The Collected TALL TAILS Available NOW! Vol 1 Vol 2 Vol 3 Vol 4		Creating the layout is the most time consuming part of this process. To get it right it can take me several hours of going through books and reference materials before I even put pencil to paper. After reading over the script and deciding on a scene, I get to work laying out the page. The above is page 14 from TALL TAILS #13.   The average size page I work on is 11 x 17 with half-inch borders on the sides and one-inch borders on the top and bottom. I then divide the blank page into 6 squares with quarter inch borders between them. This is my basic panel guide and I will adjust the boxes as I need them. The panel layout guide shows the maximum number of panels I most likely would have on a page. I don't like to work with smaller panels because that means drawing smaller - something I really don't like doing.   Using my mechanical pencil with 2B lead, I roughly sketch out my layout, not worrying about any details or anatomical correctness. This is to get the flow and timing of the page. The only things I concern myself with is making sure word balloons on this page won't block anything important and to make sure characters have the correct facial expressions for their dialogue and scene.   For that part I use very simple, almost cartoony cues to remind me that Cromwell has an annoyed look and Gorden is being smug (yeah, what a stretch for those two). I'll still refer to the script as I go on to make sure everything is correct but for now the squiggles will do.   As you can see in the first and last panels, I drew through the adjoining borders.