The Secret Language of Comics: Visual Thinking and Writing

The creation of this visual poem has been my favorite assignment to date. I’ve always loved blackout poems and the idea of recycling the innovation of others into new and unique pieces of work. I have no idea what the real page had said before, but it is completely irrelevant because this is now something original and different that the author assisted me in creating. I chose statements in the original text that interested me and connected to one another in a compelling way. I feel that the poem I was able to form from this is actually quite strong and works well in context. Even though none of the lines had any relation in the original text they now come together to provide a new story and a deeper meaning to the page.

Painting is a very cathartic outlet for me. I do not consider myself to be very good, but it is something that I could do for hours on end and take pride in the work I complete even though it is no Van Gogh. This week’s assignment may have taken a little longer than usually for me because once I start painting it is difficult for me to find the proper place to stop without wanting to add more and more. The toughest part for me was ensuring the background words were adequately covered and keeping the paint off the words of my poem. Unfortunately, some paint seeped onto parts of my poem which I think lessens the effect and neatness of the work. However, overall I am pleased with the outcome and had an extremely enjoyable time putting my time and effort into the assignment this week. This Sunday Sketch allowed me to think creatively, utilize a medium that we have not had the chance to work with yet, and have fun in doing so.

He doesn’t like me very much
He bullies
stop
he wouldn’t
handsome boy
perfectly self-possessed
no one noticed
in the hospital
a lady of thirteen

This week’s assignment is so far the most enjoyable one. The idea of picking out words and phrases from an existing page and rearranging them into a new poem is exciting yet challenging. I started with skimming through the entire page and underlining some words I might later use in my poem while reading. As I selected more and more words, I had a much clearer idea of what my poem was going to be like, and what message it was going to convey. I then framed the selected texts with irregular text bubbles.

The painting part was actually easy. Reading my poem over and over, I imagined two people, friends or couples, riding on a train going nowhere, just to get out of the place they’ve been living their entire lives. They had no plans for the future, nor did they have any money, but they trusted each other with all their heart. With this picture in mind, I drew a half-opened train window, along with the pretty view outside. I chose to use vibrant colors because they symbolize a bright new start and getting away from the dull past.

I think the biggest challenge is to make clear the order of the verses. Since the texts are all separate, I decided to link some of the text bubbles together to guide my readers. Even so, the reading sequence might still vary from person to person, but I don’t consider it a big problem since every reader can have their own unique experience and interpretation with my visual poem in this way.

When I first saw the assignment prompt, I couldn’t come up with any story to tell. Overwhelmed with my midterms, I was always hastily running between the library and my dorm, having no chance of slowing down a bit to see what was happening around. Today, two high school friends of mine sent some fall scene pictures (the first two panels credited to them) in our group chat and I was shocked by how leaves in other cities had already turned red. So on my way to class today, I deliberately observed the fall scene in Atlanta. At first, I was very excited to find some fallen maple leaves on the ground and I thought to myself “The fall had really come!” However, as I turned and looked around, I saw green trees just like in the summertime. Disappointed? A little bit, since I never get to see leaves turning red in my city. I was expecting a “redder” fall scene here. Plus, I finally realized how far away my friends are from me through such comparison.

I think the composition process was actually very similar to that of the triptych since both are telling a story with a clear structure. When crafting my quadriptych, I think the contrast between the fall scenes can be somewhat funny because the first three panels create an illusion that the final panel is going to follow the trend, but it doesn’t. Having two panels for the middle act instead of one allows me to provide more information for the readers. Here I was able to include images from two different cities other than Atlanta rather than just one so that the comparison is made stronger. 

For this assignment I was inspired by an idea my roommate, Emily, gave me to make a comic about how I always sleep through my alarms and miss the whole day. At first I tried to used creative commons photos, but couldn’t find anything that fit exactly what I wanted, so I then resorted to drawing. I spent a lot of time on this assignment because of its artistic involvement. For portraying my inability to wake up in particular, I felt having four panels was useful because the repetition in the first three adds to the humor the fourth panel when I finally wake up. I found this process harder than the triptych because it was hard knowing how much action I needed to have in my panels. The main purpose of telling this narrative was for humor, although I do think it is informative about me since my chronic low blood pressure leads me to always sleep too long.