Photoshop & Procreate - USE COMPOSITION TO BOOST DRAMA

Storyboard artist Klaus Scherwinski applies compositional techniques to give a dramatic scene more impact

- Klaus Scherwinski

When I give workshops I often encounter student drawings that open up learning opportunities beyond merely addressing fundamental drawing techniques. For example, correctly drawing every joint in a character’s hand is sometimes not as important as where their hand is positioned in the drawing, and whether that hand is open or closed.

The initial sketch (shown below left), was drawn well by a talented student storyteller and is already pretty effective in conveying to the viewer the gist of the action. However, with a bit of work (see below right) I can show the student a few staging tricks so the image has more drama in it.

In this workshop I’ll be looking at how characters are arranged in the frame to enhance the drama of the scene. I’ll begin by highlighting the original’s shortcomings in terms of creating depth and clarity, before examining how I apply techniques in the revised sketch to take the initial narrative to a higher level.

Of course, coming up with an original story and putting down a visual for it is the hardest part of this process, and critiquing it is much easier as an outsider. I’m thankful that I can learn new things by analysing student pieces. Okay, let’s dive right in!

1 Place side by side for easy comparison

The best way to compare a sketch to its revision is without adding rendering or bringing new, different elements. Fleshing out details, lighting and textures would obscure the lessons that this side-by-side comparison can provide. Both are rough sketches and tell a clear and simple story, but one clearly has more dramatic impact. Let’s look at some basic principles of why that is.

2 Keeping the core elements centred