I’m a bit behind on updating this… archiving all my activities takes almost as long as doing them in the first place! This week’s exercises focus on composing a single image that tells a story, incorporating words as an integral part of the whole.

Exercise 2.1- Write down on separate post it notes:

Something you overheard recently in a public place- “What an idiot”

Something you said to someone earlier that day- “See you later”

A catch phrase or slogan- “Life’s good”

An interjection- “Whatever!”

Exercise 2.2- On separate post-it-notes draw the following:

Something abstract

Something mundane

Something sexy

Something you dreamt recently

The funniest thing you can think of

The saddest thing in the world

Something scary

Exercise 2.3

Try different combinations of the phrases from 2.1 and the images from 2.2. “Irony works when there is a tension of opposites.” (p.30)

Exercise 2.4

Adapt an entire book into a one-panel cartoon. (I went off the rails a bit on this one and didn’t really fulfill the requirements of the exercise. I started drawing a panel based on Raymond E. Feist’s The Magician and got carried away with the drawing. Hopefully it still captures some of the characters and themes, to some extent.

This exercise really brought home the power of irony, the effectiveness of creating tension between image and text. Capturing it within the diary comics is definitely a bit hit and miss so far though.