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course description
semester 1 homeworkse, etc
semester 2
grading / rules / aphorisms

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

THIS IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT CLASS THIS YEAR!
DO NOT blow it off. If you like storytelling and drawing, and want to learn more about it then work hard and you will get what you want.

Emphasizing the thinking and problem solving that is inherent in creation a work of sequential art, as well as the crafting of storytelling technique and the discipline, intelligence, rigor, and kick-ass passion it takes to complete a serious and dedicated project, this class examines the possibilities of creating work from given parameters. We'll begin by expanding our toolbox of ideas and strategies. We'll explore the poles of drama and poetry , encouraging the practice of both towards the goal of the gradual development of a long piece of work based upon the third year Illustration/Cartooning theme, KINGS AND QUEENS.

The class will examine the mechanics and tools of all types of storytelling from theater to film to radio to opera. Exercises will focus on organic generation of narrative and imagery and will integrate non-traditional systems of story generating as well as traditional cartooning techniques with the goal of developing the narrative and imaginative and visual reflexes. We will work to examine the visual storyteller's "toolbox" and refine our craft over the course of the year.

A wide spectrum of comics will be shown. The understanding of what tools and techniques are available to the sequential artist is the ultimate goal.

• Mamet, David; On Directing Film
• Volger, Christopher; The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers and Screenwriters
• Eisner, Will; Comics and Sequential Art
• McCloud, Scott; Understanding Comics
• Janson, Klaus: The DC Guide to Pencilling Comics

• QUALITY OF WORK
  
• QUALITY OF EFFORT
  
• PARTICIPATION IN CLASS
  
• IMPROVEMENT AND UNDERSTANDING

If you don’t finish your assignments, you damage your grade and bring the class down. Please finish your work.
HOWEVER, SHOWING UP FOR CLASS WITH NO WORK IS BETTER THAN SKIPPING CLASS BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T FINISH YOUR HOMEWORK. SHOW UP FOR CLASS!!!!!!!!!!

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT!

1. 4 Absences is a failure. Exceptions due to lost limbs, trauma only.
   
2. 3 absences is a grade lower.
   
3. NO COMPUTER LETTERING, NO EXCEPTIONS. LEARN HOW TO LETTER! LETTERING IS NOT HANDWRITING, IT IS DRAWING!!!! (I will allow computer lettering in some circumstances in our final final project after our major large scale, two semester project is complete.)
   
4. The goal of this class is COMMUNICATION. CLEARLY first, and interestingly, second.
   
5. The theme of this class (and your Cultural Survey class for all third year students) is LOCATION AS CHARACTER You MUST work within this theme according to Tom Woodruff’s and my instructions. Failure to do so will result in grade deflation
   
• Why a theme?
  
• The second year gave you the principles of cartooning. You explored materials, techniques and storytelling.
  
• THIS YEAR IS DESIGNED TO CHALLENGE YOU TO THINK IN NEW WAYS ABOUT YOUR PROCCESES, IN A WAY SIMILAR TO HOW THE COMMERCIAL WORLD WILL. IT IS DESIGNED TO STRETCH YOUR SKILLS, AND ADD TO YOUR STORE OF KNOWLEDGE (THAT’S WHAT CULTURAL SURVEY CLASS IS FOR) SO THAT YOU WALK OUT OF THIS YEAR WITH MORE IN YOUR BAG OF UNDERSTANDING AND POSSIBILITIES THAN YOU ENTERED WITH. That’s why you are in school.
  
• The fourth year is your year to integrate what you have learned into a vision you can finalize and present to the world in a portfolio.
6. No parts of Epic stories, unless it is a self contained whole unit in itself. TO GET TO THE EPIC, YOU MUST CONCENTRATE ON THE MOMENT. THIS IS AN AXIOM OF REAL LIFE, NOT JUST THIRD YEAR CARTOONING.
   
7. REFERENCE! You will be required to use all sorts of reference, including visual and literary. The best website for myth stuff is http://www.pantheon.org/ Other reference materials will be discussed and should be examined on your own. GET USED TO USING THE LIBRARY AND THE PICTURE COLLECTIONS!

GLOSSARY

SYNOPSIS – Refers to paragraph or two of text that describes the action to be depicted on the page. A reader should not need a synopsis to understand what is going on in your pages however.

THUMBNAILS – This refers to initial drawings of complete pages in reduced format, to think through ideas of how to compose a page and tell a story. Do thumbnails for this class in your sketchbook or on 8 1/2 x 11 paper.

ROUGHS – Refers to larger sketched versions of page before penciling. Still searching for solutions and storytelling ideas/composition ideas, etc. Some people use “thumbnails” and “roughs” interchangeably. Roughs for this class are on 8 1/2 x 11 paper. (You can rough on your final boards if you like, though I don’t recommend it.)

LOOSE PENCILS- Somewhere in between roughs and tight pencils (see below.)

TIGHT PENCILS- Refers to full-size, on Bristol board penciled version of your page.

INKS – Refers to finished work, with lettering, of above page.

STORY – Usually refers to whatever your final work is. I prefer “PIECE” to describe the work you hand in. “Story” to me, describes the underlying narrative “arc” that is the raw material you are working with in your piece.
o For instance, you may be telling the story of a man’s life, birth to death, but your piece is only 10 panels long. Thus you make lots of choices in how to work with your “story”, having created a piece of work from it.

SOME APHORISMS TO KEEP IN MIND:

FINISHING IS BETTER THAN ABORTING A LESS THAN PERFECT PROJECT
o You always learn more by completing a project, rather than failing to finish something because it is less than perfect.

DON’T LET THE PERFECT GET IN THE WAY OF THE GOOD.
o If you get caught up on making something perfect, you may fail to realize it is working well enough.

STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE ANYWAY
o Strive for perfect, settle for good, and move on.

LEARN TO DRAW BY DRAWING.
o Bernie Wrightson, who created Swamp Thing used to say that you could become a good artist only after you’ve drawn 1000 pages (or a stack of pages as tall as you- I forget which.)

COPYING OTHER DRAWINGS IN YOUR SKETCHBOOK OR IN YOUR PRACTICING TIME IS GOOD. COPYING TECHNIQUES ON YOUR FINAL PAGES IS ESSENTIAL.
o Learn to LOOK at professional artwork for techniques, solutions, thoughts and decisions beneath the surface. Copying other work will help do this. You can then implement similar solutions or thinking in your own work later. Style emerges when you make informed decisions.

CONCENTRATE ON THE MOMENT, AND THE EPIC WILL UNFOLD.
o I am only interested in your epic story if the individual passages are good and complete. This is true of any reader. No unfinished sections of large stories will be allowed. You will be forced to find a way to complete the story (this can always be done, by thinking of story in new ways.)

What we did:

1 page comic - autobio, mythic, big moment. (1 hour). Critiqued same. Powerpoint about biography comics. (CLICK HERE FOR THAT)

HOMEWORK

BIO PIC!

Click here to read this page larger

IMPORTANT- DRAW BIG:AT LEAST 18X24. YOU CAN DO THIS ON SKETCH PAPER OR EVEN NEWSPRINT IF NECESSARY, JUST MAKE IT CLEAR.

Look at the attached comic by David Heatley, from McSweeny's #13.

MODEL: It's a complex PORTRAIT of a character, using only small details: small events, small stories, little dramatic changes and character details. The aggregation (the bringing together) of all these small units creates a larger, more complex, more psychologically interesting portrait than a single narrative might.

OUR PROJECT: Using a figure from the graph, create a one page piece paper. Use Heatley's page 1 layout exactly. This includes:

•  A large single portrait

•  A single panel strip

•  A two panel strip or story

•  A three panel strip or story

•  A six panel story

•  Two 8 panel stories

•  A 15 panel story

Some Resources:

Archive of many amazing stories by amazing artists HERE
including: Jack Kirby | Harvey Kurtzman | Jaime Hernandez | Samm Schwartz | Peter Arno and more

Scott McCloud UNDERSTANDING COMICS Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 6

Some Diary Comics

Some Biography Comics

Some Examples of Location, Place and Environments

Some recommended books

• 9 part interview with Tom Hart here on You Tube

Andy Bugpowder's Early Comics Archive

Making your own comics

Printers and printing your own comics

Some pics by Eduard Muybridge here

Tom's 2004 tutorial from notion, inspiration and theft to idea development to final inks and scan. (7 MB PDF)

Tons of links on my webcomics class link here

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