My creative motivations came from taking textures and making something new out of them. I didn’t want to just take an object/scan/texture for what it was i wanted to force it to become something else. The aesthetic experience I was looking to create and convey to the audience was one of transition. Or an experience similar to that of reading a story book. From simple shapes and easily identifiable backgrounds along with the tempo of the poem I think i achieve this.

My digital collage comic meets the definition provided by McCloud in that it is a set of images that are set in a deliberate sequence and looks to convey a simple story to the audience. Aesthetic response wasn’t as important in my opinion beyond the fact that I wanted something connected, linear, and representative of something almost similar to a small story book. I’ve always leaned heavily on realism in my creative work so the work of Lynda Barry helped pull me out of that a little bit although it was hard for me so I began the project by creating textures with textures to create a incomplete sense of realism which was an interesting experience. I kept looking to get as close to realistic perfection as i could even though it wasn’t a realistic expectation and not completely in line with Lynda Barry’s work. However, as i continued with the project i became more accepting that this piece of work wouldn’t and didn’t need to follow the example of my previous works and that the expectation that. Create something that mirrored reality in some way as necessary as it was more about exploring and playing with the textures i scanned. This was the point where i began to enjoy playing with the textures and the application of textured brushes/erasers with masks onto scanned textures to create multi variable aspects of the comic collage. I think the textures I used helped create meaning in that it shifted the work from a realistic or more serious piece of work to one that was more like a story or even a more interpretive/thought out piece. The forest, fox, and river while all aspects that are real they weren’t necessarily realistic throughout the collage. And while they fit they weren’t “right”.

No it was not my first time using photoshop or adjacent programs. I’ve been using it off and on since 10th grade. Jumping between different art programs when I couldn’t afford photoshop and then also predominantly doing free hand drawing that I uploaded into photoshop to digitalize. Truthfully I didn’t learn much, some skills I brushed up on and learned new techniques for but all the skills in the videos or that I used were previously learned skills that I either haven’t chosen to use or were a little rusty from not using photoshop the last year. Masking was easily one of the most useful techniques in creating the shape of the fox and the last panels environmental aspects designed from the textures scanned. The fox’s were made from interwoven fabric with masks of their color and shape. Flowers from my shirt were used to create flowers and pink designed detail. This same process was used to create leaves and grass. To create the flower and leaves detailing I realized I could mask with textures brushes/stamps so I began exploring that to achieve visuals that I liked/that fit into the collage. Lastly I do prefer creating digital work slightly more than free hand work just because my options are so broad and I can constantly adapt and change my ideas instead of having to commit to one after a certain point. Plus the added benefit of cntrl-Z which is an absolute lifesaver sometimes. Additionally one of the things I prefer about digital work is that I’m able to save multiple iterations of a piece if i want to change it, adapt it, put it with something else, etc. And instead of having to create an entirely new piece or start over I’m able to open a file over and over again until i have a final product i like.

Credits.

• Doug Duffee @rareair Published on November 21, 2018 https://unsplash.com/photos/MOrAPy2dX6A Unsplash License
• Elijah M. Henderson @elijahhenderson Published on October 16, 2015 https://unsplash.com/photos/U2fnW9DZ2z4 Unsplash License