Back in Tredregyn, back in SketchUp
I start drawing a new Steeple story next week, so today I've finally modelled in SketchUp all the rooms in the rectory that I usually busk the layouts of. Half the rooms join up differently every time, which I don't like, so it feels good to put them together properly.
I laid out downstairs, which fit together better than I would have hoped. I even found spots for the utility room and the downstairs "netty".
Taking time to render spaces properly helps suggest compositions, and sometimes points the narrative in new directions when I'm writing.
Below is Reverend Penrose's sad little bedroom, which appeared on page 1 of volume 1, I think.
I'm very glad I learned SketchUp, it's changed how I draw; more than simply saving time, it's helped me make sense of space (something I struggle with when laying out panels) and taught me a lot about perspective.
Comments (10)
This is neat indeed. So I imagine you can build spaces relatively quickly and then move the "camera" around inside it to try out different framings? Handy! And I hear you on your above comment "I use everything I can to get a leg up." Having moved to cartooning on an iPad in Procreate, it becomes very possible to find an image and, yep, trace over it. Some call it cheating. Some are fools!
It is very useful. In an earlier post, I wrote about the dangers that come with it just in terms of forcing a reality onto a cartoony style. It can unbalance things. But cartooning is hard work and like you say, we need any advantage we can grab.
This is cool to see. Now when you do a 1990s themed "The characters find themselves in 3D" you're all set
Now just export it as an .stl file and send it to Shapeways or i.materialize and you can get back a 3D version of it. (just be sure to scale it first!)
My teenaged kid is an illustrator. And they *love* the idea that professional artists use techniques like this to plan, learn, and help create drawings. What a relief for them!
I use everything I can to get a leg up. If we were still in the era of paper, pen and ink, I would have to work very differently to achieve the results I want.
I love that you do these. I have two questions though: 1, what is a netty, and 2, where's the door to that bathroom?
Here: (2nd definition!) https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=netty - the bathroom door is out of site next to the fridge/freezer in the kitchen.
This is really neat! Do you use it for reference when you do scenes indoors? You could even trace over it!
I do use it for reference and the basis for drawings, I don't exactly trace as not every part of the room is perfect, but it helps me position things (and I do trace some tricky bits)