him (Dumbledore is a prime example) don't realise quite how much Sirius's plot traumatised Snape.

[http://users.livejournal.com/phistolemon_/]

yeah, I think so, too. as we know, it increased severus' feeling in hating james.. that he owed him his life. the poor fella :( even if snape'll be evil in the books and there is no further explanation for it, I'll stick to my theory that he's just like this because people made him this way. it's not like he had much of a choice (of course, you could say 'he shouldn't have gone to voldemort in the first place' - but looking at the way he got treated I don't really blame him for this decision).

my, I'm babbling :P
I'm just so damn afraid.. :(

[sigune.livejournal.com]

*sniff*

Me too! :(

[lionille.livejournal.com]

*applauds wildly*
This was superb, sigune, just superb, I enjoyed it tremendously!
and SO MUCH LOVE for McGonagall's shoes! ♥

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thank you very, very much! :D

The fluffy slippers... What can I say? I couldn't resist! XD

[ex-neke.livejournal.com]

Man. Wormtail is such a rat. Blech.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

But his nose is cute and pointy, isn't it? ;P

[veradee.livejournal.com]

Fantastic. I absolutely love your comic. It is the beginning of something new, but I rather like stories that end like that instead of bringing everything to a closure.

McGonagall's glasses ane frown are perfect. I think what makes her appear rather unfair towards Snape is the fact that she addresses him as "Snape" only, while she addresses the others as "Mr...". I like to believe that she has become a better teacher in the past 20 years. ;)

[sigune.livejournal.com]

*g* I thought you might ;). Mind you, I don't think that even his teachers would have been inclined to take very kindly to Severus, despite the fact that he was probably very studious and eager to learn. He's so unprepossessing, and I do think he wouldn't have missed a chance to strike at the Marauders (which I find perfectly understandable, to be sure). I think Slughorn's behaviour is a case in point: though Severus was a brilliant student, the Potions master still preferred Lily by far because she was cute and spirited.

In the comic, the previous confrontation of McGonagall with Snape was when 1) she caught him setting James's bum on fire and 2) suspected Severus of lying to her. Here she doesn't have all the facts, and she's not going to go soft on him. Besides, I suspect that James and Sirius are among her favourite students...

Heh. I like open endings too. I'm praying that JKR will give us one...

Thank you very much for reviewing the story so faithfully! :D ♥

[veradee.livejournal.com]

Besides, I suspect that James and Sirius are among her favourite students...

It seems that they were quite universally liked, but I've never understoof why. I realise that Snape wasn't the most likeable pupil, but I don't know what was more likeable about them.

Heh. I like open endings too. I'm praying that JKR will give us one...

The fact alone that there will be an epilogue somehow lets me fear that there won't be an open ending, but I might be wrong.

[minisinoo.livejournal.com]

Wow. Brilliant work. I'm a fan of graphic novels and comics anyway, and wandered into HP after being in X-Men/Marvel for 6 years (and read comics as a child, too). So I very much liked seeing this formative story in graphic form.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

(Mmmm, a Josh Middleton icon...!)

Very glad you liked it! I grew up with comics, too, though they were European ones; discovering American comics had a profound influence on me, though I'm not sure how obvious it is :-).

[cr-the-mighty.livejournal.com]

So, holy crap. I'd seen part of the comic on deviant, but hadn't read the whole thing. I must say, it's quite brilliant. You remind me of my friend whose "doodles" make my art projects look crappy. =p

And I love all the little Makings Of. Your thought process reminds me strongly of my own (though your art's infinitely better). Just a kind of, "well, this works" approach. Very maverick, I love it.

That's it, I'm going to have ot friend you. Least I can do to you for making me stay up late reading all about your pretty pretty comic... XD

[sigune.livejournal.com]

*g*
Thanks very much! Make yourself at home :-).

I started this "How Not To..." business in the hopes of getting other people to share their 'Making Of's with me - I love to read those things. As for my own, I don't think there is a lot to learn from them; all they prove is that I don't seem to be able to create anything that doesn't start from pure chaos XD. Writing it all down does sort of help me, though - it makes me think about how I could organise myself a little for future projects...

[sylvanawood.livejournal.com]

Congrats, and I don't have the words to say how much I love the whole thing. But you know anyway. ;)

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! ♥

[redvelvetcanopy.livejournal.com]

Hooray! Such an accomplishment!

I liked the ending--it's just as I would have imagined it. I think that including Snape's scowl at the very end is quite fitting! I love McG's shoes, too!

[sigune.livejournal.com]

;-)

Thanks very much :D!

(With this out of the way, it's about time I got round to producing something for you, isn't it? I'm still very busy, but I think about your picture, promise :P...)

[redvelvetcanopy.livejournal.com]

I look forward to anything you might imagine!

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

I saw you have the whole thing up now, for all the world to see. Excellent! As you know, I really love this comment.

This, though, is the one section I have a quibble on. Nothing to do with the drawing at all, but I am quite sure Minerva McGonagall never knew anything about the werewolf caper. If she did know, and reacted in any way at all like this, I would think a great deal less of her than I do now.

But there is nothing in canon to point to her ever having known how the Marauders treated young Severus.

Just my two cents - it's a brilliant take on the incident, even if I don't quite agree with every detail, and I absolutely love your faces - and Minerva's slippers. :)

oops!

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

I meant "comic", not "comment"! Sorry -

[acforvendetta.livejournal.com]

What a fantastic comic - you have an incredible talent.

Your comic reinforces how little respect I have for much of the staff at Hogwarts. "Maybe you will learn to bear defeat with a little dignity, hm?" How horrible can you get? If James hadn't snagged Severus he probably would have died. And there's Black blaming Severus until the very end. After being tormented for Black's entertainment day in and day out - who could condemn Severus for attempting to get them expelled? The Hogwarts staff were obviously no help in the matter. Then again, even attempted murder couldn't sway them. What a painful shock that must have been for Severus.

But it seems very true to life. That's probably why so many children who are bullied seek escape through suicide. Not Severus, though.

Her effort to be "fair" to all the students reminds me of how the UN attempted to be "fair" to the Serbs and Bonsian Muslims during the seige of Sarajevo - the Serbs were committing genocide, the Bonsians were being slaughtered, and UN stood back and watched it all happen - referring to the Serbian leaders as great men of peace and condemning the Bosnians for dragging the war on. Sorry, for sounding so strident, but I'm reading about Sarajevo right now and it's a subject dear to my heart - along with Severus. Thanks for the brilliant comic.

[branquignole.livejournal.com]

Huff. - It has taken me quite a bit of time to read all your How Not To Draw Comics, but it was worth it. I really enjoyed watching the comic shape up, even if it was already finished when I stumbled across it.

It is interesting to read how you work and to see what comes of those pencil sketches once they're inked. To know how much work was involved in this is almost scary. Thanks for sharing your making-ofs and, above all, your great comic. I loved it. :)

Branq