Beverly Hills High School Art 1

Comic books/graphic novels are first and foremost stories. The books have as their roots the same ones as illustration. These stories make it their job to depict the words through pictures. The pictures are meant to be explicit such that someone who couldn’t understand the words, could still understand the basic storyline.

Comic books are similar to the art of animation which is a story characterized by the repetition of a drawings with slight manipulations to create the illusion of movement. Animation has consisted mostly of “cartoon” characters but with new CGI graphics, is continuously moving towards more realistic representations. tures&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title

Animation Sequence

52/752968/smokin-aces-the-comic jpg Comic books, or graphic novels as they are sometimes called, have long been popular. It wasn’t until recently though that many people began to look on it as art. Comic book art often uses ink to provide shading but not in a line format. Everything is outlined and the color palette tends to be more limited. Sounds and words are given emphatic representations.

Characters in graphic novels are often drawn in extreme proportions. Musculature is exaggerated and features are often more angular. Bodies often appear to be flawless. Part of this is because many characters in graphic novels are super heros/super villains.

folder/pictureslibrary/David%20Horsey%20Povcal%20cartoon.gif Cartoons are a simplified form of illustrating where the figure is exaggerated, but not to appear perfect, rather to delineate the character as simply and quickly as possible. Coloring is flat and the works often lack a sense of space. They often use similar techniques that graphic novels use.

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Storyboarding is a tool used for movies. It involves a sequence of images not unlike those used in illustrating a book. Storyboards will often show the same thing from many different angles, (shots), and will include directions for the camera. These images will be simplified and are occasionally done in black & white. The elements of art and principles of design are used to show emphasis on what the viewer should see in the film. Storyboards are reminiscent of graphic novels in their ideas of composition.

All these different forms of illustration use different styles, tools, and techniques to depict their story. Focus on the examples I will be giving next to explain your assignment.

Your task for this assignment is to create your own alter ego using the illustrative methods employed in graphic novels. 1)Review your gesture drawings for interesting figures and poses. Put a star or mark of some sort next to your best drawings for use in your final drawing. 2)Look at your short list of activities and skills and think of some other things you might like to add if you were a super hero/ had super powers. What special skills would you enhance? Or where do you think your special talents lie? Create a short paragraph description on what your alter ego/ideal superhero/villain would be like. You may include skills, likes/dislikes, physical attributes, strengths etc. Be sure to make this as detailed as possible. IF your are struggling it may be necessary to come up with a small story line for your character.

3) The next step is to create a composition for your character. Looking at various examples, (including classroom handouts), think of how you might break up the page into 3-5 boxes which illustrate the different attributes of your alter ego. It may be that each has a different action, or skill or that multiple boxes are necessary to show one skill. 4) Begin sketching in your layout. Look at your sketches of gesture drawings to get down the poses. 5) Using a combination of handouts, examples, pictures, and your drawings begin to finalize the details on your drawings.

Tools for success: Remember: When you create a superhero/villain, you use idealized/exaggerated proportions. Think of how an image can be simplified! If you are really struggling with coming up with an image, come see me about a website where you can design your own superhero.