Final Blog Post

Over the course of the term, I developed and improved on many skills. I learned a lot about myself as well.

One skill that has always been difficult for me is organization. Without a question organization was important in completing my comic book. I take two English courses and had to complete two projects in one term. This was extremely difficult and would not have been possible if i did not stay organized and did not manage my time well.

Another skill that was put to test was my writing skills. I realized that writing comic strips is similar to writing a short story. I decided not to do a lot of writing, and only write a few words for each comic. Thus the wording i chose was really important. I also took advantage of drawing in detail to "show" rather than "tell".

I did a lot more reading than I expected. The first half of the term I spent reading comic books, and read a book on the basics of writing comics. After reading I developed a good understanding of how to write comics.

My listening skills were somewhat important. I worked with Cyn, (more in the first half of the term). We bounced a lot of ideas off of each other. I tried to listen to what she said and apply it to my work. We also did a couple of interviews at comic con. Out of respect for the artists, I listened carefully to what they had to say.

I learned a lot about myself through the process. I think that I work better independently. Towards the end of the term Cyn and I split and wrote our own comics. I also noticed that if i started a comic on one day and finished it another day that I could add more details in my comic strips. I have never really drawn much before but I think my drawing skills improved quite a bit. I think with a little more practice drawing comics could come a little easier to me.

I have learned a lot about myself over this past term. Creating comics has been a blast and I learned so much about art and comics, things I never thought I would ever learn. My writing and drawing skills have improved tremendously. Before this term I could barely draw a straight line and I had trouble free drawing. I was never very good at free drawing but after creating so many comics and taking the time to actually think about what I wanted my final product to look like, I have improved in this area greatly. I also believe that my writing skills have improved a little bit. Blogging every night was tough but being able to express myself freely and knowing that people would be reading my words helped and motivated me pick and choose my words carefully. As a student I have learned a lot about time. Before this assignment I would usually set high goals for myself and fail to meet them due to time management issues. But this project has taught me to not have such high expectations but to be more realistic when setting goals and due dates.

           

What I enjoyed most about this project and my final product was the uncertainty of it all. In the beginning I had this clear image of what I wanted my final product to be but once midterm came around everything changed. I was going in a completely different direction then I had previously been going and everything seemed to be spiraling downwards. At first I was worried but I learned to trust my instincts and not give up so easily. I am glad I did because I am so happy with my final product. I honestly thought it was going to turn out terrible but I surprised myself by really stepping it up these past two weeks and just let my mind do all the work.

           

I don't really have any recommendations for next year but one thing I really thought could go in a different direction is the calendar. I know it was mandatory to fill out at least two but I never really once looked at my calendar. I don’t have any suggestions for what could replace the calendar for next year. Something more concrete would be ideal. Maybe there is a website or an app out there that organizes things just like this. I tend to loose papers and don't usually refer back to my notes so it was only natural for me to not use the calendar. It was very helpful though to create the due dates in the beginning just to get my mind thinking about what I wanted to have done by the end of the project.

         

Overall I had a last doing this project. I am glad my partner and I really pulled through with our comics. I would definitely suggest this project again for next year’s students but also warn them that none of it is as easy as it seems. 

--Cyn

IM DONE!!!!!!!!!!! ITS GREAT ! i'm finally done. all i have to do it the last blog! YAYYY

Over the weekend I worked on my presentation. I am putting together a few of my old sketches and comics that I didn't put into the book in a binder to display during the presentations. I also worked on fixing my video errors. I'm really hoping that the video turns out well because I worked really hard editing it and it took forever. I have been managing my time well. IM EXTREAMLY worried about the comic book not getting in on time because the company said it wasn't shipping until Monday. This is because of certain fonts I used apparently? I have prepared a backup presentation for class incase the book doesnt get here on time. This way I will be prepared no matter what and with most definently have the book for the bigger class presentations that we will be doing. 

Tonight I finished up the last of my comics and scanned them into the computer. I put them into my comic book and will do the last editing tomorrow in class. Today in class I did a little research for my last comic, i want it to be something really funny that not only girls can relate to but boys as well. I really hope my book is in on time for my presentations but im pretty sure it will be. I'm also very happy that i am meeting the may 18th deadline. 

In class today I finished scanning the comics that I have done right now. Im encountering my first technologic difficulty. Some of the black in my comics is coming out blue and the blue in my comics is coming out black. Its very frustrating and I think I might have to redo this comic. 

Tonight I finished scanning all the comics onto my computer. I have started up creating my online comic book in paperback to be sent to me. I'm almost done with all my comics. I have been creating a lot of one pannel comics. They are more fun to me and its less hard creating the exact picture six times. With one pannel comics I can spend more time detailing just one and getting a lot more to look at then just simple six pannel ones.