A distinct childhood memory that has always vividly stuck with me is one that is not the most pleasant. It is one of the oldest memories I have and I remember it in snapshots, sort of like Mark Hogencamp does with his brief memories of life before his attack. After confirming with my mother that it was a real memory, and not some strange dream that fooled me into believing it was real, we determined that I was only about four years old when it happened. My family and I were still living in Indiana, in a small apartment that we were about to move out of. One day, I can’t remember why, but for some absurd reason, I was set upon creating a hole through the waxy bottom of a paper Dixie Cup. In my four year old logic, I decided that I should use the sharpest knife I could find, which just happened to be a steak knife. As I successfully created the desired hole, I suddenly realized that there was blood all over the floor and looking down at my hand, I saw that I had badly cut open my hand with the cup. I hadn’t even felt the pain, but horrified at the sight, I screamed and my mother came rushing into the kitchen. She promptly took me to the hospital and they bandaged my hand up. I remember coming home to my three sisters waiting outside our door with welcome home signs. In order to comfort me, my youngest sister gave me a stuffed unicorn of hers that I had always wanted.

The frame that I will be composing, in an old animated cartoon style, for my memory, will feature me in the kitchen with the knife and cup, surrounded by blood and my mother will be entering the room. My sister will be in the background with her unicorn stuffed animal and I will use speech bubbles to convey rest of the thought processes and words. In this way, I can show the whole memory and still keep it simple, but interesting, along with sticking to the overall style of the project.

Memory Mood Board

Memory Reconstructed: Final Frame Product

Memory Frame Reconstructed

For the final project of reconstructing the memory, I decided to draw the experience in the same style as a cartoon or animated movie. Though I have never attempted this style of drawing before, I think it helps capture the childlike nature of the memory since I was so young. It is almost reminiscent of a child’s storybook. In the frame, I decided to exaggerate things such as the amount of blood on the floor and the size of the kitchen. This is because in my child like mind, everything seemed bigger to me at the time compared to how it actually was. Lastly, I decided to use red nail polish for the blood in order for it to stand out more and capture the audience’s attention more because the blood is what sticks out to me in my own memory the most.