Biker girls continued...

So I started doing a half-assed comic as of late, and it's been pretty fun. Drawing comics is a whole different way of thinking than storyboarding. I really had a hard time before, with panel layout and page composition, but recently I think I've gotten a better grip on it. That's kind of the part where storyboarding doesn't help you, when you're trying to direct someone's eye across a page from composition to composition. When I started thinking of the page as one whole image, it helped.

However! There are other comic conventions that I'm not too familiar with, either, such as inking and "spotting the blacks." In laymen's terms (which is the only way I understand it) spotting blacks is when you lay down ink in solid shapes to indicate form, or to strongly direct the viewer's eye to one area of your image. It's that bold, high contrast that zaps your eyeline right to the page. Because there is no greater contrast than black and white, this can be very effective. But if used poorly, it can have a gajillion times the opposite of the desired effect of visual clarity. It can turn stuff into a mess.

I'm trying to figure out how to simplify these shapes and shadows in a way that's visually appealing, easy to parse, but still makes sense and evokes some kind of lighting effect... I have to say, this is hard. Are there any books on this stuff? Anyway, I doodled another biker chick, and tried out two different approaches. One is definitely more bold and dramatic, but could be distractingly so. The other is flatter, and lacks a little oomph. I'll have to keep experimenting. If anyone has any suggestions they'd be welcome!