Full Page Art Scares the Hell Out of Me.

This current crop of pages for THE HEAVY METAL SHOWDOWN has included, as you may have noticed, full-page art.  I felt that once the fight between Star Power and Karudak the Hammer escalated, the scale of the visuals needed to escalate along with it.  So I made the choice to have the real meat of their brawl be in full-page action sequences.  I knew it was the right choice, but it scared the hell out of me.

In the hands of a skilled artist, full page art in comics makes for beautiful pages.  Whether it’s capturing a single important moment, telling a complete story in one image, or just being something nice to look at, full page art can make a real statement in the medium of comics.  In my case, I’ve always been very self-conscious of the quality of my artwork, especially when you fine folks are accustomed to Garth’s stellar work.  The doubt that always plagues me had me questioning whether I was skilled enough to pull off full page art.  I was nervous to tackle this, but you never grow or learn if you stay in your comfort zone.

I avoid writing full page art scenes because, as a writer, I’m afraid I’ll come across as lazy.  Unless I’m mistaken, in the whole of STAR POWER I’ve only written one page where the comic is a single image.  When I’m writing comic pages I want to make the most use of the space I’m given, while avoiding clutter and needless dialogue.  That may change in the upcoming storyline, however, as Garth has hinted that he wants to draw more full page action scenes.  So, once again, it looks like I’ll be venturing out of my comfort zone to learn and grow.  And to keep Garth happy.

Or maybe, and more likely, I’m overthinking all this.  Maybe I should trust my instincts after nearly seventeen years(!) of making comics.  Maybe I should leave my comfort zone not only more often, but all the time, to learn and grow as a creator.  Maybe all this self-doubt isn’t an obstacle to hinder me, but a hurdle to challenge me.

Facing your fears and weaknesses is never easy, but strength doesn’t come from doing things the easy way.