EXIT CITY Screen Tests
The EXIT CITY storyline is a big, multi-pronged art problem, so I’m always striving to break it into smaller tasks.
![EXIT CITY Screen Tests](/content/images/size/w1200/2022/11/20221118_J_Joule_featured.png)
When I’m teaching art, showing students how to break big problems into smaller tasks is a central part of my lesson plans. The EXIT CITY storyline is a big, multi-pronged art problem, so I’m always striving to follow my own advice.
These “screen tests” serve multiple purposes. The first is to address this big problem: who are my characters, and how much drawing do I need suggest them? By looking at character at a time, one drawing at a time, I steadily build a cast.
These tests also continue my exploration of the color and value options available with digital vector drawing.
![](https://www.exitcity.net/content/images/2022/11/20221103_RED.webp)
![](https://www.exitcity.net/content/images/2022/11/20221104_Blu.webp)
![](https://www.exitcity.net/content/images/2022/11/20221105_Fixer.webp)
The three tests above all use at least two colors applied transparently, as if each were a piece of colored cellophane. A single color doesn’t completely cover elements placed behind it, and when two colors overlap they create a third color, one that’s usually (but not always) less brilliant.
It’s an effect I’m going to push as I develop the overall color range for EXIT CITY.
![](https://www.exitcity.net/content/images/2022/11/20221110_Goon.webp)
![](https://www.exitcity.net/content/images/2022/11/20221111_Jake.webp)
![](https://www.exitcity.net/content/images/2022/11/20221115_Boss.webp)
![](https://www.exitcity.net/content/images/2022/11/20221118_Stringer.webp)
Another very fun thing these “screen tests” do is give form to characters who previously were only floating around in my head. As each one materializes, I get a better sense of who they are and how they will fit into the story. I suspect screenplay writers get a similar thrill (and sense of relief) watching an actor bring their creations to life in auditions and rehearsals.
![](https://www.exitcity.net/content/images/2022/11/20221107_Johnny_Joule.webp)
![](https://www.exitcity.net/content/images/2022/11/20221116_Johnny-copy.webp)
This is especially true for Johnny Joule, a character who I’ve been working on all year. I’ve invented multiple possibilities and directions for him, but they all revolve around his role as a sort of science detective, an outlier for whom “evidence” means more than fragments of a crime. 🔬
![](https://www.exitcity.net/content/images/2022/11/20221116_jj_icon.webp)
![](https://www.exitcity.net/content/images/2022/11/20221116_jj_logo.webp)
I originally envisioned making a larger series of Johnny Joule “cases” before deciding that there was a bigger tale for him to be a part of (hence his logos, designed over the summer).
But I think he’s enough of a heavy hitter that he deserves the leadoff spot, so EXIT CITY will begin with a prelude: Johnny Joule and the Strange Case of the Strange Case.