Chapter 2: the Vocabulary of Comics
A visual representation of an object isn’t exactly the object.
Icon means any image used to represent a person, place, thing or idea.
There are different categories of icons:
- Icons used to represent Language, Science & Communication are icons of the Practical Realm. For example, the number 1.
- Symbols are images we use to represent concepts, ideas and philosophies
- Pictured are designed to actually resemble their subjects. Some pictures are more iconic than others because the resemblance varies.
Non pictorial icons represent invisible ideas so their meaning is fixed and absolute. e.g. words
Pictures’ meaning is fluid and variable according to their appearance. They differ from “real-life” appearance to varying degrees. e.g. picture of a face
When the face becomes less realistic, it’s still acceptable to our eyes.
People respond to a cartoon as much or more than a realistic image.
Cartooning can be considered an amplification through simplification.
When we abstract an image through cartooning, we are not so much eliminating the details as we are focusing on specific details. By stripping down an image to its essential details, an artist can amplify that meaning through a way that realistic art cannot.
Cartoon has universality. The more cartoony a face is, the more people it could be said to describe.
When using abstract artwork through cartoons, the artist can simplify the picture but also focus on one detail to make the face still real.
Simplifying an image can still make the artwork iconic as long as it is relatable for the viewer
Our brains make us see faces in every possible way. Human are self centered, we see ourselves in everything.
We assign identity and emotion where none exist.
We see faces in photos or realistic drawing as others, but see cartoon faces as ourselves. The primary cause is that our mind pictures of our own faces are usually sketchy general arrangement, while we look at one another in vivid details. Though universal identification, simplicity and childlike features also play a part resulting in our childhood fascination with cartoons.
Cartoon is a vacuum into which our identity and awareness are pulled.
Our identities and awareness are invested in many inanimate objects. For example, our clothes and our cars.
All the things we experience in lives can be separated into two realms: the realm of the concepts and the realm of the senses.
In storytelling, a sure indicator of audience involvement is the degree to which the audience identifies with a story’s characters.
In some cartoons, the cartoonist will combine iconic character with realistic background. This combination allows readers to mask themselves in a character and safely enter a sensually stimulating world.
Words, pictures and other icons are the vocabulary of the language called comics.
The picture plane is the realm of the object, where shapes, lines and colors can be themselves and not pretend otherwise.
The picture plane, reality and language represent the total pictorial vocabulary of comics or of the any of the visual arts.
Chapter 3 Blood In the Gutter
People perceive the world as a whole through the experience of our five senses, yet our five senses reveal a world that is fragmented and incomplete. Our eyes see the world as fragments, because our brains allow us to visualize its whole picture.
Closure is the phenomenon of observing the parts but perceiving the whole.
We perceive the incomplete based on past experience
We rely on closure to relate to other people and to see the world in its complete form.
In comics, “the gutter” is the space between the panels.
Comic panels fracture both time and space, offering a jagged, staccato rhythm of unconnected moments.
if visual iconography is the vocabulary of comics, closure is the grammar.
There are different kinds of panel-to-panel transitions to keep the story flowing:
- Moment-to-moment requires very little closure
- Action-to action features a single subject in distinct action progressions.
- Subject-to -subject transitions stays within a scene or idea; it requires high reader involvement.
- Scene-to-scene transitions transport us across significant time and space and require deductive reasoning from the readers.
Moment-To-Moment, Action-To-Action, Subject-To-Subject, Scene-To-Scene, Aspect-To-Aspect, & Non-Sequitur all help to keep readers engaged and to keep the story flowing. - Aspect-to-aspect bypasses time for the most time, and set a wandering eye on different aspects of a place, idea or mood.
- Non-sequitur offers no logical relationship between panels whatsoever.
I planned to use my 18 photos to demonstrate a trip to the met. I will include how I cross Central Park, how I walk in the met and an exhibition called Unpacking Fashion.