Assignment 3

Let me first state that James Kochalka must be given credit for this brilliant idea. Using your sketchbook as a diary, draw one four-panel strip per day.You should have 6 “daily strips” by the time of next week’s lesson. Identify or title each strip with the date. The strips can be drawn loosely, but make sure they are clear and legible. Aim for honesty first and foremost, but also take some care to consider graphic simplicity, clarity, and consistency. Try to make the little four-panel stories come alive on the page. Important: Use only 4 panels per day, with each panel being of equal size. Black and white. Yes, it is OK to use words.

Try to fit all your strips onto one 8.5″ x 11″ page (after reducing your originals, of course). If that is not readable, then reproduce the strips onto two or three sheets of paper (meaning you will not have to reduce your work as small). Do not worry about being “funny.” Avoid it, eve. You can take inspiration from the everyday things in your life: observations, anecdotes, dreams, meandering thoughts, or whatever strikes your fancy. Limit yourself to one “I couldn’t think of what to draw today” strip, if you must resort to it.

I’ll wait to do my self-assessment until I’ve gotten through them all, but here’s my first strip:

Week One
Week Two

Assignment 2

Create 3 single-panel cartoons, in black and white. Pay special attention to calligraphy (your line quality) and composition. Place the action in identifiable location or space (e.g., a bedroom, the White House, a playground, a bus stop, a Chinese restaurant, the planet Mars, etc.). Pay attention to the placement of solid black areas. If any, and how they “move” your eyes through the image. The panels can be wordless if you wish. If there is a speaker, make sure there is only one per cartoon. Strive for clarity of narrative content, both in words and image. Avoid using words inside the panel; try to use words only in the caption. You are by no means required to typeset the captions, but make sure your writing is legible.

Photocopy or scan and print the cartoons. It is OK to use one, two, or three sheets of paper (whatever final size you think fits your work best). Pay close attention to what happens to your original artwork when it is reproduced. Do lines disappear or clump together into indistinct masses? Are there any extraneous marks that do not clarify the narrative, individuate the characters, or delineate the space, and thus can be removed?

Do not worry about being “funny.” Take inspiration from the everyday things you see and hear, let your mind and hand wander, and/or use some of the techniques we learned from the exercises: randomly switch captions from one cartoon to the other, tone down the captions for the outrageous images and vice versa, underplay rather than overplay the emotions, try to capture a real reaction someone might have to a strange situation, use what is happening in the panel), embrace ideas that emerge from or are intentionally “not funny,” abandon troublesome notions such as “making a statement” or “being profound,” do not be afraid to end up somewhere very far from where you started, and try to make the single panel tell a comprehensible story.

And here is my strip:

Self-Assessment

Well, aside from getting the root of the assignment completely wrong. I think I did a pretty good job. I tried hard not to make it “funny”, but it’s hard for me to completely stay away from humor, especially when it’s so awkward and weird. Also, I’m not sure why I think this, but I’m pretty sure this is what one of my parent’s first dates looked like. All in all, it was a fun assignment.

Week One

Update!

So rather than posting all of my exercises (it turns out Mr. Brunetti has you do A LOT), I’ll just concentrate on posting my homework assignments.

Assignment 1.1

Create an 8.5″ x 11″ “doodle” page, in black and white. Strive for spontaneity in your drawings. The page can be in either horizontal or vertical format. Make sure to have a dense variety of drawings, arranged into a harmonious composition. You may cut and past from many separate sheets of paper or draw on only one sheet, using some sort of grid system or a more free-form arrangement, but combine all the drawings into one overall image that has some sort of organizing principle. Hint: you can draw at a larger size, and reduce the image via photocopier.

Okay, so here is my assignment:

Self-Assessment

Turns out doodling and entire page is a little more time consuming than I thought. I didn’t try anything too crazy in terms of presentation (like his example of putting the drawings in a grid). Instead I just wanted to focus on the spontaneity of my drawings and let my imagination go wild. It was a good “loosening up” assignment and generated some fun ideas.

The Original "S"

Original "S" Pendant

My boyfriend James got the first one, which is shaped like the original shield used in Action Comics #1-6 and is textured to resemble bullet-beaten steel (an ode to the “Man of Steel”).

The Golden Age "S"

Golden Age "S" Pendant

My brother-in-law Dan got the second, based off of the classic “S” shield from the golden age. This one’s texture is scaly and alien (inspired by the classic line: “Strange Visitor from Another Planet”).

The Modern "S"

Modern "S" Pendant

The last one was given to my brother Tony and is in the modern shield style most people are familiar with. It has a crystalline texture that represents the vision of the classic 1978 Donner film that my brother and I were raised on (and fits nicely with the phrase “Last Son of Krypton”, don’t you think?).

Below is a picture of all three pieces together. They’re far from perfect but I can’t wait to get back in the studio and make some more comics-inspired pieces. Any suggestions for future projects?

Superman Shield Pendants