Sunday, July 27, 2008

Writing A Graphic Novel: Concept Art

Want to Know What Mornachts Look Like?

My graphic novel artist, Adam Black, and I are currently in the "concept art" stage of creating the A Prophecy Forgotten graphic novel. Before Mr. Black begins to draw a whole bunch of panels, it's important that he and I agree on what the characters look like. The process:

  1. I sent Mr. Black a description of each major character, including height, build, eye color, hair color, and in my case, wing color. I also gave him a short description of each character so he can give the characters, well, character. I also tried to give pictures of actors and actresses that I thought looked like my characters.
  2. Mr. Black asked me for quotes from my characters to better nail their personalities. I gave him the quotes, including some quotes in Out of the Shadows, as my characters develop and change through the series.
  3. Mr. Black draws up a few quick sketches, sends them to me, and we discuss any changes that may be needed. Our priorities are Davian, mornachts, Gabriella, and Tommy. (Then probably Marcus, Eric, Snead, Josephi, Salla, and Zephor.)
  4. Once we get the concept art done, Mr. Black starts drawing the graphic novel, meaning I have to get the graphic novel finished ASAP. (Can you say "lattes" and "late nights"?

Mr. Black and I are still working on Davian. His hair is giving us some trouble. But his first sketch of a mornacht was nearly perfect! Although, I must admit that these mornachts are really scary. It's going to make writing the scenes with mornachts in them just a bit more heart pounding for me...

Here's the first concept art picture of a mornacht. Now Mr. Black is working on the armor.

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