Slow Mutation

The idea for this exercise came out of a Zoom chat with Tom Hart.

You will need:

some paper,
Post-It Notes and a
pen or something else to write with.

You will also need to have done the Feel These Feelings exercise, or it won’t make much sense.

Instructions:

1. Using the images from Feel These Feelings as a starting point, pick two panels that look quite different. Those panels will be the first and last panels of your comic.

2. Using the same story you did for the last exercise, or a new one, write out text for six panels. Make sure your story follows the emotional arc you set out in your first and last panels. In other words, if your first panel is “happy”. and your last is “sad”, then your story must start happy and end sad.

3. Once you’ve written out your text, create a visual transition from the first panel to the final panel, though your first panel is slowly morphing into your last.

Thoughts:

I love abstraction, but I want to know that I am looking at the work of a master, not a two year old who can’t do any better. The kind of transition this exercise demands, the clear way one panel connects to the next, builds relationships, creates a visual echo from moment to moment, and implies momentum. I feel that the story is going somewhere. Which feels good. And makes me feel less stupid.

As a reader, I ALWAYS want to feel less stupid. And I want to feel seen. And I want a comfy chair. And I want to know there is a toilet nearby.

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