Diary Comics with Prompts

 

11/11/24 Memory and imagination (Ha-ha -- I just realized I drew the envelope wrong!
Sometimes the simplest things. . . )

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’ve sometimes felt disengaged from my comics-based sketch journaling process. My single-panel, sketch-plus-words format is OK for documenting something, but it can feel static (see below; cutline contains a potential idea). One-offs have no sense of sequence or the passage of time, which is part of what defines comics (according to Scott McLeod). When they weren’t made on location, my past attempts at autobiographical comics with multiple panels have been hit-or-miss. I usually tried the traditional three-panel story arc, but often my “story” didn’t feel like it had enough of a narrative arc, and I was forcing it to fit. I didn’t know what I needed. I wanted more structure . . . but not too much!

Earlier the same day, I had made this single-panel
comics about the interaction with the leaf raker. I like
 the implied simile of the leaves and the papers I recycled,
but I had to do it with words, not images. The multi-panel
approach lacks the simile, but rearranging the panels
might put it back in. Hmmm... something to think about.

In a recent YouTube video, Drewscape showed how he uses self-made prompts to structure his diary comics. The prompts can be changed easily to suit his subject matter for the day, so the format is not overly structured. At the same time, the prompts offer questions to respond to, so it’s easier than facing a totally blank page (or, in my case, a blank mind).

Shown at top of post is my first diary comics using Drew’s format. Using an old A5-size Moleskine sketchbook, I quickly drew a grid and chose the following six prompts: something I did; something I saw; a conversation (two middle panels); something that made me happy; something I ate. There’s no particular sequence for the events – except for the conversation, the panels could be rearranged on the page without changing the meaning – but I still have some sense of the passage of time.

Although it wasn’t necessary for the format, I also followed the spirit of Drew’s approach by drawing straight in with ink instead of planning first with pencil. I kept it simple by avoiding fussing about shading and other rendering tactics. I also avoided drawing myself, which is perhaps a comics cop-out, but it also helped me keep things moving instead of getting bogged down with how to draw myself. (Do you miss seeing me, as the narrator, in these panels? Should I draw myself more?)

I am especially pleased that I did all six panels from memory and imagination – no photo assist. That’s a big deal to me because I am always trying to practice drawing more from my head, and it’s always extremely challenging. This felt relatively effortless because I kept the drawings simple.

The only way in which I strayed from his format was that I didn’t label each panel to indicate the prompt, such as “Something that made me happy.” I didn’t have enough space in the small panels, and I think the prompts are implied anyway.

On this particular day, I had enough to fill six panels. That’s probably not always going to be the case, but then I can always choose other prompts – or make fewer panels. (Drew’s video notes include other potential prompts, and I can always make more of my own.) Of course, this six-panel page took longer to draw than my previous single panels, but I definitely found the result more satisfying and engaging. Although I probably won’t do it every day (and I give myself permission not to!), I am going to give this format a solid try for a while to see how it goes.