Images scanned and compiled by Joseph Gardner in October 2019

My comic fits into Scott McCloud’s definition “Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (McCloud pg 9) because I told a story through the image alone.

The story that I wanted to convey is the change between this summer and the school year. I did this by arranging the pictures in a certain way, to draw the viewers eye to the colorful background first and then to the black and white part of the image.

I chose the money, the movie tickets, and the images of the beach specifically for the summer section of the image. These are images that virtually everyone has interacted with and has positive experiences with. For the black and white school section, I used personal items to tell my story.

I arranged my objects to look more organized and calculated. I specifically included the watch because time is less malleable in the school year. I also included the glasses because glasses are generally a symbol of knowledge. 

I used John Loveitt’s line design elements to construct my image. I used diagonal lines from left to right to direct the viewer’s eye from the summer side to the black and white side of the image.

I also incorporated direction, because people usually read right to left, and the images are displayed chronologically from right to left.

I also used balance in the image, making it purposefully off-balance. The left side is “heavier” than the right, with more images. I wanted to focus more on the fun aspects of summer than the more structured school year. 

I made the summer section bright and colorful, and juxtaposed it to the black and white imagery of the school year. I did this to create a stark contrast between the two. The organization of the two sections also helps with the juxtaposition. I made the summer side more disorganized and all over the place.

I was also aware of the materials I was using to create meaning. I used plastic, metal, and glass in the school/ black and white section because those materials are harder and less malleable, and usually have a colder connotation. On the other hand, I used paper, watercolor, and string in the summer section to contrast this. 

I did not use words in my comic. I wanted it to be more open to interpretation, but I chose my objects carefully to convey each season and my story in the collage. 

This is not my first time using Photoshop. I have used it before, and I learned a few things about downloading brushes.

I found a couple of websites and downloaded watercolor brushes for the background. I wanted to create a background that I could edit easily with the colors, rather than painting my own. The brushes actually did a pretty good job of emulating watercolor, but I had to layer it. 

I think the most important tools that were in the tutorials were the selection making tools. I didn’t find anything about the tutorials confusing. I used the selection tools to create my cutouts for each of my images.

I typically used the polygonal lasso to create selections for images with straight lines, and the quick select tool to create initial selections on non-linear images. 

I liked composing this image. It was more forgiving than creating a collage in real life, because I didn’t have to glue anything down and I could reposition my stuff.