From the Syllabus

Part 4:  Graphic Narrative.  This piece will be your own work of art—the equivalent of about one chapter of the overall story you envision.  (Length will vary.)

More Details

All semester long we have been thinking about and planning for your own graphic narrative.  Now it’s time to create your piece! 

You can decide what section to create from the whole graphic narrative that you have envisioned.  You might find that you want to draw the opening of the narrative, or the ending of it, or an episode from somewhere in the middle.  (You will be able to frame your section in the final piece of this semester-long assignment, the Artist Statement.)  You also may consider creating a piece that is not part of a larger envisioned narrative but instead stands alone. 

In terms of length, the chapters of each of the graphic narratives we have read have varied widely, but many chapters range from 6-10 pages.  Shoot for that range in terms of your length.  (As always, longer is fine; shorter is not.)

The process we will undertake will be different than the other sections of this assignment.  Instead of turning in this section to me for feedback, we will have one class period dedicated to feedback from your peers.  (If you would like to receive feedback from me as well, I would welcome that opportunity, but that will be up to you to initiate.)

As you work on your graphic narrative, you will have to strategize about how to create something polished enough to receive helpful feedback, but also flexible enough to allow you to make revisions.  (For example, you may want to sketch out drawings without fully inking them, or you may want to plan to use computer technology to allow you to alter frames, etc.)

I will provide a number of resources for you on Moodle to help you on this assignment:

• “Creating a Comic Step-by-Step”:  This is a helpful look at the steps a professional graphic artist takes in working on a comic.
• “Creation of a Page”:  This handout is similar to the above piece, but just gives you another perspective on the process. 
• “Mix and Match Rows”:  The last couple of pages in this handout gives you some sample panels of different kinds that you can use. 
• “Printable Comics Pages” (http://www.printablepaper.net/category/comics):  This web site also provides a variety of frame templates. 
•  “Six Free Sites for Creating Your Own Comics” (http://mashable.com/2010/10/24/create-your-own-comics/#LFPjO7UzWPqb):  This web site provides links to multiple places online where you can create comics.  (I don’t know any of them well enough to know if they will work for this assignment, but it’s worth checking out.)
• “Three Act Story Structure”:  If you need help thinking through how to plot or structure your section, this handout explains a common successful approach.

Joanne Janssen, Baker University