This week is all about making comics! Which is very exciting in my personal opinion. In both readings by Rachel Marie-Crane Williams and Mark A. Graham there is an immediate focus on contemporary art and introducing students to new forms of art. “New” as in concepts that are new to the art world as a whole. According to the Williams reading, comics only started becoming a regular thing about 150 years ago, which is not long at all if you think about how long art has existed in our world! The purpose of comics and graphic novels is to use art as a narrative; most comics do this by combining pictures with words, but not all comics need words Sometimes it’s not about words - It’s about a feeling!. Comics are not just superheroes in action or the Sunday paper funny pages, some comics have deeper stories. There is a lot that can be told through art from how it is written, coordinated and designed, to how it is drawn, and what specific art style can really set the tone for a comic.
When do you think pictures are more effective than words, and when might words are better suited over pictures? Think about the times you have struggled to articulate yourself, when words do not work for you, how do you express your feelings? Reflect on your own art and think about your “art style” and share where you draw inspiration for your art. How can you allow kids to use their own style to express their feelings and share experiences through comics? How can we use this learning to teach kids about comics?
-Jane
I think that pictures are better than words when trying to express a thought or feeling that is too big to find the right word that will accurately express it. Pictures are also better when you don’t know the word for something, especially ELL students when learning different objects’ names. Words are better when you are trying to get more points across in a direct, less round-a-bout way than a single image could. Usually when I can’t find the words to express these big feelings, as mentioned earlier, I typically find an activity that will allow me to relax and think through it (this is typically fishing, coloring, or listening to music). This allows me to narrow down what was so big in the first place and get my emotions to the point that words can express them. I tend to do a lot of work based on wildlife and nature. Thinking about this now, it ties into my stress-relief because nature is where I end up in the “big emotional situations”. I think giving the assignment of writing a story, whether that be from their lives or made up, gives them the freedom (as mentioned in William’s article) to work through a stressful situation in their lives or just be creative. Incorporating comics into our curriculum, as mentioned, gives students the creative freedom to “write their own stories” literally and figuratively. They can work through situations they are going through, change the outcomes of something that happened, imagine their futures, or just create an entirely different story altogether. I really enjoyed William's article, especially the part about comics allowing students to step into each other's shoes and see in a new perspective, creating empathy and understanding for those around them. I think this is a very important trait that needs to be reintroduced in schools. It seems that a lot of kids now don’t feel the need to understand what others are going through or to help others without getting something in return (and maybe I’m just completely off on this observation!). What do y'all think?
ReplyDelete-Jorgan
When do you think pictures are more effective than words, and when might words are better suited over pictures?
ReplyDeleteI think pictures are more effective than words when you are just trying to get across a feeling. It is kind of like that writer’s saying “show don’t tell”. It also makes you think more creatively, and I feel like it also helps the viewer really get the message or even feel empathy, or take them to that moment more than words could do, But don’t get me wrong, words are just as powerful. But that is more for when you are expressing dialogue, or when it is absolutely important for the viewer to know those words. Or id the words are a form of art themselves like poetry or a song.
Think about the times you have struggled to articulate yourself, when words do not work for you, how do you express your feelings?
I struggle to articulate myself all of the time. Everytime I seem to talk I forget a word, or lose my train of thought so fast. Usually when this happens I either take back what I was saying, or I will keep rambling until someone understands what I am trying to say. I also tend to talk more with my hands when I feel that I am not getting my point across as well. And of course for my big emotions that I can’t handle I make it into art.
Reflect on your own art and think about your “art style” and share where you draw inspiration for your art.
My inspiration for art is so many different things. I love comics and I love making little cartoon guys. I also love portraits so much. I love to draw people's faces. I also find emotion to be very interesting. I also love creepy things, I love monsters and unsettling imagery. Those are what I find the most inspiring.
How can you allow kids to use their own style to express their feelings and share experiences through comics? How can we use this learning to teach kids about comics?
I think that this could be a whole project maybe for elementary school. Make a comic about a big emotion. What does it look like? What do you want to do when you have this emotion? What would be a way to handle this emotion? And then they would put their answers to those into a little comic strip to show what that emotion looks like for them. I also think that having students exposed to more comics and graphic novels in their art education can help them find their style.
-Taylor
Comics can be used in so many ways from telling stories to conveying an idea visually. I’ve seen countless comics used in education as well as for fun. When focusing on using them for education, we can appreciate them in a new setting that can also apply things students have learned to their daily lives to make school more enjoyable and easier to digest. Pictures can be used better for words whenever it comes down to scenarios where we need visuals in order ti better convey an idea. However, sometimes only words are needed for this idea to get past if descriptive enough. Comics using storylines can help articulate a story to a student and even visualize a reaction or emotion that they can visually work through and develop. -Grace
ReplyDeleteArt is extremely powerful in the way that it can transcend words and dialogue. The art speaks for itself and the intimate connection between the piece and viewer becomes the dialogue.
ReplyDeleteI think that in many cases pictures become more impactful than words as they allow a bridge to be built between creator and viewer. Currently, I've spent a lot of time working with RIYO (an organization in Waterloo providing afterschool programs for immigrant/migrant/refugee children) and their students, who are mostly ELL learners. In this program, I work as the art director, building and facilitating art lessons for middle and high school students. Again, as the majority of these students are ELL learners, it has become more and more evident how art breaks barriers of language. How art can become a form of communication and connection between groups of people. How artistic exploration becomes a tool, in which imagery, colors, forms, and patterns, shape the understanding of the world around the students.
Personally, I find myself reaching to communicate through art far more often than through words. For me, there is something about the process of creating, trying and failing and trying again, that helps me process what exactly it is that I want to communicate, before I articulate it through words. In my own art, like any artist, I draw inspiration from everything around me. I have a deep passion for mixed media and experimenting with "unconventional materials". I find myself more often than not making art that reflects the natural world around me, the sense of peace and connection I find in nature, and the stories of people I meet. I think in many ways that my travels and desire to connect with as many people as possible have shaped the ways I collect inspiration and pursue art.
As an art teacher, it is my number one goal to build students' confidence in the ways they can express their artistic voice. To empower them through art to express feelings, share experiences, and think creatively + critically about the worlds in which they exist. Although I don't often create comics in my personal work, I still believe they are a fantastic tool for student expression. Comics and animations have such a unique way of expressing themselves. I find that students gravitate towards the narratives that are built in partnership between the visual and written art. Overall, comics are definitely something that I will be incorporating in my future classrooms and a unit that I would love to partner with the literacy classes on.
- Tatiana :)
ReplyDeletePersonally I am all for a more prophetic form when it comes to just having the pictures because sometimes all you need to see if the photo- and if you don't understand it fully or at all, then sometimes the art was not depicted for you specifically to understand. But sometimes having words for context can be incredibly helpful in education standings to help understand maybe the historical context of something.
When it comes to personal expression, I find its incredibly difficult sometimes to articulate the words to describe my own vision for something so I have to just do it I have the example to describe what I'm trying to say or explain. I personally am very much a visual person and words can be very hard sometimes as an ADHD-ridden neurodivergent artist. But I think my art style could be converted into a comic because I have a very half/half cartoon/realism type of style and while it would take a lot of work, I could definitely do it.
I think comics are a wonderful way for kids to express their art and ideas because you can do dang near anything when it comes to comics. Comics are also a super fun way to teach kids how to articulate cohesive narratives and storylines by creating a sequential form of art and words onto a spreadsheet of panels.
-Kat
As Crane Williams stated, "...I believe, like Wilson, that
ReplyDeletecomics, manga, and graphic novels can
create a bridge that is wide, stable, heavily
trafficked, and easy to cross." Making different comic, graphic, manga, etc art can help to bridge dialogues hat one can visually and mentally see. People can interact not only with their eyes but directly with their thoughts—it's like the art of dialogue for me. That being said, I think it's a great outlet where students be creative, and an active participator of the world. I think that students also learn beyond the art aspect in the sense of organizing a story, organizing a comic grid, a narrative, how to activate activism (if situation is called for that).
As for my personal thoughts, I always thought that art succeeds when my words fail, when my art fails my words succeed, but when I do them both than a have an intentional and successful work. That being said, pictures/art can say more than a thousand words and invoke people to think of many different outcomes—it's a great way to invoke the viewer to immerse themselves in the creative process and dialogue. Words, on the other hand, can invoke feelings, thoughts, and the greatest words can invoke change. Words are more direct, but they don't have to be—I think a great writer can make the reader immerse themselves as well. Therefore, when you have the combination of both, there is a great chance that one can offset pictures with words and words with pictures.
-Sarai