Kristin Becker's DTC Classes at WSU

Making the hand drawn comic was a more comfortable and easier experience for me. I believe this was the case because with a pencil and paper even though I am not that good at drawing I feel more comfortable and in control. With the digital comic I felt more restricted by the software I was using, and this is most likely because of my lack of experience and knowledge with the software I used. I did feel like I was able to create a cleaner version of a comic when I did it digitally, just because I feel like there’ s less space for human error. But I also feel like that takes away some of the character, that a hand drawn comic has plenty of because it allows for a more unique style. In my experience of reading comics, when I read a comic on paper, I feel like I have a more personal connection with what I am reading and usually retain more of what I read. When I read comics online, I tend to go through it a lot faster and tend to look over a lot of the detail in the images themselves. I read chapter 1 of “Understanding Comics” after I finished my digital comic, but it did reinforce my thoughts on comics which is mainly that a comic book is not just one thing and it can really be anything that the creator makes of it, and even anything that the reader makes of it.

When making my hand drawn comic I had no idea what type of story or message I wanted to tell. I ended up doodling cats and decided to create a dynamic between two cats that live in the same house. They are roughly based off of my own cats, one of them is very overweight which is where I got the idea from. In my hand drawn comic I started out very simple with little dialogue or story, but in my second digital comic I decided to give them much more of a personality and dynamic between the two. I used the same characters both times because I felt that with hand drawn media I couldn’t really be as creative as I wanted to be. Im not the best at drawing so it was really hard for me to make them appear the way I wanted them to and I ended up making the comic as simple as I could because of this. In the digital comic I let myself run with the idea because graphic design such as this is something I really enjoy doing and have a bit more experience with than hand drawn. I used photoshop. For me it was much easier to tell the story that I wanted to tell, and make the characters look the way I wanted them to (even though they’re silhouettes). The only thing from hand drawn that I would say I prefer is the text bubbles. Handwriting for me has much more personality than typed text does, and I feel like the words fit into the comic more, especially with how dark my digital comic was. As far as paper as opposed to a screen I still prefer to read off of paper, it seems much more interactive and visually appealing.

Although conceptually similar, utilizing a digital device versus a pencil and paper to physically layout a comic differs immensely. Each of them is tailored towards different styles with their unique palettes that artists can choose from. When talking about the

Short comic displaying an event when I was younger and symbolizing the epitome of clumsiness

handwritten style of composing a comic, I would say that this method was more precise for me. This style allows the artist to sketch out designs and change them if necessary as it comes together. Attempting to figure out the correct proportions and other elements, I usually sketch very lightly and once figured out, the lines are drawn thicker and darker. I realize that this may be possible digitally as well, but doing that requires specific equipment and programs that not everyone may have access to. Which leads to another benefit of printed works: the availability of equipment. Working digitally mat require to have equipment that is not readily at the artist’s disposal while working with simply a pencil and paper is all the materials that are required, besides coloring material if the images need color.

However, to that point, there also definitely benefits to working digitally as well, particularly for those who don’t have much faith in their artistic drawing abilities. Not everyone feels confident drawing as they may feel that their skills may be inadequate in comparison to others. With digital programs, these people can choose other methods of

Digital Comic of what could have happened when drawing the print comic (Nicholas Kawaguchi, 2019)

creating their comics such as taking already made images and putting them together in a deliberate sequence to portray some kind of plot. In creating my digital comic, I made use of my laptop’s touch screen and stylus to create a rough sketch of my comic. Although my digital comic is similar to my printed one, reading through the first chapter of the book made my view of comics much less skewed to typical comic layouts. The limitations for comics in either form of presentation are boundless, like in Scott McCloud’s book, “Understanding Comics,” a comic can be anything that is a “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence.”

As for perceiving a difference between reading a comic digitally versus on paper, I would say that viewing it digitally gives more of a sense of formality as edges, lines and other minute details all seem to be very precise with no afterimages of previous sketches. As for being viewed on paper, this seems to be more informal and casual since some sketch lines can be seen and eraser marks of erased drawings can be seen.

Out of the two comic strips, I prefer doing print comic strips because I feel limited whenever I make comics on my PC due to not having the correct resources I need to make them how I truly want them to look like. I completed my digital comic on Word Document, so I had little editing tools to make my comic as creative as my print comic. Whenever I draw, whether it’s for a grade or not, it never feels like “work” because of how much I enjoy drawing. The only drawback I have with a print comic is that it takes longer to do than the digital comic. I personally like reading comics on print rather than digital because it doesn’t strain my eyes and I can read it without dealing with technical difficulties. After reading chapter 1, I didn’t really have any new ideas for my digital comic. I hope to get the resouces I need to create better digital content in the future!

My hand-drawn “About Me” Comic drawn in Fall 2019 semester.

Hand-drawing a comic was not high on my list of things I was excited to do due to my poor artistic abilities, but through creating it I learned the impact a print comic has. When creating a hand-drawn comic, I was able to add any detail I wanted, and create it with the best of my ability. There is a sense of freedom in drawing a comic by hand that comes with the specialness of a blank page sitting in front of you. I feel that being able to touch the same paper the author worked on allows the reader a sense of connectivity. I feel there is a more profound impact on the reader when the physical touch is included in holding the comic.

The digital remake of my “About Me” Comic in Fall semester of 2019.

Digital comics favor those with technology skills and patience. When making my own digital comic, I realized patience is key because my technology skills are very beginner. I was unable to convey the same ideas in my digital comic due to the limited options of figures, shapes and space I was given online. The software limited the things I was able to create through using it in a free capacity instead of a subscription. Reading the digital comic lacks the authors touch in my opinion. They feel all similar to me although they are obviously very different. They feel less like a word of art and more like a project in my perspective.

As someone who was not familiar with comics hardly at all prior to this course, I have learned a great deal about comics in general, including making them myself. Creating both a digital and a hand-drawn comic demonstrated the positives and negatives about each type of comic in many aspects. Holding a comic in your hands and looking at one on a screen are vastly different experiences. These two types are very different to create and favor different skillsets.