Using drawing technique in Writing

In class, we have discussed iconic, figurative, abstract, perspective and compositional drawing. This is a lot. Let's review.

Iconic drawing uses the language of icons in order to communicate ideas.

For instance, the mcDonalds arches is an iconic. Therefore to draw the mcDonalds M using gold and red would be an "iconic drawing".

In manga, icons are everywhere. Artists make the decision to not draw figuratively or realistically in exchange for drawing iconically. This makes it easier to communicate ideas.

Eyes are usually iconic drawings. Eyeballs are usually never this big but are enlarged in order to illustrate expression. Nobodies eyes turn into spirals when they're super frustrated and to piggy back on the comment, nobody has a little "QUESTION MARK" over their head when they're confused. Question marks, steam out of ears, spiral eyes, - this is all iconic decisions because it communicates an idea over attempting to look realistic.


Abstract art is the opposite of figurative or realistic art; emotions are attempted to be expressed without any representation whatsoever.

In Manga, abstract art is usually used to portray motion, or to heighten the intensity of a illustrated situation.





Observe this still from the anime "Fist of the North Star". Ignore the figure with the lightning bolt coming out of him. Look at the background. It is red and black wavy lines. What does this do to the figure? Also notice how much the cool blue "pops" in front of the red. The same wouldn't occur with a blue background.

Figurative art keeps an emphasis on the HUMAN FIGURE.

To draw figuratively takes years of practice and patience. It also involves observing. To get better at figure drawing, draw people on the subway every day! Go to a life drawing class. The only way to get better at drawing is to draw.

Perspective drawing uses a mathematical grid in order to create the illusion of a 3-dimensional space upon a 2-D paper.


By finding a horizon line (where the earth meets the sky) and creating a single point on that line, then making a radius of lines that occur from the point, one can create the illusion of 3 dimensional space. This mimics nature. If you don't believe me, go to a street and look down the street.

Compositional drawing in manga is about designing the panels of a page that is pleasing to the eye. Luckily for this class, we have blueprinted paper, that tells us where the center of a page is, how to divide it, straight lines everywhere, etc.

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Writing

We have discussed about the mundane and the sublime in writing. We have designed characters and have attempted to write descriptively. Stories have beginnings, middles and end can cannot exist without conflict or an issue. For instance -

Beginning: setting
middle: disturbance in this setting
end: resolution of disturbance.


Putting writing into comics is about composition. One must use the design of the page to emphasize a story. Panel scale can emphasize significance. For instance, let's pretend the end of our story is dramatic, similar to the ending of a horror movie when Freddie or Jason or whoever reveals they're not really dead.


If the ending is scary, why not give it one panel and make it very emotional and scary? You could utilize abstract drawing for a background to showcase power, the scale of the panel makes it stand out, etc.

If you are working from a script, different types of drawing may be used to showcase different types of writing.

For example:

"Nygel was late to school. He was stressed out and had to run to get to class."

to illustrate this statement could be boring, or interesting depending on how it is illustrated.

You could use iconic drawing to add big sweat beads to his brow. You could utilize abstract drawing to show motion lines of him running. A perspective drawing could show the hallway of the school.


I am using a 9 panel grid because it is common in American graphic novels. It is what I am used to. However, one can have their grid anyway they want it to be. Look at manga pages! See how pages are organized!