Graphic Novel Project
Stories are told through words. But what are words? They are an assemblage of pictures we call letters. Language and the human story has a great and long history with visual storytelling. This year you have read novels in your English class. We are going to take your favorite chapter from one of those novels and turn it into a graphic novel page!
Essential Questions to ask:
How do you tell stories? Why do humans express ideas visually? What can language be? How have you expressed yourself visually?
What to do:
Activity 1: Re read your favorite chapter in a novel that you have studied this year. Summarize it in one to two paragraphs.
Activity 2: Create character sketches of at least two characters from the chapter (if the chapter has less than two characters, that's fine).
- Use any form of artistic symbol making you wish classical cartooning, superhero, realism or a myriad of symbols. (use references from below as inspiration. The Caves at Lascaux, Hieroglyphics, The Sistine Chapel)
Activity 3: Draw a story board - thumbnail sketches of how you are going to tell this story visually. Keep in mind you are creating a sequence of events. Time can pass between the panels in the space called the gutter.
Activity 4: Sketch out your comic in pencil on bristol paper. Add as much contour detail as you can. Once done, using a fine line liquid pen, ink over the lines and add tone using ink techniques such as hatching and stippling.
References of visual storytelling:
