Growing up with comics, panelled pages always seemed like a completely natural way to illustrate a narrative on a page. So when I started planning out how to tackle the visuals of The Silent I originally turned to panelling as a way to do it, sometimes as a way to work something out but often as a potential layout device. Pretty much none of it went past the sketch point though, as when I finished a layout I always had that feeling of ‘it’s all been done’, mixed in with ‘this is not a comic or graphic novel, so why make it one?’.

Over time I started to, and yes this sounds completely wanky, deconstruct the idea of panels to develop a layout closer to the way I visualise things; something that was pulled out of the noodle soup planning out fine art pieces that I am working on. That it ties into a way of drawing that I very much enjoy only added to the overall enthusiasm for the process.

It took a few weeks of scratching on bits of paper to finally nail the idea down but when I did a series of pages that ‘spoke’ to me, I knew I’d finally got there…

Interestingly enough, at least interesting for me, is how similar this form of layout looks like a strange mix between a story board and an information graphic. Maybe that’s why I like it as much as I do, there’s a feeling of motion as well as pull-outs to explore elements a little deeper.