Gideon: From Wimp to Warrior

My last post was the rough draft of this comic. Here's the final version. Bible stories are interesting, but more than that, I believe that many times there's a message for us in it. This story illustrates how a good leader doesn't just see flaws, they see potential. The best Leader of all sees each one of us not just as we are, but what we're capable of becoming.

Challenge #10: The Fifteen Minute Comic

This was our homework at 52 Comic Challenges this week:

"Now that you’ve pushed yourself through a 24 hour comic, why not try a 15 minute comic?"

Homework for Artists and Writers: Think of it a “gesture drawing” for comics. Take two pieces of letter sized copy paper. Fold them in half and staple to make an 8-page book. Set the timer for 15 minutes and get crackin’. It’ll have to be scribbly and fast to make the deadline so think fast and draw faster! Good Luck!

I used the opportunity to map out an eight page story I had in mind to do. Every year our church has a Pastor's Appreciation Sunday. We give him the day off and a few of us pitch in to take over music, sharing for the day, etc. I had in mind to tell the Bible story of Gideon in comic form. I made two 15 minute comics to plot it out (to be honest I went a little over, but worked as fast as I could in the spirit of the idea). Then I drew four pages of it. I'd like to finish the next four pages soon.

I put the comic story in Powerpoint format and shared it today. A lot of work, but everyone said they liked it. I believe comics have the power to teach, even the important messages that are in this story. In this post, I'll share a few pages of the rough draft.

"Gideon: From Wimp to Warrior"

Keeping Busy!

Sometimes Life conspires to keep me from making comics. One example is helping my son finish his Eagle project. He organized work days to scrape, restore, caulk, prime and paint the windows of a church. Hundreds of hours of labor later and he finally finished. The least I could do was help!

Here's a before and after picture of one of the windows. He has more on his blog Photoshopaholic. Finally I got to do some drawing yesterday -- 8 hours straight to make four pages of comics. I'll post those later.

Artwork Trade

Bob Learned is one of the other participants in 52 Comics Challenges. He had this idea to do an art trade. He would draw one of my characters and I would draw one of his. I think it's kind of neat to see the characters drawn in someone else's style. Here's his drawing of Andar and my drawing of Claf & Steve -- with Andar.

Personality Profile Test

At the same website I mentioned below, they offer a personality test. According to this test I'm an Mentor/Visionary. As an art teacher, I suppose that's a good thing to be. I think these kinds of things are interesting. It's good to know what your strengths and weaknesses are. When others are strong where you are weak, they might drive you nuts sometimes, but they can also be a great asset to you.

What Kind of Smart are You?

According to Multiple Intelligences theory, there are different kinds of smart. In school, our teachers were very impressed with those who did well with logical/mathematical and verbal/linguistic tasks, while those who did well with musical, visual spatial, or kinesthetic projects were often made to feel like we were "dumb".

The question is, what kind of smart are you? You can take a test at http://www.mypersonality.info/

I wouldn't say it's scientifically perfect, but it will give you an overview. For instance, I really enjoy music, but am not real good at it. I think the test measured my enjoyment and said that I was 100% musical.

It is a very interesting theory and worth looking into for parents, educators, or anyone.

Challenge #8: Juxtaposition, or "A Team for Andar"

Juxtaposition is the act of putting two different elements together, to create a reaction or feeling in the reader, be it contrast, comparison, irony or something else. You might have worked with a Random Plot Generator before. But you probably have a great random plot generator right in your hall closet! Pictionary cards can give you a great list of concepts and elements to incorporate into a short comic to exercise your improv skills.

Homework for Artists and Writers:
Pull a card from a Pictionary deck and draw a one page comic that includes all 5 items on the card. They can have as little or as much importance in the comic as you like. As a footnote to the comic or in your blog post, list the 5 items that had to be included. Think about Juxtaposition as you combine unlikely elements.

Well, this is the comic I created for Challenge #8. We don't have Pictionary, but we do have Pictionary Jr. The five objects I had to include in my comic were: bar code, blindfold, bulldozer, black cat and banjo. Here it is!

Challenge #7: Draw a Silent Comic

Draw or script a one or two page comic with absolutely no dialogue or sound effects.

This was our challenge this week at 52 Comic Challenges. Silent comics can be tough. As comics artists, how much can we say without words? We shouldn't always rely on word balloons and sound effects to tell our stories. How does silence effect stories? When silent panels appear in a comic, the reader has to “read” the elements in the panel and causes them to examine the panel longer. While doing this exercise, we focused on how we can use silent panels effectively within our own work.

For my assignment, I created one page of a story called The Silent Storm. I did it as an exercise, so I don't really have any plans for where it's going beyond this one page.

The Mighty Andar -- Spaced Out

Think about the way you sneeze. For most people, there are three steps: Preparation, Execution and Recovery. Most actions can be shown effectively in these same three steps. Think of a golf swing: the golfer pulling the club gback, the contact of the club and the ball, and the follow through of the club and the ball flying through the air.

This week's challenge at 52 Challenges was to apply the "sneeze theory" to show action in several three panel strips. This exercise can help cartoonists refine their visual storytelling technique and try several different types of action. Paying attention to the sneeze theory will make sure that you are always picking three of the most important parts of the action.

Now, for a limited time only -- while supplies last... Leave a comment - get a sticker! Yes, that's right. Leave a comment, then email me your snail mail address. A T.A.I.L.S or Mighty Andar Sticker will soon arrive in the mail. Be the envy of all your friends. Claim your sticker today!