Patterns of Experience
Adapted from an exercise by Mia Landy, inspired by the comics of Avocado Ibuprofen.
You will need:
pen or pencil
paper
Post-It Notes
Instructions:
Write down 5 objects or experiences that you don’t like or that make you feel unsettled.
Pick one, and write about your a situation involving your chosen object or experience - be sure to include how each it made you feel. Then, adapt your writing to use as narration - with no more than one sentence per panel - and use your narration as a script for a comic.
Start your comic with literal imagery, but quickly transition into abstraction. Try to capture the feelings you experience in your narration through your mark making. At least half your comic should be abstract.
As you progress toward the end of your comic, see if you can begin mixing abstraction and representational imagery. See if you can use the abstract mark making to imply a feeling or viewpoint about the representational imagery.
Thoughts:
I don’t usually love purely abstract comics. I think this is because, while they are often inventive and creative visually, they tend to be light on story and specificity. I think this exercise is a good way to use abstraction purposefully in a narrative by using the abstract visuals to represent the emotional content of a story, without losing the specificity that literal visuals add to a comic.
What can I say, as a reader, I like to have my hand held.
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