Drawing the help of a professional artist

You’ve been reading this chapter and thinking to yourself, “I can’t draw well

enough to put my shots into storyboards” or, “I’m not computer literate; I

won’t be able to run the storyboard software programs.” Don’t panic! If you

aren’t happy with your stick characters in your frames, and you can afford it,

you can always hire a professional storyboard artist.

A storyboard artist is very much like a crime sketch artist. You describe in

detail what your shot looks like, and the artist does his best to put your

vision on the page. The artist starts by sketching very rough pencil drawings

and making any special notes during your meeting — with you looking

over his shoulder to see that he’s on the right track. He then goes home

(or wherever he feels most comfortable drawing) and returns later with the

completed panels. A storyboard artist can ink in the pencil drawings or

leave them a little rough, depending on your taste.

 If you ask a storyboard artist to conceptualize (meaning to design the look of a

piece of equipment, a wardrobe, or a vehicle, like a spaceship), you want him

to render it in full detail and color for optimum presentation.