IVN | TASK 4: WEBCOMIC
01.12.2024 - 05.01.2024 /Week 11 - Week 16
Loh Kai Xuan (0365780)
Illustration and Visual Narrative, Bachelors of Design (Honours) in Creative Media, Taylor's University
Task 4: WEBCOMIC
Loh Kai Xuan (0365780)
Illustration and Visual Narrative, Bachelors of Design (Honours) in Creative Media, Taylor's University
Task 4: WEBCOMIC
INSTRUCTIONS
PROJECT 4 INSTRUCTIONS AND RUBRIC:
WEEK 11:
Reading
I first started to read the story, "Monkey's Paw". And I
decided to choose this part:
"I'm sorry – " began the visitor.
"Is he hurt?" demanded the mother
wildly.
The visitor bowed in assent."Badly
hurt," he said quietly, "but he is not in any
pain."
"Oh thank God!" said the old woman,
clasping her hands. "Thank God for that! Thank –
"
She broke off as the sinister meaning
of the assurance dawned on her and she saw the awful
confirmation of her fears in the other's averted
face. She caught her breath, and turning to her
slower-witted husband, laid her trembling hand on
his. There was a long silence.
"He was caught in the machinery,"
said the visitor at length in a low voice.
The reason I chose this part is because I love the reaction
and chilling realization of Mrs. White when she found out
about Herbert's death even without any mention of him dying.
I hope to portray that in the webcomic page as well.
WEEK 12:
Research
First I did some research on surrealistic styles and comic
transitions. I checked out the sources Mr Hafiz provided then did
some external searches online.
Lecture Notes: https://kaixuansdesignblog.blogspot.com/2024/09/illustration-and-visual-narrative-task-1.html
Surrealism Art Characteristics:
- Expressions of the subconscious mind.
- Art designed to unsettle and transgress boundaries.
- The liberation of thought and language.
- Chance, randomness, and unpredictability.
Inspiration
Surrealism was something quite new to me so I spent some time
looking at art or comics I can take inspiration from or
reference.
As per Mr Hafiz's Recommendation, I checked out Dave Mckean's
art to get an idea of surrealism.
I thought that using comics I like as an inspiration will
definitely motivate me. After researching, it made me realize
that I never did know what was surrealism until now. And that
I have already read some.
1.Cats of the Louvre (Taiyō Matsumoto)
Drafts
For the cover, I decided on a composition I want to do. I plan to use
collage and Simple graphics to make an unsettling empty poster
focusing on Mr White raising up the paw with is right hand.
Below the title, it will be surrealistic versions of the son and wife.
Reflecting the quote, "Be careful what you wish for". It is also a
reference to the flashing figures after Mr White wished for his son to
be alive again.
For the comic page, I took more inspiration from
goodnight pun pun. Where it uses high contrast panels to show
dramaticness. Where some panels were too "chill" or suddenly very
aggresive. The surrealism will show in the unpredictable story
sequence and randomness of the wife's behaviour. I want to emphasize
on that.
WEEK 13:
Characters
Illustration for "The Monkey's Paw" by Maurice Greiffenhagen,
from Jacobs' short story collection The Lady of the Barge
(1902)
The Monkey's Paw 1993
There were no clear indication of where and when it was set. So I
decided to stick to American 1900s wear due to the mentioned Indian war
and also searched for previously done illustrations or shows of The
Monkey's Paw online.
WEEK 14:
Comic Final Drafts
I did another sketch except this time made the actions
clearer. I used Scott McCloud's transitions as reference
and pages from Goodnight Pun Pun.
After the layout was planned, i cleaned the sketch and
added overall background, atmosphere, and shading. This
way, my work in illustrator would have a clear
direction.
I did another sketch except this time made the actions
clearer. I used Scott McCloud's transitions as reference
and pages from Goodnight Pun Pun.
After the layout was planned, i cleaned the sketch and
added overall background, atmosphere, and shading. This
way, my work in illustrator would have a clear
direction.
Comic in Illustrator
I imported the sketch into Illustrator as a template for
easier tracing. I did the line art first with a thin
pencil texture brush in the default AI library. This made
the lines look more rough for the dramatic
expressions.
After completing the line art, I added in flat colours
so the shadows and texture will be easier to add later
on.
I imported the sketch into Illustrator as a template for
easier tracing. I did the line art first with a thin
pencil texture brush in the default AI library. This made
the lines look more rough for the dramatic
expressions.
After completing the line art, I added in flat colours
so the shadows and texture will be easier to add later
on.
Imported sketch into illustrator. And reduced the opacity.
flat colour + shading
Panel 1: I'm sorry – " began the visitor.
Visitor with hat down, filled with guilt telling the
truth despite him not being the one who hurt the son.
Visitor coloured in a darker colour to show that he brings
bad news.
Panel 2: "Is he hurt?" demanded the mother
wildly. The visitor bowed in assent."Badly hurt," he said quietly,
Action lines to show dramatic-ness as a reference to
exaggaration from Goodnight Pun Pun. Visitor not shown
to focus more on the stress of the mother.
Panel 3: "but he is not in any pain."
Scene of the mother sweating in stress for fear of
the bad news.
Panel 4: "Oh thank God!"
said the old woman, clasping her hands.
"Thank God for that!"
Mother crying of relief, I want to show how relived
she was when she thought her son is fine. The speed
lines and the white subject focuses on her profuse
praying.
Panel 5: She broke off as the sinister meaning
of the assurance dawned on her and she saw the awful confirmation of her fears in the
other's averted face.
This panel serves as realization for the mother as it
shows how he was too scared to correct her yet still
averting her gaze and sweating.
Panel 6: She broke off as the sinister meaning of the assurance dawned on her and she saw
the awful confirmation of her fears in
the other's averted face.
This was a continuation of Panel 5 where it shows to
contrast of the mother's reaction after she realized the
truth.
Her turning black having no mouth (no more words)
unlike the no shading Panel 4 when she was happy. The
husband still unaware of the situation, thinking his son
is still alive. As he was said to be the "slower-witted
husband"
Panel 7: There was a long silence. "He was caught in the machinery," said the visitor at
length in a low voice.
Showing them as small characters show the big truth and
the long silence. With the mother being devastated, father
slumping and the visitor bowing in guilt.
Used pen tool to add speech bubble, brush tool to write
the text.
Filter in photoshop: Smart Sharpen and noise
Gives a more traditional drawing vibe.
Monkey's Paw Cover
Title text
Used envelope distort and create outlines to make the
title.
Pen tool and brush tool
Reference used for paw and shadow
Imported all the parts into one file.
Background done based on sketch using gradients. Lines
represent a cage like how the monkey's paw has them
caught in it's palm, affected by the deeds it has done.
Red was used as caution and contrast.
Added gradients on multiply as a vignette and added
halftone texture to the background as reference to
goodnight pun pun.
Animation
Page Animation with Illustrator and Photoshop timeline
Panel 2
Panel 3 (panel shaking to show anxiousness)
Speech Bubbles(Shouting)
Panel 6: The Paw flashing to show when the mother
realized why it happened. Used the Paw from the
cover as foreshadowing.
Imported file to google slides then exported
into AE to add filters to match the still
version.
Cover Animation with After effects:
The paw's finger
Using keyframes on position and rotation, I animated the
fingers one by one to animate a moving paw. (to show that the
paw has the family in it's grasps).
I also animated the cage bars to follow the moving finger to
symbolize a puppet string.
The Paw
I then Animated the paw hovering above to add an eerie
effect.
**Final Outcome below.
FEEDBACK:
Week 12: Mr. Hafiz said that "Goodnight Pun Pun" is a good
reference material and I should go with that.
Week 13: Mr. Hafiz recommended me to use the same texture
and shading from my sketch in the final comic page.
FINAL OUTCOME
Cover Page [Static]
One Page Comic [Static]
***** Read RIGHT TO LEFT *****
REFLECTION
This project was by far my favorite despite the sleepless nights. I have always been fond of narrating stories through illustration so this project gave me a chance to explore this topic and research deeply about it. Being able to express the story given in my own creative ways were extremely fun.
The hardest part was definitely using Adobe soft-wares to complete the task. What usually takes me a few hours, takes up twice the time to complete in Adobe soft-wares due to my unfamiliarity. However, I believe this hardship helped me found many tools I did not know about and putting all I learned to use. My final outcome was different from my imagination but I will still be proud of the work done this past month with all the help from Mr. Hafiz and my friends.
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