Kristin Becker's DTC Classes at WSU

For my first project I wanted to be more creative than I have ever been, considering we had the opportunities to use the scanners in the CDSC, I wanted to take full advantage. I feel I did just that, by using my own sketches in my notebook I was able to make a scenario straight from my imagination. And with a little help from a snickers bar wrapper I told a story about needing a reminder of who you truly are, which I’m sure we have all needed at times. My comic collage falls under the McCloud’s definition of a comic in many different areas. Some examples of these areas include, successfully getting a response from the viewer by them being able to connect to the situation, and using images created by hand and drawing universal shapes and objects like tomatoes. My comic collage also has a sequence, being viewed from left to right you can see progression in my comic and in the story that is being told. With the final scene leaving the viewers not knowing what happens next, this adds the effect of curiosity and desire of wanting more. But Scott McCloud wasn’t the only artist that helped me justify my work as a comic, he had help. Linda Berry a well-known graphic novel author who we have studied in class, she also helped me by giving me inspiration to turn my physical sketches into a digital art piece. Referencing sections of Linda Berry’s book What It Is, it inspired me to make a scenario that was out of the box, but simple at the same time. By using physical objects like the snickers bar wrapper and the pencils it gave the comic a feeling of reality. But even after all this there was still something missing, after careful and long thought I decided to use another idea from Linda Berry’s book and add words. But these words wont just be text bubbles like traditional comics, instead they will be simple paragraphs and free hanging sentences throughout the piece itself in order to help tell the story.  

The process I went through for making this Comic I enjoyed very much, as I was able to use my favorite software and sit in silence and create my own story. Photoshop is something I have been using since about the age of 15, I had multiple high school classes that taught me basic and intermediate skills. But once I started using it outside of class these past 2 years, I have learned more than I ever have. As I continue to learn new tools or find out new ways to alter images in photoshop, it acts like gas for my brain, the possibilities are endless. As for this project though I used mostly basic to intermediate skills to create my comic, layer masking and the brush tool were my best friends. For using the layer masking, I mainly used it to get rid of things outside of my notebook sketches and other scans. While the brush tool was used on almost every part of my drawings, I threw a filter on top on my coloring to add a more texturized feel. Out of all of the work I did what I find funny is that I learned one new thing during the process. This new skill was being able to right click on a part of your image to click onto that layer instead of searching for it through the layer tab. Little knowledge picked up like this helps tremendously in the efforts of making my projects as easy as possible. It is one of the many reasons I love doing graphic design work and being able to compose in a digital environment, there is no limitations for your works.

For my comic, I wanted it to feature things that meant a lot to me but were able to be scannable on the flatbed scanners in the CDSC. I found myself grabbing these small items that have a small story associated with them. All of these items are small images, that depict an event, an item, or a characteristic about me that only my close friends would truly understand. With these items, context is everything. I didn’t want to tell a story about each individual item on the page, that would’ve taken too long. Also, it wouldn’t have made much sense in the end. I wanted to make the comic about items like these in general. Everyone has small trinkets of sentimental value and if someone asked, they’d probably be able to go into great detail about each one—each story. I followed this idea and realized that all of these items are gifts, or a depiction of gifts, that were given to me. Even though we have a lot more we could find and use, each of these can be seen as a representation for how our closest friends perceive us.

A majority of my time spent on this comic was actually spent coming up with my idea/concept for what I wanted to communicate. Photoshop is actually the program that I am most comfortable/familiar with out of all of the Adobe CC programs. To cut out the items from the scanned images, I relied heavily on the Object Selection, Polygonal Lasso, Quick Selection, and Magic Wand Tools. For more square objects and items that have clearly defined lines, I was able to save a lot of time by using the Object Selection Tool to select a majority of the item, and then refining the selection by using the Quick Selection Tool with a small-sized brush.

To make the Text Boxes contrast a bit more from the background, I added a really subtle drop shadow effect and turned down the opacity of the effect. This helped the boxes match the image shadows caused by the scanning process.

For my major, I have to create a lot of projects on a digital platform, however, I draw my drafts out on paper before starting my projects. They both serve very important roles in the creative process. Sketching out my ideas with paper and pencil can help me visualize my ideas faster before beginning the digital design aspect.  

The motivation behind my design is something that is a big part of my life, which is the sport of basketball. Initially, I wanted to create a collage focusing on different aspects of my life, but I figured it would be challenging to create a story with random household items. Instead, I collected all of my basketball equipment and made a story out of it. After many days of thinking of ideas, I decided to create a collage that highlights an event that dates back to 1996, the NBA Finals that included the Chicago Bulls and Seattle Supersonics.

            My work fits McCloud’s “comic” definition because you can tell that there is a sequence among the visuals I’ve added. One half of the art represents Chicago and the other half represents Seattle. Juxtaposition is used to contrast the cities, such as their team colors, monuments and logos. Another class-related reading that influenced my work was Lynda Barry’s “What It Is.” Throughout her book, her pages were eye-catching due to the amount of color on each page. I didn’t want to go too crazy with the colors since I wanted to keep them relevant with the teams, so I included some art that I found online which gave my design a nice look. For example, I found a tie-dye consisting of black and red for the Chicago Bulls (behind Michael Jordan) and a painting of green and yellow that is a layer behind the Space Needle.

            The materials I chose for the collage works well since they are basketball garments and that is what my story is about. I think it works well and each piece contributes to my aesthetic. For instance, instead of scanning random red or green, I used garments such as basketball shorts and jerseys to provide the texture of uniforms. A non-basketball item that I scanned was my brown leather wallet (at the very top), which represents a ‘basketball’ since scanning an actual basketball would be difficult. I added a title to give more context to the artwork since everyone may not be aware that these two teams played against each other in the 1996 NBA Finals.

            This is not my first-time using Photoshop, I have minor experience from high school and courses from last semester. However, a new technique that I learned and used throughout the project were layer masks. Previously, I would use the eraser to remove pixels, but after learning about this new tool, it made the process so much smoother. I did use the ‘magic eraser’ once to remove the sky from the Space Needle image, but then I eventually used the layer mask to fine tune the smaller details, such as the tight spaces between the monument. I enjoy composing in a digital environment because I am not the best drawer. Photoshop is also helpful with tutorials, tools, and other small things such as lines to let you know where the center of the canvas is. Overall, I enjoyed this assignment and I’m excited for future projects.

Two Bears Try To Stab Each Other, Cameron Cain, 2020

While reading Lynda Barry’s What It Is, I noticed that she used a lot of octopuses in the illustrations. This made me think of the sea, and is where I decided to draw inspiration from. To my great despair, I don’t own anything shaped like an octopus, so I decided on a pirate theme instead. Since part of the assignment was to try and incorporate texture, I decided cloth would be a good thing to use – it’s visually a flat sheet of patterned texture, which is perfect for that. Then, to add hardness and sharpness against the flexible softness of the cloth, I used scissors as the teddy bear’s swords. I included a bit of text from Camus’ Caligula to give a bit of story to the image – it is now clear this is a duel to the death. Another reason I chose to use this specific bit of text is because Caligula is an immensely tragic and upsetting tale (one of my favorites), and contrasts starkly against the playful softness of teddy bears with pirate swords.

For this project, layer masking was a very helpful tool. I usually just crop and erase to edit images like this because I hate when invisible pixels are counted as part of the image for things like transforming, but it’s nice to know how to do it. I’ve used photoshop semi-regularly for a few years now, and have usually been able to get the results I want through sub-optimal techniques and practices. It feels good to be learning better methods. In general, I hate working in digital environments; anytime I’m working on the computer, I feel my soul suffering a death by a thousand cuts, so to speak. I am plagued by near-constant, tiny inconveniences and obscure technical problems that I can’t find online. I appreciate how much easier many things are in photoshop and other digital creation studios, but those benefits are far outweighed in my experience.

My comics look particularly boring, like a bunch of clutter cluttered together, but for me, these are my precious memories that have commemorative significance. At first, I was thinking about how to make my comics with a bunch of funny pictures, but I felt that the effect was completely different from what I wanted, so I tried to put some items that I thought were meaningful to me so that I could make people think why I put these things, so the meaning of comics comes out. In class, I often ask teachers and classmates what they think about this homework, which has helped me to design and complete this homework to a great extent. By arranging each item and then seemingly separated but closely attached, the implication is that although there is a temporary departure, the connection is not broken. I also chose purple tulips for my background. The flower language is an indelible love, which is the feeling of mutual help and support among loved ones. The language I choose is also the simplest word “gift”, which is a hint to the person watching.

Through this month’s study, I have a more systematic understanding of Photoshop. The aesthetic ability of cartography has been further improved. In the classroom, the teacher explained the use of various tools through examples, which is easy for us to grasp. At the same time, we know that only the lectures are limited. Only by working hard can we reach the level of mastery and make our own ideas. The desired effect comes. Through these weeks of study, I am quite satisfied with my performance. I have been more fulfilled and have gained a lot. Because Photoshop is a course I have always wanted to learn. Before I started to study this course, I borrowed a Photoshop textbook from a student who had already studied, and I took a look at it in my spare time. But without the guidance and teaching of the teacher, I always feel that I have made mistakes in learning and design operations. I always feel that there is something wrong, so I give up. But through this lesson, I learned many uses of Photoshop software, such as image processing and design skills. After these weeks of study, I think I haven’t got enough depth into the features of Photoshop to make graphics. Many details have not been taken into account. The use of some drawing tools has not been fully grasped, but only some of their usages are understood, and there is no best understanding, so when I do work, I cannot quickly choose the best solution. These are all pity. However, I think that the best use of this work is clipping masks and Selection tools. Learning these two functions speeds up the completion of my homework a lot, and the completion of the work is even higher. With different selections, delete, cut and paste make the image more interesting and help the theme clear. I personally like composing in a digital environment very much, because my friends all say that I am very good at learning and using computers. I think that this is my specialty, and I will increase my study and proficiency.

So to be completely honest I didn’t have a completely clear vision of what I wanted to do going into this project. I wanted to do something somewhat different and original but didn’t know how to go about it. I was playing around in photoshop in class and ended up finding the line tool which I think would fall under the category of the shapes tool. I sort of ended up creating a web of lines that created a very eclectic grid system. I then filled in the sections with the magic wand and created a mask over the sections. I tried to make sure no two picture areas were touching each other so that they could be more juxtaposed to fit Scott McCloud’s definition. If it was just a bunch of pictures right next to each other I think there would be less contrast and it would just be a bit boring.

I ended up choosing a quite a few items for my collage that are somewhat different but all very personal to me and tell a story of my life.

• “Things Are Different With Wolves” – I really like fashion and designs. This particular one is special as I bought it from a small startup on the /r/StreetwearStartup subreddit so not only is it a rare shirt, but I was able to support a small startup by purchasing it. I also love the design.
• Drivers License: The main form factor of being able to prove that I am me.
• Cougar Card: Although I don’t use this a ton, it symbolizes my status as a WSU student.
• Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art – Another symbol of being a student, but I think this takes it a bit farther and symbolizes my status as a DTC student.
• iPhone 11 Pro Max: My daily driver. Always on me and connects me to the world.
• Guitar Pick / Capo / Tuner: Guitar is my go to relaxation vice / talent and I’ve been playing since 6th grade. If scanning a guitar was possible, I probably would have done that.

At first, I spread all the elements around the page, then I noticed that I could create a sequence by using the elements to create a new image as well as a new prospective. I noticed in other comics that were at the CDSC and especially in Lynda Barry’s, that they used different approaches when creating the story. When looking at a few digital comics that people have done in the past, one caught my eye that made meaning out of random elements. I wanted to create something that related to this with my project because I thought the idea was cool and it reflects the work that Lynda Barry produces. I had many stickers that were in a binder in my room and I thought of the idea of creating a sticker page. I remember as a child I as well as many of my friends had collection in paper in a journal. I placed the stickers in the project in a way that they would be placed in a page of an old sticker page. I used the linguistic mode for a small part toward the bottom of the page. I thought that adding text would better represent the meaning for the sequence. I used parts from the elements to create a new image and I thought instead of using regular text, I would use letters from the scans to create my text. I think that using the text within the scans would best fit the message I was trying to send when creating the project. I didn’t make much changes to the text except for resizing them so they could be read easier.

Before the digital comic collage project, I have had experience working with Adobe Photoshop. I started using Photoshop around my last years in high school, I would use it to create thumbnails for my YouTube channel. I have become comfortable with working with the program over time. When creating the project, I used the quick selection tool to create layer masks. I also used the move tool to rotate and change the sizes of each layer. I enjoyed working in a digital environment because it is easy to add as well as take away elements. I can make major changes to the project and if I do not like how it turned out, I can undo the change and the project would not be damaged in any way. 

My final digital comic collage consisted of several images that not only come together to make several hearts, but then further come together to make four hearts in one another and two on the side. This fits 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) as it tells a story of how love is everywhere and in all we do. Each of the smaller hearts represents some of the things people (including myself) love to do: crafts, religion, games, social, nature, and self. Then it shows those hearts coming together into one-piece image. This idea was sprung from a combination of seeing past student’s collages along with the day we came into to see what we scanned. Which brought me to make something that relates to me and everyone. This is because everything we do has some form of love to it. For example, I enjoy crafts, games, being social, nature, and more. Which is why I included all those things together. Also, I put them all together as a symbol as a person who loves all those different things and therefore make up themselves.

 Furthermore, the readings about color helped inspire me to try and keep a color scheme of warmer colors with a bit of contrast with cooler colors. Not only did I focus on color, but I also focused on the texture of my items and how they would relate with one another. Which is why I put the items that were in common and had similar texture, together. In my collage, I also incorporated words to further bring the images together and give it all more meaning.

This is not my first time using Photoshop, however it is my first time using Photoshop in this type of manner. I used Photoshop to modify images and take my friends out on photo shoots and modify those images. I learned how to embed photos together and use them to create a collage. Some of the new tools I used were the masking tool and grouping layers together. The tools that I found most helpful were transform and masking tool. There were times when I had trouble with the masking tool because my brush was set to blue and not white and black. I enjoy composing in a digital environment, however I had difficulties merging the scanned images in a digital layout and making it look nice.

Project 1 Comic/Collage. Digitally created by Haydyn Wallender, 2020.

Hi friends! This is the first project that we completed for this class. I don’t know about you, but I was very stressed about making this collage look like what I had envisioned.

My hope with this collage is to portray an aesthetic experience of nature, and present a very calming aura with the blue hues and slight hints of purple tones. I was motivated to take these images and make a collage with them because this is a side of me that no one really gets to see: the huntin’, fishin’, farm-girl Haydyn who is more rough-and-tumble. I like to think some of the fabrics also express this, like the twenty-year-old jean jacket as a hand-me-down from my father. To really get into this, I tried to structure the collage like an outfit with accessories that I would wear, or add small bits of what represents my farm and my hometown. This fits into Scott McCloud’s definition of a “comic”, or collage, for our purposes: “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in a deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (McCloud 9).

The materialistic items I scanned are organized in a fashion that attempts to portray the upper body of a human, such as the Yankees hat, jean jacket and the graphics of the navy blue tee shirt. The other items (the scrunchie, bandana, pocket knife and Yeti sticker) are necessities that I have on the farm that are on my person, but not always visible. The scrunchie shows my feminine side as a farm girl, while the bandana links me to an age-old family tradition that we have on the farm. Similarly, the knife is something that is always getting lost, or required to cut twine on the farm, and the Yeti sticker represents the durable, reusable water bottles that we have that constantly are getting dropped out of tractors.

I also chose to include a couple of Oregonian pictures that I have taken throughout my travels in my home state. The coast is one of my favorite places, and so I decided to include the water and that special monument only known to the Oregon coast, Haystack Rock. Anthony Lakes is a small, local location that provides scenic views and forbids motored play toys, which keeps the serene tranquility of Mother Earth. I chose to give these captions because the audience I am presenting this collage to wouldn’t know these local places, and this way, there is an opportunity to use the words as a reminder of the place, which could be Googled later, if one was interested. I also tried to follow the same format on the captions as the one that was presented on the Wallowa Mountains shirt, to keep the unity of the pieces and make it feel more inclusive. This is considered visual mode in our readings and discussions, with the attempt at keeping the same size, style and font of the letters to create that said unity.

Unity and execution of my ideas was extremely challenging though. This was one of my first times really digging into Photoshop, and it was a struggle for sure. I feel a little behind because I am not technologically advanced at all, and get confused by laptops and their endless amount of programs, apps and settings. I think the main thing that helped me was being able to play around with both Photoshop for this class, and Audition for another class, which gave me hands-on experiences that will definitely help me in the future.

I learned that it’s okay that creative ideas don’t always match what you envisioned in your head. There is only so much you can do as a beginner with the program and the items you have available to you, and I had to learn the Yogi mantra “acknowledge, and let go” when working towards the final of this project. I think that overall, I am more comfortable with the program and feel like I could adventure and try new things on the next project. Layer masks and clipping masks are fairly straightforward, but useful tools that I’m happy I learned about for considering future projects.

In all honesty, all of the tutorials were extremely helpful, but the ones that stood out to me the most were the ones I had to go back and rewatch to learn how to do something over again. For example, I had to go back and learn about how to check image size, saturation/hue colors of images, and how to use both the lasso tool and the brush tool effectively. The videos were a nice cushion to have, but I feel like experimentation was key for me in this project.

I am not a fan of producing art in a digital space, but I think that it is a good skill to have for not only future careers, but personal creative ideas as well. Though I know I’m not too good at it (yet), I also acknowledge that it comes with practice.