The panel is the floor

Originally published 3 February 2010

One of the advantages of having a side-on drawing style, like everything is happening in front of the side elevation on an architect's drawing, is that the bottom of the panel can double as the floor. It doesn't always work (see panel three, where I've zoomed in a bit) but it's a neat technique to use occasionally. As ever, it's not an original idea - I've borrowed that technique from Herge's earlier stories. Here's a frame from Cigars of the Pharaoh which is a perfect example.

Silhouette

Panel two is a bit of laziness on my part. I think it's one of the few silhouettes I've ever used in this strip, and it's there because drawing the rocking chair in all those positions looked like it was going to be too much like hard work. Nowadays I'd bite the bullet and draw and colour the thing properly, maybe adding a motion blur effect to the brown infill of the chair. I'd also add a floor. It's not always necessary, but in this case Smith needed something physical to land on.