For my comic I wasn’t entirely to sure what story or experience I wanted to convey. I went back and forth between ideas. Looking back at Lynda Barry’s “What It Is” and taking into consideration Scott McClouds definition of comics, it made me want to make a juxtaposition between the concept of life and death. But while comparing I also wanted to keep similar concepts between the two worlds, so when it is flipped 180, my comic message could convey a similar message.

For the top portion of my comic I wanted to keep it more colorful and lively. The materials I used was a heart light that I have take place as the sun, and a colorful paper flower behind it to convey the rays of the sun. I also brought in pictures of my succulent to show different forms of life in the living world. I also brought in embroidered birds to contrast the skeleton couple in the dead world and to add a different 2D texture. The miniature hearts are too be representative of the different beating hearts and life throughout the world. My use of words for this portion is just to symbolize how society always questions if there is life after death. Hence the question “Are You There?”

For the bottom portion of my comic collage I wanted to keep it more monotone and have minimal to no colors. The objects I used was this skeletal bride and groom decoration to signify the dead. The object behind them is a light stick that is used at concerts, this is to represent the moon, eluding to night. The miniature stars are a representation of the “souls”/”spirits” in death. The text is just a response to the text in the top portion. The answer to “Are You There?” is “We Are Here”.

This is not my first time using photoshop. However, this is my first time using more functions and tools of photoshop. The only way I used photoshop before was to make adjustments to photos I’ve taken. The new thing I learned is how to use layer masks, they made working on this project easier.

The most helpful tutorial was the layering masks, it allowed me to fine tune and mask the parts of my scans that I did not want in my final product. It also allowed me to fix any mistakes by quickly switching from black to white and adding back something I accidentally masked. I definitely do enjoy composing digital because it allows me to experiment more and try new things and execute different ideas with the ease of knowing I can always either change it or delete it.