Page 17 – A Compromise?

The completed page 17 of Robert Smalls - A Life Reclaimed showing Lydia Smalls' forbears being transported to America. It is a compromise of vision vs. time.
Page 17 – Completed.

Page 17 of my “Robert Smalls: A Life Reclaimed” graphic novel is now completed! What was the compromise?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I tried to make the images that show Lydia’s retelling of the trafficking of her family a little different to the regular panels. I did this by giving them a pencil and watercolour effect. I mentioned, as well, how it wasn’t exactly the effect I wanted, but that the smokey effect I was thinking of would have taken too long for me to figure out and implement well so this was the compromise.

Having finished this page, I am much happier with the watercolour effect than I was, but I am still definitely still a little disappointed that it doesn’t look exactly how I’d envisioned. This feels like the first major compromise of this sort that I’ve made; sacrificing what I actually wanted for something that would let me finish the page in something approximating a reasonable amount of time.

I may be doing something similar with the next page as it will again include Lydia recounting something to Robert. I’ll have to see how much of a compromise I make with that page, given how I feel about this one.

I’ll have the timelapse of me drawing this page up soon!


Unsung Superheroes is an ongoing project, creating graphic novels based on the stories of real-life historical figures whose stories may not be as well-known as they could be.

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