Contents

Page 1 - 3

Page 4 - 6

Page 7

Page 8 - 9

Page 10 - 13

Page 14 - 21

Introduction and Proposal

Harvey James Interveiw

24 Hour Comic

Charecter Development

Ink Soup

Test Panel

Page 22 - 25 Thumbnails

Page 26 - 27 Script

Page 28 - 29 Frame Composition

Page 30 - 37 Further Development

Page 38 - 49 Final Outcome

Page 50 - 52 Cover Design

IntroductionHaving suffered from Depression and Anxiety myself for some time throughout my teenage years, I often have wondered since, as to the outcome, had I not had friends and family around me who empathised with me and encouraged me to make better choices in order to make myself happy and gain control of my feelings and emotions. Sources however suggest that Depression is a hugely growing problem for young people in our society.

1/5 young people suffer from some from mental, behavioral or emotional problem.

Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among you people aged 15 to 24.

95% of young offenders have a mental health disorder.

Nearly 80,000 young people suffer from sever depression in the UK.

More than half of all adults with mental health problems were diagnosed in childhood. Less than half were treated appropriately at the time.

Experiencing teenage depression is certainly not uncommon at all, in fact mood swings are highly characteristic of teenager years, much to do with chemical and hormonal changes in the body. However I feel because of this many cases of genuine clinical depression can be waved aside or not taken seriously in the case of young people and is not addressed directly enough leaving many feeling alone and helpless. At this time in a persons life they are often assessing how they want to live and what they hope to make of themselves. In an unstable state of mind a young person can very easily be persuaded that many of the wrong choices are their only options at the time. I would like this project to challenge this to an extent, send a !"#$%&"'()*%&%+"',"**-."'-$!'/"-01'-2!%"$0"')$'-$'",)&%)$-3'level in addition to being visually interesting and entertaining.

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Above article from METRO - Monday September 26, 2011

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In order to appropriately address my demographic of young people aged 14-21

I would like to bring mediums into my comic which are relevant to their interests and environment,

whilst also giving myself room to be experimental in exploring my visual language.

This way I feel the “voice” with which the story is expressed I would like to relate to them and not seem

condescending or assuming. For this reason I would like in my research to look at artists, illustrators and designers who work in a

contemporary and perhaps experimental style, using materials such as spray paint, ink, collage and biro.

Because idealy I would like to produce this peice of work as a webcomic also, I would like to look into artists who I feel optimise this format and method of distributing thier work.

Proposal

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Harvey JamesAfter encountering Harvey James’ controversial little comics, which often feature sex, violence, rape and other profanities along side cutesy and well loved characters I felt excited to get the opportunity to meet and interview him. On of the things that struck me especially about him wasn’t necessarily like anything anyone had ever seen before, that would shock and catch people unawares in order to connect with them. I felt this was quite interesting as often even if a comic or graphic novel is visually beautiful with a fairly interesting narrative, it can be forgettable unless it really connects with an d moves the reader, and in many ways shocking or confusing them can be the ideal way to do this. I feel Harvey James’ work plays with its audiences perception in a similar way to Dave Mckean in that he will often change or vary the tone, if not the medium, in order to move the reader out of their comfort zone. Talking to him really opened my eyes to the possibilities presented in comic writing, where !"#$%&'($)%($*)"+!)(,,-./$0&1&2-,-)-(*$"3$4,56$2!$0"52-.-./$'-*#&,*$7-)%$1+"*(6$%"7('(+$.".($"3$)%($0"*)*$&.8$0"51+"5-*(*$"3$%&'-./$)"$5&9($&$4,5:$;!$0"51&+-*".6$0"5-0*$&.8$Graphic Novels are fairly quick and easy to make, and like books can quite easily be put down and returned to later.

Interveiw

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“I remember being quite you and having all these hand-made zines. I found it such a direct and personal form of communication”

“Comic books are somewhere I can apply my *1(0-40$)&,(.)*$&.8$)(,,$)%($stories I want to tell”

“Comics take me a long time to make, so I come at it from the perspective that if something is going to take a long time, you would be saying something that is worth a long time to say.”

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“I just do work I think is important to make and then hopefully the demographic follows.”

“It seems like 50% of people who read it had a ‘WTF?’ response while the other 50% seemed to be really moved emotionally.”

I felt that this was a very valid point and that it is very possible that the more you try to target a demographic, the less you communicate with individuals.

This sort of ambiguity is something I am not afraid to demonstrate in my own work, as I think there can be a lot of power in something that makes people think and feel, even if they don’t necissarily understand.

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Development

24 Hour Comic24 Hour Comic Day is a world even which challenges writers and artists to create a full 24-page comic in 24 consecutive hours. I attempted this with artist Harvey James the weekend following my interveiw with him. Although we only reached 12 pages each, I feel it was a very posative experience, which taught me a great deal about pacing myself, as well as seeing how much I was actually capable of in a mere 12 hours. Everything, including story, dialogue and charecters had to be developed in those 24 hours, so as to ensure that neither one of us tried to cheat, we created around 30 peices of paper with a random word or phrase. At the beginning of the 12 hours, we each took out a word and proceeded ti di this on the hour, for each pages. The word you receiweve, you had to implement in some way, into your comic. This is not only avoided using previously planned ideas in some way into your comic, but also served as a source of much needed inspiration 10 hours in, while experiencing physical and mental exhaustion. This also gave me the opportunity to see Harvey James in action and compare our working processes, which I found very interesting.

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On my initial tutorial with Chiu Man, he suggested I try out making a test panel to both explore and demonstrate where I want to go visually with this Graphic Novella, as far as the multimedia approach is taken and in how I plan to put this together. I started off depicting a rough idea of how I planned to show my Character 1 using biro and blue, green and brown inks, focusing on pages 9 and 10 for the narrative, and continued this experimenting in how I might use ink for the grass, foliage and trees.

As one of my aims for this project was to introduce certain new materials into my practice such as spray paint and cardboard, I also got to messing about with this, and seeing if I could create some marks or patterns that might be able to use, experimenting with making basic stencils and looking at ways I could use spray paint effectively for a comic.

Test Panels

Development

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My initial reaction was to use hand-rendered type regardless, however I really liked Devin Finch’s use of lined paper, and tried something similar with the squared paper I like to use to draw on.

I made a second page also, this time without dialogue whilst experimenting more with spray paint and stencils, and also collage.

My idea for the mood of this page was so that it looked reminiscent of college - a little messy round the edges, full of texture and vivid splashes of bright colours, reminiscent of the both Devin Finch and Harvey James, on top of muted browns purples and greys.

Devin FinchHarvey James

In the following tutorial I was criticised heavily on my drawing skills, as my characters appeared to resemble “bad manga”, which certainly wasn’t where I was aiming for. It also occurred to me afterwards, that for a comic with aims to look into issues such as depression, the colour palette seemed to completely overlook this, and was something I would have to put more thought into this in the future.

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Charecter DevelopmentDevelopment

Bryant Arnold

Much about Adams charecter could be 8(*0+-2(80"#,8$2($8(*0+-2(8$&*$4))-./$)%($stereotyoe of “Emo”, in reference to his hair, and the type of clothing he is wearing. The hair covering the face was an important visual aspect for me, as it mirrors the anonaminity of the masked girl and is also a visual representation of his reluctance to be open with people.

Adam

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Girl (unmasked)

Adams love interest (who -*$".,!$1+(*(.)$3"+$)%($4+*)$couple of pages) acts in many ways as the catalyst for the story. .

A big inspiration for her character was the character Effy in the popular TV show “Skins” played by Kaya Scodelario. Effy is depicted as both fragile and withdrawn from the world, however simultaneous manages to act as somewhat of a “femme fatale” in the series. I also would like it to be evident through the dialogue and the narrative that, like Effy, Adams love interest suffers from undiagnosed mental health issues like depression.

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Girl (masked)While conversing with Harvey James over Miyazaki’s animated 4,5$<=1-+-)(8$>7&!?$%($5(.)-".(8$)"$5($)%&)$5#0%$&2"#)$)%($masked character ‘No Face’ is based on Miyazaki himself. I found an interesting quote from the director “Everyone has a No Face inside”, referring to the characters gluttonous nature as what is known as a “hungry ghost” in Japanese culture. After the death od the girl in my comic, I would like her to +()#+.$$&*$&$/%"*)$"+$*"5($4/5(.)$"3$>8&5@*$-5&/-.&)-".: The mask she wears, is as much a symbol of her hiding behind drugs and alcohol in her lifetime, as it is a mirror image of Adam and his reluctance to open up and make himself vulnerable. Masks featured in dreams apparently link to feelings that have 2((.$0".0(&,(86$*"$-)$*((5(8$A#-)($4))-./$3"+$)%($/-+,$)"$&11(&+$to Adam as a masked spectre after her death, as both of them mutually concealed their feelings towards each other.

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Dave and the GangWhile it would be accurate to say that much of Adams character is inspired by the stereotype of <B5"?6$-)$7"#,8$&,*"$2($&00#+&)($)"$*&!$)%&)$)%($0%&+&0)(+$"3$C&'($4)$)%($*)(+(")!1($"3$<D%&'?$or as referred to in the press as “Yobs” or “Hoodies”. Several stereotypical traits are associated with chavs; smoking, drinking and taking drugs in /&./*$".$*)+(()$0"+.(+*$&.8$"#)*-8($*%"1*6$1())!$)%-('(+!$&.8$'-",(.0(6$'&.8&,-*5$&.8$/+&34)-6$an exaggerated “tough” gangster-like voice and lingo and foul, aggressive language (with common expressions such as “Am I bovvered” or “Warru on about”). The most important role Dave and his gang play in my narrative is offering Adam a false sense of acceptance on the grounds that he is willing to participate in drug consumption and deviant activities. This was important for me to show as I feel for many teenagers and young people with undiagnosed mental health conditions, this can be a common trap where their conditions can be worsened and they feel further alienated from wider society.

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I was asked to produce a 5 page black and white comic to take part in making a submission to Issue 6 of Ink Soup, which was based on the theme of “Beauty and the Beast”.

Something I’d been experimenting with for my test panels had been scratching spraypaint off of the clear plastic I’d been using for stencils in order to make an image, and after looking at artists such as Lola Fielding and Angela Harding I felt this would be and interesting way to go, now that I could only work in black and white. I focussed mainly on using this method for the backgrounds in my comics so I depicted the sorts of surroundings I would expect to be in a comic &2"#)$.")$/"-./$)"$0",,(/(E$7""8*6$1&+9*6$4(,8*$and a wall.

Lola Fielding

Ink SoupDevelopment

I was advised to get two birds with one stone and continuing with my current narrative for my submission, as Depression is often referred to as “The Beast” and the masked girl or “Beauty” in my planned comics is representative of the main characters problems and emotions.

Various work featured in Ink Soup

Cover of Ink Soup Issue 5

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F%-*$4+*)$&))(51)$G,(3)H$7&*$7%-)($*1+&!$paint on clear plastic, scraped off with a scalpel and laid over black paper. In a later attempt (bottom left) I looked at using straight lines as well as reversing what I was scratching out - using black *1+&!$1&-.)$&.8$"'(+,&!-./$)%($4.-*%(8$product onto white paper. From this I also tried only partially covering my plastic in spray paint in order to great a faded more smokey effect and scratching a design into this (see below). I liked the result of all of these attempts was eager to try using them in contact of a comic.

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Ink SoupDevelopment

After the initial reaction to my test pages, I felt very nervous about my drawing and tried using a technique I had seen in the work of various artists, where I painted and drew over photographs I had taken, asking friends to model for me. I had seen this technique used in the work of Lynda Barry, Dave Mckean and a few others.

I really liked the effect of this, especially after converting these photographs to black and white, using Adobe Photoshop to alter the contrast and clean things up. I drew the facial expressions separatey and layered them over the painted photographs afterwards.

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Lynda Barry Dave Mckean

I used a similar technique for the skateboarding scene, however instead of working directly over the top, I traced over the photographs and inked them in, almost like silhouettes. Taking advice from a classmate, I decided to use footage of people skateboarding and obtained stills from these. The idea behind this was to ensure the poses and postures were more natural and true to life, while also capturing the motion and movement in the illustration. I.$5!$4.&,$"#)0"5(6$I$8(0-8(8$)"$*-,%"#())($)%($4/#+(*$3#,,!$&*$I$3(,)$-)$*-51,-4(8$)%($-5&/(:

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Lynda BarryTumblr.com

Though I initially wanted to use hand rendered type, inspired bt comic artist such as Lynda Barry and Harvey James who often use hand rendered type in thier work. I did however, after seeing various posts on the blogging website Tumblr.com, experiment with using various typewriter fonts, such as “Moms typewriter” and “Old typewriter”, and places these digitally on top squared paper for the speech bubbles,

Ink SoupDevelopment

Old typewriter

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1 2

3 4 5

;(,"7$-*$5!$4+*)$8+&3)6$1#)$3"+7&+8$3"+$I.9$="#16$2(3"+($5&9-./$)%($4.&,$&,)(+&)-".*:$At the time I really liked the high conrast, inspired by Frank Millers ‘Sin City’. One of the critiques of my work however, was that the high contrast in both the 3"+(/+"#.8$&.8$)%($2&09/+"#.8$5&8($5&.!$1&+)*$"3$)%($0"5-0$3((,$J&)$&.8$+()+&0)$from what is going on. There were also some problems with the consistancy in the outlines and proportions in the charecters, and some aspectes in the background that I initially overlook were brought up. I found this part of the process very interesting as I was able to gain the insight from my peers who were also submitting comics for Ink Soup, on issues that I may not have thought about otherwise

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I worked on adding more tonal variation in the background and thinking more about which parts of each frame were most important, using the contrast to emphasise them. I$7&*$%&11!$%"7$)%($4.&,$0"5-0$G*(($1&/($+-/%)H$0&5($"#)6$%"7('(+$2!$)%($(.8$"3$-)$7&*$eager to try working in colour and pushing the visual language I had begun to develope further.

Ink SoupDevelopment

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1

2

3

45

4

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Narrative

ThumbnailsPage 1 - 4 F%($4+*)$1&/($3"0#*(*$*",(,!$".$)%($girl, the dialogue from Adams point of view , talking about a girl in his college class who, though it goes unsaid, he has a crush on, or at least some form of fascination with. I hoped by keeping focus her the readers might identify with the protagonist and empathise with his sense of initial -.*-/.-40&.0($&.8$0".3#*-".: I wanted the readers to be aware of his insecurities as well as her blaring imperfections, both of them very separate from their fellow students, perhaps even outcasts. Due to so much attention being focused on her character, early on I hoped her death would seem just as sudden and abrupt to the readers as it would have for Adam, however be indirect about the incident visually, instead focussing on Adams experience of the death, much of which centred around hearsay and gossip. I wanted the feeling that he was the only one who really cared or was upset by the incident to be apparent. The remarks from his classmates should seem throwaway but slightly derogative and hurtful. K($$)%(.$'(+!$2+-(J!$/()$)%+(($*.-11()*$of Adams home life where he appears to have alienated himself, unable to communicate with his family, opting for video games instead. This page has no dialogue however should be heavy with atmosphere.

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Page 5 - 8 At this point in the narrative I would like it to become evident that Adam has been very effected by the death, even though it is not directly addressed.He mulls over his own self worth while bunking out of class, unable to face college. Around this point the 4+*)$*1"9(.$8-&,"/#($is introduced from the unfamiliar character of Dave. My intention here was to make the interaction sudden and unanticipated, highly colloquial with a realistic amount of slang and profanities.

The invitation to participate in drug consumption with Dave and the his friends should demonstrate Adams naïvety and willingness to gain acceptance with somebody. I wanted the gravity and shock of the attack to be evident, using Typography and references to the trend of ‘happy slapping’ featuring a point of view through a gang members phone.

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Page 9 - 14

At this point in the narrative Adam is left unconscious and night falls. This is the point I would like the line between fantasy and reality to become blurred, as a masked girl, reminiscent of Adams love interest is introduced into the story. I would like to represent this change visually, perhaps by rendering this part of the story, which all occurs after night has fallen, by limiting the colour palette to 3 colours or even just black and white. The dialogue between the two characters is strictly one sided, as if Adam could be speaking to an imaginary friend. My intention isn’t necessarily that the audience know this masked girl is not real, but I would like them to be unsure perhaps even expecting that at some point she will be revealed as the girl from earlier. The charecters appear to go on somewhat of a “date” together, partaking in skateboarding and spray painting, all the while Adam attempts to be encouraging to the girl, comforts her when she falls, and tries to persuade her to take her mask off.

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Page 15 - 20

L&)%(+$)%&.$+-*9-./$0".3+".)&)-".6$)%($5&*9(8$/-+,$J((*6$8(*1-)($>8&5$0&,,-./$&3)(+$%(+$&.8$following. She leads him back to the park where she died and where he had initially fallen on page 9. I decided this because I felt it would draw both visual and narrative parallels, especially &*$>8&5$&11+"&0%(*$)"$4.8$&$2"8!6$.")$)%&)$"3$)%($/-+,6$2#)$"3$%-5*(,36$7%"$+",,*$"'(+$&.8$*1(&9*$)"$>8&5$2+-(J!:$F%-*$7&*$)"$*%"7$)"$)%($&#8-(.0(6$)%&)$)%($&.*7(+*$>8&5$*"#/%)$throughout the comic were things he already knew really, however had chosen to ignore. It was also to reveal to the audience that the character of the masked girl, had all along symbolised Adams own insecurities and that as he had urged and encouraged her, he must do this for himself.>3)(+$)%-*$7($*(($%-5$4.-*%-./$)%($7+-)-./$".$)%($7&,,6$0%&./-./$3+"5$<I$>M?E$&$*)&)(5(.)$1+"0,&-5-./$5(+($(N-*)(.0($)"$<I$>M$KOLFPQ?E$>8&5$4.&,,!$#.8(+*)&.8-./$)%&)$%($+(&,,!$-*$worth something as a person, that he is deserving of the opportunities he had formerly shunned due to his own self doubt. On the last page I use almost the exact same wording as the very 4+*)$1&/($"3$)%($0"5-0$<F%(+($7&*$".0($)%-*$/-+,$-.$0",,(/($7-)%$,"./$8&+9$%&-+$7%"$7"+($&$mask”. This was an attempt to bring the story full circle, and demonstrating that Adam is getting another chance, and that whether what he experienced though the narrative was a dream or a haunting, it has altered his views and understanding of life for the better.

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Script Narrative

Initially I was very worried about the script writing aspect of the comic making, as it was not something I had ever done before. Harvey James was kind enough to send me the script for his comic ‘Zygote’ which I had seen him working on, and talk me though it. I found this a great help, as it allowed me to understand the sort of details that would be useful to include so that the actual production of the Graphic novel could be streamlined. I also found use of resources advised by my tutor, such as Tim Stouts blog posts regarding script writing for Graphic Novels, which emphasised to me the importance of clear and uniform formatting when writing scripts, so that it can be used as a clear visual experience for the reader. I tried this in an initial test script written for a small task in class and however felt when re-reading later it could have been much clearer.

“A script is like a map for your story. The pictures and symbols on a map do not hold a candle to the actual

experience of the trip, but reading a map can either be a simple, pain-free, enjoyable process for the reader that

leads them from spot to spot along the journey or it can be just plain awful. The last thing that we want as writers is for

our reader to get lost using our map.”

Tim StoutHarvey James

My initial test scriptTim Stout

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When writing the script for “Her Mask” I tried to make more of a clear distinction between the dialogue and the action in this script with anything that would appear as V/O text in the comic in quotation marks,the description of each frame always in brackets. The story is initially told from the point of veiw of the you make protagonist who explains the situation as if reminiscing to past events, however because initially he is not directly addressing anyone other than the audience I used “V/O” or “Voice-over”. The rest of the dialogue displayed in the comic i.e. direct speech, I allocated to the appropraite charecter.I didn’t want to go overboard with descriptions as I was aware while writing the script that I wanted to allow myself the potential to try different compositions, however I wanted the descriptions to detail mood and feel of each panel.

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Dave Sim Emily Carroll

Development

Frame Composition

It was important to me that the composition of the frames were effective in the story I was telling so I looked to artists such as Dave Sim and Emily Carroll who all, I feel, use the way they layout the frames really effectively and in ways that make the story telling very interesting.

Jess FinkOmaha Perez

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Harvey JamesI also looked again at Harvey James work, as at points in his comic “Daphny” when the mood became more tense and frightening, such as just before the rape scene, he would alter composition so the frames are staggered over the page, as if intentionally slowing the pace to build tension and draw more attention to the details. I tried staggering the frames in a similar way in my work, just after the death of the girl,and really liked the effect as it seemed to slow the pace and gave a feeling of detachment.

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DevelopmentFurther Development

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I continued with a similar style to which I had used for ink soup, in black and white, with thick boarders, however I wanted the frame composition to be more dynamic and interesting, so hand painted the frames and tried to make more interesting shapes for the page that would draw the readers eye over the page. Because so many of the frames were so dark I used inverted white text for my dialogue.

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I tried to add a lot more detail and expression to the faces of characters, whilst making everything very moody and atmospheric. I$*"".$*)&+)(8$)"$4.8$%"7('(+$)%&)$)%($,&09$"3$0","#+$7&*$&$,-)),($3+#*)+&)-./$-.$places as I felt the comic could prove much more exciting and varied in mood if I gave myself the option of using colour.

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;!$)%($)-5($I$%&8$4.-*%(8$)%(*($R$1&/(*6$I$&,*"$3(,)$)%&)$;!$%&'-./$*#0%$%(&'!$frames, I was very limited to what I could show and was being very literal in how I portrayed the characters and the story, as a result, and that my work 0"#,8$2(.(4)$2!$+(5"'-./$)%(*($2"#.8&+-(*:$

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Development

Further Development

I tried instead using a similar approach to artists such as Lynda Barry and Omaha Perez, who both use collage, paint and unusual compositions in their 7"+96$7%(+($)%($(.)-+($1&/($3((,*$,-9($1&+)$"3$)%($1-0)#+(:$;(,"7$&+($)%($4+*)$)7"$1&/(*$"3$5!$4+*)$&))(51): I.$)%($4+*)$1&/($I$7&.)(8$)"$8+&7$-55(&)($1&+&,(,*6$)"$)%($+(&8(+*6$2()7((.$the girl masked, with her unmasked counterpart, which this approach allowed me to, without explaination. The second page was composed in a very similar way to my previous attempts however I felt the variation in colour and texture this medium allowed me really contributed to the mood, portraying the same 0%&+(0)(+$-.$&$0"51,()(,!$8-33(+(.)$,-/%)$)"$)%($4+*)$1&/(6$&*$)%($8-33(+(.)$dimensions of her charecter become apparent.

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Omaha Perez

Lynda Barry

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I really found working in this way very freeing and allowed me to work in a way that felt very natural to me, and was actually very similar in technique and medium to my 24 Hour Comic submission in some respects, however I was much happier in this case of the portrayal of my charecters. Though initially I had taken it for granted that I would simply be able to add the dialogue into the white spaces seen at a later date, thinking I had done myself a service in pre-planning how and where it would be displayed, I fould the application quite another story.

I had hoped the overlapping might be quirky and seem reminiscent of New Wave Graphic Design, such as the work of David Carson and his “grunge typography”.However when placing the text in my previously chosen font, I found the overlapping lines distracting and confusing in ways I hadn’t previously considered. Though I was worried as these white text bubbles had been painted onto the original canvases I had collaged onto, I tried to rectify this problem.

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I tried making these white text bubbles larger, working over the top digitally. I wanted them to seem almost cloudlike as I was worried about the text bubbles seeming like large bulky shapes in the background, and tried using effects on photoshop to give some texture and make these feel similarly deconstracted to the rest of the page.

I set the text on top in a way that certain words were emphasised approriately, and we still responsive to what was happening visually.

Despite my efforts I just didn’t feel these “clouds” worked at all and as each one had to be individually worked over the orginal white spaces, I had problems with consistancy when it can to deconstructing the and adding the effects on photoshop, so I decided to try another approach.

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Development

Final Outcome

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I$)+-(8$-.*)(&8$#*-./$,-.(8$1&1(+$&.8$3(,)$)%-*$7"+9(8$5#0%$2())(+$&.8$4))(8$into the page very naturally. I also liked that as a material used in the every day life of school, college and univercity students, it was a really nice tie in with the demographic I most hoped to reach out to, as well as being highly appropriate to the situation of the charecters in the comic. F%-*$-*$%"7$I$8(0-8(8$)"$1+(*(.)$)%($4.-*%(8$1&/(*$"3$5!$0"5-0:

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40

F%-*$1&/($-*$)%($4+*)$)%&)$&0)#&,,!$*%"7*$>8&56$%"7('(+$&*$-)@*$)%($,&*)$to last to show her alive and unmasked, I made her the visual focal point of the page. The facial expressions were very important to me here as I wanted to encapsulate a look between two different characters who have never spoken. This page in contrast to many later to come is shown in full colour, to visually represent her effect of Adams mood and emotions.

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Here I wanted to show Adam walking home, the college behind him appearing imposing and perhaps threatening. This was important for me to show, as later in the story I would like to visually juxtapose this, presenting it as a welcoming and positive option. The clouds over the school are very soft and dreamy however dark - an omen of trouble to come for Adam, while he is very caught up in his own world, wondering about his love interest.

On this page I was concerned with ruining the striking effect of the circular close-up of the desk, by interrupting it with a huge box of lined paper, and so instead I opted to use a similar technique to when I was working in black and white with thick frames (see Page 31) the text box in lined paper as small and unobtrusive to the page as I could make it. Overall I felt this page worked really well was effective from a narration standpoint, as well as looking very striking.

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This page was intended to show peer reactions to the girls death. I wanted their crass comments to be put into perspective next to the idea of the tragic and real death of a teenage girl, hence imitation of bruises and wounds over the canvas.I also hoped that this might suggest to the audience, that while she lived, the girl must have in class, suffered feelings of rejection and isolation, an area that the character Adam also relates to.

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While my main intention on this page was to show Adams home life, I also wanted it to express a very distinct mood of depression. Often depression sufferers experience feelings of being trapped or walled in by a situation, and this is what I wanted to put across visually. The little colour used diminishes to complete grey scale by the last panel so as Adams evening progresses his mood worsens. I felt this page worked pretty well and enabled me to provide some insight to the audience on the kind of person Adam is.

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This page was intended to show Adams reaction to the death fully and its -51&0)$".$%-5:$I$#*(8$&$*-5-,&+$0",,&/-./$)(0%.-A#($)"$)%($4+*)$1&/($"3$5!$comic (See page 38) here, as it was important for me to visually reference the girl being on his mind, without needing to reference it directly in the dialogue of that page. Overall I felt fairly happy with this page, though think I could perhaps have done more with it, not so much on composition, but by using the space and colour more effectively had I more time on this part of the project,

46

This page was intended to do several things. Firstly it was to present the same wall Adam had sat in front of in the previous page, and its proximity to the college. It also, however cued the introduction of the character Dave and his gang, so that they appear slightly threatening, but not too much. Again I was fairly happy with this page, however in retrospect, feel I should have made the wall longer, rather than sitting in the middle of the page and given Dave a second leg, as though it was based on a photograph his stance still manages to look unrealistic and slightly awkward.

47

This page was to show the converse between characters Dave and Adam. I wanted to show on Adams part a degree of detachment, while displaying an element of menace to Daves demeanour. I feel very happy with this page as it is effective in what it does and I just felt it worked quite well, and that the use of collage worked nicely in a non-literal way in regard to the settings, much like on page 3 (see page 40) and page 6 of my comic (see page 43).

48

This page was to encapsulate Adams experience with drugs, so while I attempted to make the setting seem almost psychedelic and a little surreal, I wanted him to seem nervous and slightly out of place - separated somewhat from the group. I didn’t want the use of drugs to be overly explicit as, for me, the message of the comic wasn’t necessarily anything to do with drugs, and much more about the emotional journey that Adam is taken on.

49

This was the last page of the “Part 1” comic, and I felt it left the audience on an appropriate cliffhanger, in that the violence was intended to be very sudden and out of the blue. The woods, behind them, which on the previous page had seemed warm and inviting suddenly seem cold and jagged, as what has seemed to be his acceptance in the group expires there and then. I felt very happy with the top half of this page, however given more time, I might have liked to present the violence itself a little differently.

DevelopmentCover Development

50

G>2"'(H$F%-*$7&*$5!$4+*)$+"#/%$8+&3)$"3$7%&)$I$7&.)(8$)%($0"'(+$)"$,""9$,-9(:$I$8(0-8(8$*"".$&3)(+7&+8*$)%&)$-)$8-8.@)$+(&,,!$+(J(0)$)%($*)!,($&.8$&(*)%()-0$of its content and decided to push further. (Top Right) I tried using the “Old Typewriter” typeface I had used for some parts on the comic dialogue, and felt it worked really well, adding the handwritten “Part One” separately. (Bottom Right) I tried removing the outline of the illustration and was pleasantly surprised with the overall effect. It reminded me very strongly of my very early experimentation with spray paint. In addition to this, I also rounded the edges of the purple to match the shape of the frames seen of every page inside the comic.

51

52

This was my chosen Front and back cover design, with my name on the front and contact details and a pattern of masks on the back. I felt this would be eye catching and interesting and highly relevant to the content of my comic, without giving much away.

53

Evaluation

Conclusion

Overall I feel very happy with my comic, as I feel during the process of creating I have improved many aspects of my work, explored the use of many techniques, materials and narrative devices that were completely new to me, as well as creating a piece of work I am quite proud of. Looking back, however, there are a great many things that I may have wanted to explore 5"+($"+$0%&./($*,-/%),!6$%&8$I$%&8$5"+($)-5(6$"+$"+/&.-*(8$)%($)-5($/-'(.$5"+($(340-(.),!:$Another thing I feel I should have done more of is focus on my drawing skills, including posture, proportion and most importantly (in my opinion) facial expressions. In a comic about depression where mood is so essential I feel this is something I should have focused a lot more effort into.

In conclusion I feel I have produced a good and interesting piece of work, which could however have been improved with further development, both of the imagery itself and of my own skills as an artist. My plan from here is to continue with this story and to produce Part 2 and 3 of “Her Mask” as my Final Major Project. I hope to further develop my style and ability as I go, however retaining the aesthetic, by continuing to use of mediums such as collage, photography and spray paint. I feel that now I have established the characters and narrative, this development will be a much easier as I will have more time to focus on the things I was perhaps more lax on in this project.

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