I work on a LIGHTBOX, which is simply a wooden frame with a two-layer plexiglass drawing surface that has two mini flourescent lamps inside. To see a photo of my lightbox, and see a schematic drawing of it's construction, visit my GEAR page (go to the DRAWING COMICS main section, and select GEAR from the list that appears).

The drawing surface of the lightbox is just large enough to lay flat a double page spread (two 11"x17" boards side-by-side). The inner plexiglass layer is white (to distribute the light) and the top plexiglass layer is clear (the actual work surface). Any art board (except the heavier watercolor boards and canvas and the like) becomes partially transparent with the light source beneath. The bristol board and multipurpose paper I use are easily "transparent" on the lightbox.

I do all the layouts small, close to the actual printed page size. I use a good white paper, like inkjet or laser printer paper, with a high brightness index (like 94 or higher) and a 0.7mm mechanical pencil with HB lead (a soft lead that is the same as that in the ubiquitous No. 2 school pencils!). Doing the rough layout work small is very helpful in keeping the figure work manageable, the detailed perspective work possible, and keeping the most control over the composition and cropping of the shots!

For example, most of the perspective work done at this size requires vanishing points nearly 2 feet off in any direction. Now, imaging trying to do that at full size - at twice the size that I work it! You'd be trying to handle 4 foot rulers all over the place - clearly not practical a approach! The only alternative is to render the scene isometrically (using parallel lines instead of converging ones), but that looks very unnatural to my eye. So, we work small!

Also, it's much easier to work on the anatomy if it can be kept within a reasonable size. Doing it small forces you to concentrate on the large scale issues - like gesture, figure balance and body line - instead of getting bogged down on the intricacies of anatomy. That comes later in the game! (See the Dynamic Figure drawing areas available through the main Drawing Comics selection list). And, because we are working on a light box, we get the benefit of working on the reverse of the figure - simply flipping the sheet over reverses the figure, immediately revealing errors that slipped past your eye just a moment earlier! So, we work small on a lightbox!

Finally, working on a lightbox is about the best way to maintain the most flexibility in cropping shots, and moving elements around relative to each other within a shot. If the individual elements are sketched on separate sheets, you keep total control over how the elements react, overlap, etc. So, you can't lose when working with a lightbox!

Once the small layouts are finished, they are enlarged to full size (approx. 10.375" x 15.75" image area, on a 11"x17" board size). The enlarged layouts are taped to the back of a sheet of bristol board, and the finished pencils are rendered using the layout as the guide.