For my collage comic, I first had to gather items to scan in order to upload them for the collage. I thought about it for a while and decided that I should collect objects that represent me and my everyday life. When I finally came up with all of theses items, I realized that they told a story. When digitizing these items, I knew that the way they were juxtaposed was going to be very important in being successful executing this project. I couldn’t just throw them on a page randomly.

Getting into the actual creative inspiration behind my collage; I came to the realization that each item represented either my life as a “kid” and a student, transitioning into items that represent me growing up and getting ready to enter the workforce and the rest of my life. At the top of the comic, you will see cards from family, library cards, a WSU t-shirt design, ribbon, a “C” pendant that my best friend growing up gave me and a photo of my best friend and I at our graduation party. As you travel down the page, the items sort of shift into what represents me starting to grow up and start taking things seriously in life. A birthday card for turning 19, represents getting older. I have my first higher end wallet which was something I purchased with my work money, and a schedule from my job as a spin instructor. I also included metro tickets from my trip to New York, which represents my love for NYC, and how that is my next step because I eventually want to work there after college. In the center of my collage, stands a statue of liberty figure which I found from an online Creative Commons source. This represents my infatuation with NYC that I have always had ever since I was young, which remains a continuity throughout my life. The statue is saying “I’m very busy” because it represents my work ethic and the beauty behind working hard to achieve your dreams. These objects are juxtaposed in almost a chronological order reading from top to bottom, which is what fits it into Scott McCloud’s definition.

The different textures and colors I think create a sense of non-uniformity which reminds me of Linda Barry’s work. There is a combination of real objects, realistic pictures and crisp edges as well as handwritten pieces that might come off as a bit more “messy”. These different types of images meshed together really emphasize the aesthetic of it being a collage, and not a completely digitized or completely hand written comic.

I would consider myself as somewhat of a photoshop beginner. I have used it in a previous class somewhat briefly. The tool that I found the most helpful by far was the pen tool. I tried using the lasso and magic wand tool that I learned about in the photoshop tutorials but ultimately came to the conclusion that with the objects that I was working with, the pen tool was the fasts ways to mask the layers and isolate those objects so that I could isolate and position them. I have had prior experience with using the pen tool so this was what I was most comfortable using and was the most effective for me.

Ultimately, I do enjoy working in a digital environment. While it has been challenging for me at times using photoshop, I find the trial and error and practicing more useful and effective for me attaining my desired outcome. Creating things digitally gives more leverage to manipulate the work and clean it up, where working physically you have to get it right the first time.