Post your worst/least helpful sketch layers

[morganicfoods]

Y'know how it's common place to do sketch layers before inking/lineart, and how said sketch layer should probably be helpful and not a confusing mess. Well, here's a place to post the times your sketch layer was the opposite of helpful, maybe even hinder-ful.

Now, this is nowhere near my worst but I just wanted to post this cuz I'm currently lining a page and :\ the facial expression on the page matches my reaction to it lol
What why why are her arms squiggly like that? what is this anatomy? Are her hands supposed to go outside of the panel? i dont remember my thought process on this good god

[Mallory]

OH LAWD do I have a good one for you!

I was trying to draw an angry wolf but uuhhhhhh let's just say I don't draw canines often?

Anyways I had to sit down and do studies before I could attempt to do the lineart.

These days I don't do lineart, just keep the clean sketch, so ALL of my planning sketches are wonky, but nothing tops the one I've lovingly dubbed The Woof.

[allenT]

they don't looked angry but looked cute AH

[RedLenai]

I usually tend to make very clear sketches before inking, but there are times where the following happens

Step 1: Do the sketch

Step 2: Ignore the sketch and do this in one go

[ThunderChicken]

I would, but I always delete those terrible, terrible layers. I don't want to be reminded of them.

[TheSingularitySeed]

lol sometimes I also come back to my sketches and have no idea what the heck I was trying to go for

Most recent least helpful sketch might be this--

An establishing shot by the ocean
But as I painted it I slowly realized the perspective was off
And it was longer than this too! I was trying to fit both the pier and a side character's shop into this one long panel

But after 2 days of trying to fix it I ragequit, changed the whole angle and broke it into 2 panels

Least helpful for making me waste hours on nothing!

[GumshoeComix]

when i sketch, I stretch out the thumbnails first so its always something wacky looking like this

I have absolutely had more unhelpful sketches but this is the most recent one
And i usually just draw over then nowadays

[kalmia]

this thumbnail was… something, that’s for sure. Luckily i just do these really bad thumbnails for composition and pacing purposes but if i actually had to try and do line art on top of this idk what i would have done LOL

[irresponsiblepics]

I don't do layers..but does this count? (This is why I work alone)

[thepenmonster]

I don't sketch or thumbnail digitally.

Sketches are for working out ideas like a possible cover.

Thumbnails are for working out composition and story.

I do do construction layers where I can tweak anatomy and make sure the character is in proper perspective. You can see here the ghosts of the original composition as I realized the legs weren't working out. They didn't look grumpy enough.

Also the windows didn't look imposing enough in practice so they were enlarged in the inking stage.

So I think they're all helpful in some way.

Especially the stuff I don't use since those make me realize that the composition was bad or the position is anatomically impossible, or maybe I just came up with something well beyond my skill level and/or patience to draw. Or, most importantly, shows me what isn't needed to convey a story in the language of comics

[bulgariansumo]

While not technically the sketch layer, here's the thumbnail:

And the final: