Kristin Becker's DTC Classes at WSU

Page 5 of Jeff Lemire’s Sweet Tooth: Volume 1, Issue 38 (Vertigo, 2009).

Jeff Lemire immerses us in a post-apocalyptic world by using color in his graphic novel, Sweet Tooth: Volume 1, Issue 38. He uses harsh line work, shading, and mostly desaturated colors to create the gloomy atmosphere of a rural dystopia where an epidemic has taken thousands of lives and animal-human hybrids have been created in hopes of saving humanity.

Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips write that color “can convey a mood, describe reality, or codify information” (page 81) in their book, Graphic Design: The New Basics. Lemire’s graphic novel is a perfect example of this.

As readers, we feel the despondency of the story and the weight of its content because of its coloring. Here, we understand the mood of the characters is somber, and the setting of the story is ominous. He uses shades and tints of gray, green, and blue to create a dreary scene. This combination of analogous colors service our understanding of a old, tarnished, abandoned space. The value of these colors vary, but often their intensity is low. This interaction of color is also seen within the images of his characters, as Lemire uses tints and shades to create dark shadows on their faces. The lighter tints make us aware of the innocence of these kids, fighting to understand who they are and what has happened to their world, but the darker shades display their mature despair. We see some vibrancy in the clothing of the characters, as Lemire uses complementary colors to create contrast between, say, Wendy’s bright pink coat, or Gus’ red plaid shirt, and the desaturated blues of the background.

But No One Ever Noticed The Walrus By Dani Atkinson

When searching for a comic to use to write this blog post, I decided to go online and find a comic. I ended up finding one through the class website, called But No One Ever Noticed the Walrus by Dani Atkinson, this image shows the cover and the first four frames of the comic.

Within these five frames of the comic, it uses different hues such as the shade of yellow to lighten the background before adding the other colors including red, yellow and green which are complements that create a simpler picture in order to make the words and actions to pop within the comic.  As the book, Graphic Design: The New Basics says the interaction of color is when “colors are mixed in the eye as well as directly on the painter’s palette or the printing press.” Interaction of Color is seen in this image when the author uses lighter shades to allow the darker shades of color to stand out within the image and make it easy on the eye. As each of four other comic frames has tints covering the image to create a more saturated color.

Especially on the cover of the comic, analogous naturals are being seen with the light green and yellow that allows the Walrus and the title to stand out. The wide range of aspects of color helps each of these colors be more muted and can be seen as less saturated and duller. This type of different uses in color creates more for the comic allowing it to stand out in many different ways.

Time and motion are closely related. This is because motion takes place over time. Illustrating motion on a 2-dimensional surface can be complex. Yet, it is a necessary skill illustrators must work to perfect.

There are many ways for one to illustrate motion and the passing of time. The most common technique is to add jet stream like lines trailing off from the object or subject that is in motion. Take this comic book cover as an example. We all know the flash is incredibly fast. In order to illustrate this point the illustrator had one solid jet stream trailing from the flash to indicate he is moving extremely fast.

Also, take note of how the two subjects appear to be growing larger in comparison to their jet streams. This indicate another way to represent motion and time; scale. Scale can be reduced or expanded upon to convey the passing of time and of motion.

Although you cannot see it on the cover above, another way to induce motion in comics is to play off of the reader’s imagination. The gutter between the panels allows the reader to imagine the motion or steps that connect panels.

When dealing with time and motion in arts and comics, the artist uses a sequence of repetitive or similar scenes  that gradually relays an indication that something within the comic is moving. When making motions you must also keep timing in mind in order to guide the readers eyes and mind through the comic. In order to emphasize the movement of our elements, we must also use various techniques such as implied motions so that we can maintain a realistic display of motions.Using implied motions such as diagonal, static and cropped motions help to show how elements are moving and the direction and flow their displaying in and out of the frames.

Page 1 of Tom Van Duesen’s “Now That’s What I Call Comics v.1”

In the comic, “Now That’s What I Call Comics v.1”, the first page is a quick comic scene where the crocodile comes to a stop at the light and is asked by a dog for spare change. As the scene continues, the crocodiles car itself and the dog remain in static motion in order to show a focal point of the scene. While the car itself stands still, the car still makes all of the motions as well as the crocodile too.

In “Now That’s What I Call Comics v.1”, there is a change over time technique being displayed. The crocodile first turns his head towards the dog, then turns his head back towards the street light which then follows up with the movement of his convertible top assembling and the windows being rolled up as well. Last we see the crocodile finally driving off as Tom used implied cropping motion to help emphasize the motion and even made the change of motion for the street light showing that the  street light went from red to green. Tom also used a full display of cropping motion along the right hand edge of each frame. Tom made sure to show that the traffic ahead of the crocodile was moving as well by drawing various type of cars in each panel.

Page 10 of Noelle Stevenson’s  Nimona.

In their book Graphic Design: The New Basics, Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips classify time and motion as a linear progression of designs which simulate movement. In their examples they explain that motion can be implied, through cropping, scaling, and other techniques in design. For example, a shape can look as if it is moving on or off the page if it is partially cropped out of the frame. Since it is the job of designers to minimize excess, they recommend that these techniques be used to quikcly get the point across.

Comics in particular are challenged to represent the passage of time in a timely manner. In this page of Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona, we witness a fight between two characters(and a bystander). Instead of showing pages worth of combat, Stevenson shortens the scene with frames of implied combat. The first frame shows us that a wolf is lunging towards man-a motion that is implied by the enlarging of the wolf head over the legs. Later, we can guess that the wolf character has turned into the little girl, and then the teenager, by the repetition of the color orange in contrast with the grey people. By minimizing excessive frames showing the same movements, we can infer the action that is not shown.