EVALUATION

My comic strip is a non-linear comic, there comic doesn't have an ending because it is up to the reader to figure out what happens or wait for the next chapter. My comic is set up so the characters explain the beginning without the reader seeing to beginning. My goal was to have the audience use their imagination and guess what the characters in the comic where embarrassed about. In this case Levi had embarrassed himself in front of Ren. In my comic Ren is seen as an enigma, this is because of his cold attitude and him not expressing himself that much. It makes the audience wonder what his motives are. There is an equilibrium because both characters are completely opposite. In my character bio, I made it so that both characters were very different. There whole idea is to have a cause and effect, the cause in this case it is Levi embarrassing himself in front of Ren. The effect is that Levi is unable to talk to Ren.
I constructed my comic in a organised way, the drawings were placed in boxes. Before I lined each drawing I sketched it out in pencil first very lightly. For some drawings is used references to help me with proportions. when I lined the drawings I tried my best to give it a smooth neat look. I decided not to add colour and make my comic like a traditional manga where the artists did the work in black and white. My story was inspired by a manga called 19 days. Although this manga is done in colour I copied the style of drawing and tried to make it my own.
As my manga is telling part of a story, I used speech boxes to show what each character is saying. Before I drew out the comic I wrote up a quick script. I had to make sure that what was said I the script matched my drawings. So when I changed lines of the script, I found that what they were saying didn't match up to their facial expressions.
When I was actually making the comic I didn't think much about race, social class and religion. However I did think about sexuality, gender and age. Ren is the CEO of a computer company, so, he would be of upper class because of his job position.  where as Levi has recelty become a database administrator so I picture him being middle class.

FEEDBACK:
When showing me feedback to some friends and family I received mixed feedback about m comic strip. The feedback include the following:
1) "Its a very good comic strip and the illustrations are nice and clear, to improve you could have added some background to the illustrations"

2) "very nicely laid out, the story is interesting and I like how the readers are supposed to imagine what happened at the start. I also think you could have added some background or colour"

3) " I didn't like how the readers are supposed to imagine what happened at the beginning. I really liked the idea and layout of the comic. I think its good how your use different shapes and not just squares to lay it out"

My Comic Strip

Comic Script

Considerations and Production Context

My comic is aimed at teenagers ages 12-18. My comic strip isn't telling the full story as I planned but instead telling part of a story. I changed my ideas slightly, at first I had planned to make my comic more of a romance and slice of life. However I changed this concept to a drama and slice of life because it feel it would be more relatable and more interesting.
Before drawing out he actual comic I did lots of practice sketches of my storyline and character design. I got inspiration form manga's such as 19 Days, this is because of the relationship between the two friends in the manga. I wanted to something similar but different at the same time. instead I would have my characters be friends in the past but not anymore.

The format of my graphic narrative is comic strip. originally I was going to make it a full length comic book, but I realised it wasn't realistic so I decided to make it into a strip. The reason why I choose a comic strip is because I am very familiar with the layout of comics and I feel I can do so much more with making a comic strip. I don't think this comic is best to go in a newspaper, but more so in a magazine.

Health and safety requirements

When creating a graphic narrative there are safety precautions that need to be considered when working. Especially when one is doing digital art or traditional art. It is very important that you keep in mind these factors.
Having a tiltable screen is something that all digital artists should have. this is because when you done have a screen that is tillable you could put strain on tour neck and have neck problems. In studios anti-glare screen filters are extremely useful. If you are in a job which requires you to work long hours at a computer all day, eye strain is very common. Without anti-glare you could receive headaches or migraines. Another main important health factor is you have an adjustable chair. Back support is so important when doing any sort of drawing or writing because a lot of the time, when we draw we tend to arch out backs and bend towards the paper or computer. Too much of this can cause bad back pains and possible long term damage. It is better to sit straight with both feet flat on the ground.

A few other thing to consider:

make sure lighting is suitable

make sure workstations are not cramped

plan work at a computer so that there are frequent breaks

Comic Sketches

Costume Design

My Character Ren is the CEO of a computer company. Because he is based in a formal workplace, I decided to draw smart casual attire. Clothes like shirts, trousers, jackets etc. This type of attire would be suable for this character

Comic Book Character Design

The first step to planning my comic strip was to figure out who the characters were and create a story revolving around them. In my comic I created two characters called Ren and Levi. I made many sketches of the hairstyles I was going to give my characters, I felt that choosing a hairstyle to suit the character is very important. I wanted the hair to reflect what my characters are like.

Some sketches of Levi's hair:



Some sketches of Ren's hair: