Comics?

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Hawaii 1997 was my favorite comic from the collection we read. It looked like something I could draw easily in me sketchbook, but still worked. One thing I loved was how it used blacks like this to fill in the background and give a better tone. When I started everything was on a white background. You can still distinguish the water from the sky just by the subtly different ways they were drawn. This shows how a “less is more” approach can work effectively. It also has great pacing. This similar panel right below the other gives you a moment to think the character’s thoughts, because I would have thought nothing of that statement if this second panel didn't make me stop and think about it

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My Evolving Process

So this is a page from my sketchbook of me trying out different expressions for one of the exercises. Over this class I have definitely grown more confident in a style for my drawings. I remember in earlier comics where I would draw two people together that looked like they came from completely different universes. I realized how much is expressed just through the eyes and put a focus on that. Now i usually start with an idea I want to express and then figure out how to draw, rather than start with trying to figure out how to draw things without grounding myself first. I’ve realized through practicing different styles how much just the drawing style itself has on the tone.

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Workshop 3

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Workshop week 2 notes

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Workshop Thumbnails

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So I took to drawing a trail near my house. I wanted to do both a wide view and details, so the top panels set the scene and the bottom ones show closer details I saw. There was a lot to see, so I just tried to draw the most striking images. Trees are just simple lines so I can focus on the important details. Overall, I’m not sure if the panels connect to feel like a singular location

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My Evolving Process

When it comes to making comics, I have seen the need to balance text and image. From a writer’s perspective, I have things I could say clearly with just text, but I now have to illustrate as well. In the excerpt form “Translated From the Japanese” the story was mainly told through the text, the images more-so set the tone. With my Adaptation Project, I took an all-text source, the State of the Union, and used pictures in a similar way to punctuate key points. But generally when I’m making comics I’ll start with images, I’ll have a picture, with text coming in to explain things that might not be clear. I don’t want to be too wordy, but sometimes I just want to make it clear that, yeah, that is a doorknob. But learning how to draw more simply has increased my confidence in the drawings I make.

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I chose this panel from Depression Part Two, mainly because it was pretty simple, and in that simplicity it actually sends an interesting message. I think the main reason the art style is so simple and messy is because it shows the not-put-together truth of what she dealt with. And it feels like the kind of drawings I would make in elementary school, but more intentional. for my original panel, i drew her persona, with all the things that couldn’t make her happy, but she is happy. Putting her in the center threw the balance off, the empty space in her panels always seemed intentional, balancing out the drawings.

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My Evolving Process

Now that I’ve done the adaptation project, I feel like I have a better idea of how an idea can form into the work. For most of the discovery tasks, I pretty much envisioned what the comic would look like in my head, and just drew that. The stricter guidelines of this project seemed stifling at first, but I realized something from them. Constraints ignite the creative process. Now that I had to think more about how I would fit the ideas on the page, newer, more creative ideas sprung out of the trial and error process. In the end, this project felt more complete and organized than previous ones, because the restrictions focused my creative process.

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Possibilities for the Adaptation Project

So I chose the State of the Union address. For me, it was one of the most interesting choices. As a persuasive speech, I could take the argument he’s making and present it in a more fun way. I know I personally don’t want to sit through an hour and a half speech, so the comic adaptation was a way to condense it as well as give it more personality.

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Discovery Task 8: Collage Comic

So for this one I tried to make a story out of the card faces. The collage format does make you look at the world differently, how you can make things into something new. But in this task I felt kind of limited. I had to find something else to work off of, I couldn't just make something from scratch like normal. I probably wouldn’t use this format again.

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Possibility for Final Project

So one thing that I’m looking forward to in this class is trying out different art styles and page layouts. I really like the idea that I can convey things just through images without words. One idea I’ve been thinking about is having a story with different perspectives, each one with a different style and tone. It could be one scene, where each one has a different idea of what happened. Or it could be people retelling a story, each trying to say something different.

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Things I’ve Learned

When I started drawing I felt like I had to get everything realistic looking in order to convey them properly. I tried to draw a doorknob in my wordless comic and it  looked more like some misshapen eye. Drawing people was especially difficult, I wasn't sure how to get the proportions right. When the professor asked us to draw in a simple, specific style another artist used, it made characterizing each character easier and made their actions clearer. Simple but distinct features like hair are easier to draw, but convey character more clearly than all the details of their face. When it came to adapting a Trump tweet, I could easily distinguish between Trump and King Jong-un just by their unique hairstyles, no need for color or excessive details. This also helped sell a more childish tone I was going for, as the simple designs looked like a kid’s drawing.

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My Evolving Process

So it had been a while since I really drew stuff when I started this class. But I have been getting more into the process. My first comic, I was nervous about my drawing so I penciled first and then drew over in pen. Now I’ve become more confident to practice some drawing and then just do them in pen. Working in the visual does make the writing process easier. With typical writing, I would start writing and adapt it as I go. But with comics I usually have the panels and layout in my head before I even start drawing. 

My biggest worry with my comics is if I am being understood. My wordless comic had me worried most. I tried to convey that a kid was looking at something on his computer he wasn’t supposed to, and his dad comes barging in. I included closeups of their faces so I could make their emotions as obvious as possible, but I wasn't sure if my drawings conveyed everything clearly. But with practice my confidence in drawing has definitely gone up and will go much higher.

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Discovery task 5 I chose the “bigger button” tweet. I really tried to cut it down to just the interaction the two of them had. Drawing them as kids on a playground set the tone for the interaction.

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Discovery Task 4

Well, this was simple. I decided to illustrate my own frustrations drawing for this class. The process was a lot simpler. It is easier to undo on a computer. I didn’t include too much of myself, as Mccloud was saying, an actual person really isn’t as inviting as a comic.

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Discovery Task 3

My second comic. I tried doing something with the panels like I’ve seen in the book. I also learned how hard it is to draw doorknobs.