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Journal 10 "My evolving Process"

I feel as if my skills have definitely improved in the last few months being in this course. It wasn't something I was even aware I would be learning, but it was honestly a great surprise, even if at first I was nervous because my drawing skills are definitely not the best. There were a few comics which I really liked the style of, the ones that were more like sketches. I was comfortable trying to emulate those over the really artistic ones like Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye. For my final project I went a little dark, but I wanted to make a comic that many people could relate too. Especially when everything seems to be going wrong. This class made me realize that comics are more than just drawings, but that they can be used in many different ways, to entertain, to explain, to instruct, that it can be full of social commentary, etc. It really is amazing medium for communication. I hope that my final project is effective rhetorically with all of my choices. I used a lot of black and Grays to convey a feeling of dread or of being somber. I used pencils to sketch everything out and then different kinds of markers to fill things in or ink and also used black water color paint for the gutters and empty space in each page. Nothing is colored perfectly on purpose. I hope it will be enjoyable for the reader as it was for me while I was creating it. It has been an amazing journey seeing my skills improve. ✌💜😸

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Workshop Task 3 Since my character is a Grim Reaper I plan on showing most of his emotions through his eyes and sometimes adding a mouth if it seems necessary. The hands were a difficult practice task but it will come handy for some of the panels. Honestly, I wasn't even planning on drawing any hands in the comic until now. I will be coloring in the Grim differently in the final comic. I'm very excited to see all the skills I've leaned in class get put in play.

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Workshop 3: 04/11/17 Got a bunch of good ideas today in class, especially from Metronome. Definitely taking some into consideration as it would make the layout of the story better. I had positive feed back about using markers, watercolors, and pencils, but we'll see. Super excited to see what's next.

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Workshop 2: Thumbnails Obviously in the early stages of the project, simple projected layout subject to change. Dont want only elements of comics.

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Workshop Week 1 I gained really good suggestions during the work shops this past week and some really good ideas. It wasn't difficult at all, it was nice discussing ideas with other creative peers. It didnt change the direction of my project, just gave me some origin ideas. Metronome, for me provided the best criticism and ideas to add to my project. I'm really excited about this project and can't wait to see what else comes up. 🔥💜🙏😸

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Journal Prompt 8 Possibilites for final Project

So far what I have come up with after the character sketch is a little Grim Reaper who's cloak never turned black. I kinda want it to be funny in a nihilistic kind of way, but am thinking about the proper story to tell with this character. I thought of a Grim Reaper as a joke, as a way of representing the crippling anxiety and depression that so many people face because they're different. I just have to figure out how the hell to make this cohesive. I haven't thought much about any other idea, but I know I will make sense of this. I want to experiment with bold colors or maybe water colors, as a contrast to the darkness from the Grims. Here's to hoping my skills pull through! 🍺🍻

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Workshop Task 1 So for my story I was thinking of making it a kinda funny by making the main character a grim reaper who's cloak never turned black, so he's like the ugly duckling or w.e. still trying to figure out where I'm going with this.

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Discovery task 10 I wasn't sure how to adequately draw what was going on in such a short period of time. "Pincus drudged through the sea of monotonous commuters making their way to work, as he did every evening. He slammed the door behind him as he entered his sanctuary again. He was finally in control" -Lucas Pricherd This does evoke a sense that we all know as we get stuck in the monotonous cycles of work and school. I suck at drawing so this was the best portrayal of that that I could come up with within the short timeframe provided. Basic stick figures that he walks by and a door slamming shut as he makes it home and finally gets to be himself. Thats how I intepreted it. This is an interesting challenge just because you think about how the person who wrote it interpreted it and what image they were originally looking at.

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Things I've Learned/Things to Steal This comic, Hawaii stood out to me a lot when we read it for class. I loved the simplistic sketches that tell such an intense story. Everything looks like its just done in pencil and nothing is colored in perfect, but shapes and details are present and understandable. There's a lot of space as gutters and transitions vary from scene to scene, but there's a lot of action to action between panels. There's even use of moment to moment and aspect to aspect as the characters talk to each other and start running in nature. There's also not too much text as the characters dont talk too much. Many of the scenes are in nature and have simple but understandable details so that the reader knows and leaves room for closure. Its a pretty awesome comic I would like to emulate in some way.

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Journal Posting 6 my evolving process question 3

The materials I have been using have slightly changed from the beginning of the course.  I use mechanical pencils to sketch the comics, rough sketches.  Sometimes I’ll go back over some of the lines and make them darker with a pencil.  Once I feel satisfied I move on to inking, I have different sized marker/pens so that I can put the correct amount of detail that I desire or is needed.  I used to use markers to color things in, but I switched to Prisma colored pencils, which color nicely until the tips break and then they just keep breaking, so it kinda sucks.  I am thinking about finding another way of coloring in the comics.  I have noticed that my drawing skills have gotten a little better since seeing other comics and how they’re rendered.  I am excited to see how much my skills grow throughout the remainder of the course.  I do plan on experimenting with other mediums until I find something that I am comfortable with and can excel at.

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Journal Posting 5

After completing the adaptation project, I realized that my approach was a bit different than it was at the beginning of the course.  Its cool to see how my skills are evolving.  I definitely feel compelled to try new things as I completed the adaption project and for future assignments.  I hope that my adaptation made sense, as it was the kind of images I had in mind from the beginning, because I knew I wanted to adopt the song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.  Its difficult to adapt a work because you want to make sure that you do the original work justice, that those who are fans of the original work can also find your adaptation appealing.  i honestly wish I could’ve added more detail, but at the same time I appreciate the simplicity and bold colors I chose because it ties well with a child’s drawing, which is supposed to be what the song is based on.  My process was different for this project, as it took more time and more sketching as I was trying to figure out what to include and where to add the lyrics.  Overall a very fun challenge that I hope I did right and with justice to the original song.         

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Journal Posting 4

Possibilities for the Adaptation Project:

My choice for the adaptation project is the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” by the Beatles.  I chose this song because it is one of my all time favorite songs and it has so many specific details that I think will be challenging and fun to try to adapt into a comic.  The audience is literally anyone who knows the song or is a fan of the Beatles.  My drawing skills are not that great by any means, but I will try to captivate some of the magic that I get from the song every time I hear it.  I have some ideas on how I will portray the lyrics of the song and plan on using a lot of colors since it is a Beatles song, and because the song is tied to LSD because of its title (though Lennon admitted it wasn’t about LSD and based on a picture his kid had drawn).  It will be a fun challenge and I might watch Across the Universe for some ideas on how to portray this song in a way that does it justice.    

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Discovery Task 9. I rendered my heart facetiously and divided it into different sections...the heart of a lost soul. Lol. The lack of color was on purpose. Idk why the words are so hard to read when I uploaded it so the words are below. It was a fun task to map something out, I'll probably use this skill for the next few big projects ahead. A Love Story: Panel 1: Boy- I'll give you my heart Girl-... Panel 2: Girl- ughh Boy- take it Girl- i don't think you want mine Panel 3: Boy-Why not? Panel 4: Girl- Look at it... Thought- my heart the black abyss Heart: hate, sadness, apathy, lethargy, pain, bliss Panel 5: Boy- you're right, I take mine back Panel 6: #life Boy- walks away; Bye! Girl- -____- Panel 7: And so she lived apathetically ever after.

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Discovery Task 8 I had a full weekend of work so I didn't really have time to go anywhere completely new, so I went to my backyard, which I haven't appreciated in years. I sat around a few different places in my back yard and just reminisced on childhood memories. While doing so I sketched what I saw as best as I could. I feel it turned out good in that its pretty understandable what I was looking at. I feel like an outsider might get an idea of where I was, surely they picture their own back yard or park. The drawing needs a little work on being accurate to scale, I think the first panel is pretty good though. The tree trunk on panel 3 is horrible and the illusion of space isn't too great in panel 2. Its easy to make something kinda detailed just by adding simple lines. Definitely a strategy to use in the future. The potential for background is there as long as I fix the dimensions.

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Discovery Task 7 For this weeks comic I went super simple as it was the best way to focus on the conversation and its simplicity. We had one of the girls in the group order a coffee at Einstein Bros and transcribed that interaction as best we could. I focused on the interaction between the clerk and customer, being viewed from the same angle so you always see the clerks face and the back of the customers head. It wasn't a difficult task, but that's probably because of how I chose to portray the conversation.

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Discovery Task 6. Because I do nothing exciting with my life besides festivals, I didn't know how I could do this assignment except by pictures. There is just no way that my drawings could ever be clear enough to portray the images above. 2016 was full of adventures and failed love stories, also had my first trip to NYC and almost died on the road trip to Birmingham for Bassnectar's NYE show (he's bass bae). 😸🔥💦 I would not have been able to complete this task if I had not used pictures. The 9 panel grid is perfect when you want to be straight to the point and tell a story or instruction in a short and clear way. When it comes to drawing things out I definitely need more practice, but my collage skills are on point. I made sure I chose pictures that represented those moments I will never forget from 2016.