a6aaa0&aaaaaaaa&aaarea aaoeaaoaaaaaatoattataaaa&t0&&a0t88aaa&e&ta are sometimes described as "sequential art," though some are

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1 a6aaa0&aaaaaaaa&aaarea a ComicArtist aaoeaaoaaaaaatoattataaaa&t0&&a0t88aaa&e&ta (IA cartooist is a writer, a actor, a director, ad a artist. We write, act, ad direct every scee. The drawig is the fial stage of the productios, whe I ca touch the imagiary images, feel them, brig them to life!" -Ly Johsto, creator of the comic strip For Better or For Worse ewspaper cartoos, comic books, graphic ovels... comic art is abroad,excitig, ad growig field. Comics are sometimes described as "sequetial art," though some are oly oe pael. So what is a comic, exactly? It's a visual story told however you would like to tell it. Go for it! $TXPS 1. Delve ito the world of comics 2. Choose a story to tell 3. Draw it out 4. Frame it i four paels 5. Add the words Furpose Whe!'ve eared this badge,l'llkow how to create my ow comic. 'i!ffiik!

2 t- STEP Delve ito the I *orld of comics Getto kowthe artform i oe of these fu ways. cholces - Do one: Gollect comic strips from the paper for oe week. Read them each day, payig attetio to how atl the elemets work together. Keep track of what you like ad do't like, how artists show feeligs ad actios, ad how they work timig to make puch lies great. ror M0RE FUN: At the ed of the week, take your favorites, cut the paels ito squares, jumble them up, ad rearrage them to make ew paels ad aewstory. tr OR aataaaaaaaaaalaaa"t'ot'tt""t"' Visit with a comic artist. If you ca, visit oe artist i perso' Or, read autobiographical iformatio about three artists ibooks, magazie artides, ad olie. How do their styles differ? \ /hich is your favorite ad why? Comic books, which carme about i X934, Srave becore rrlore SroBular as of late,3 f'act, the modevm graphic ovel, which mad.e its deb&t im 19?8, is the fastest-growiq literary mediur i tke coumtry! OR aaaaaataaaaaaaaaaa"ttt"""""' Make sticky-ote comics. Get the hag of comic stories by drawig oe of these o a sticky ote (rough, rough sketchig, remember!): r a dog floatig o a raft e a hawk divig r a girl at bat Take aother sticky ote ad add: r the cat that's swimmig past the dog o the prey the hawk is divig for ). the ball the girl is tryig to hit Now, take a third sticky ote ad add aother elemet to each pael: r aother cat chasig the fi.rst cat that's swimmig past the dog o a larger hawk after the prey the hawk is divig for r the catcher waitig for the ball the girl is tryig to hit Now, imagie how these could be tured ito a comic story. The make up a story with frieds. FoR M0RE FUN: Draw all ie scearios ad make them tell oe story! Read all about it. For a i-depth look at the comic art form, read Scott McCloud's famous book, uderstadig Comics. J

3 ) TDEAS F&M YOU GOfi8G ARTIST KIT "OOL A small toolbox or fishig tackle box is a great place to keep supplies. a6!;i@ \r/ Bare boes:. Sketchbook or other practice paper. Fiish paper, drawig paper, or board (such as lied deleter paperfor maga art, vellum surface paper for charcoal art, or plate surface paperfor ikig). Tracigpaper. 2h pecils. Whiteviylerasers Extras:. Ruler. Rightagle. Metal scissors. Gluestick. Narrow watercolor brushes for ikig fial artwork. Black drawig or black magic ik. Fie-poit blackfelt-tippes. Liquid Paper (correctiofluid) pe. Gharcoals. Watercolors. Colored pecils. Old toothbrush ad/or straw for ikig effects

4 MORE 70 EXPLORE Try Oe-Pael Puch lies! Choose characters ad a situatio, ad create thecomicgag. Example: Afamily is walkig uptothe housewith a ew puppy, while through the widowyou see a cat packig a suitcase. The oe-lier: "This house is't bigeoughfor the both of us." Character(s) Talkigdog ad cat Mom ad child Sisters Peguis Teacher ad studet Boyfried ad girlfried Employer ad employee Sigigstar hopeful Taxi driver ad passetler zst?i1?i.,, At heart, comics are aother method of storytellig. tf you've gotcomic characters i mid already(people oraimalsyou doodle i otebooks, perhaps?), let those ispire your story. tf ot, the story you come up with will lead you to your characters. Keep your story simple-it might eve be oe quick momet! l the ext steps, You'll tur this story ito a four-pae! comic. chorces - Do one: Thik of a story from your life. Choose somethig that happeed to you, a fried, or a family member. It could be a fuy momet or a dramatic oe, a favorite memory or a activity from GirI Scouts you wat to share. OR aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaltaaaaalaa a" Thik of a story from a book or movie. Have you see a movie or read a book recetly that had a part i it that you could tur ito a comic strip? OR aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaataaaaa!aaaaaa"" Make somethig up. Thik about the comic books, comic strips, or graphic ovels you've liked. Now thik of your ow made-up story that would make a good comic tale. "t"! Situatio Odd food o dier table New pet O a rope swig over a river O a meltig ice floe Lost homework A raied-out picic Jammed copy machie Too-short microphoe Street parade Roastig marshmallows a J ol'

5 STEP Y 3 Braq,w itout Careers to Explore. Comic bookwriter ad/or artist I I Take the characters i your story ad start some rough sketchig. (You may have oly oe characte6 depedig o your story.) Stick figures are great! Brig them to life oe of these ways. ct{orces-doone: tr Use tracig paper. Fid a comic strip with a style you love. Trace to or rz paels, payig attetio to the forms beeath the drawigs, the simple shapes the artist likely started with. Now see if you ca draw each ' character i your story i a similar fashio. OR aaataraaaaal aaaaaaaaaaa atoaaaaaaaa Do a "free draw." Get a big stack of scrap paper ad just keep drawig. Ad drawig. Ad drawigl Move quickly at first. Refi.e ay details as you go util you feel you have characters worked out. OR aaa aaa aataaaa6taaao..aaaaaaotrtaaa Use a how-to book, video, or software. Are your characters people, aimals, or both? Fid oe of the may mauals, such as the Marvel comics software, that give step-by-step istructio o drawig humas ad particular aimals. o e e e e o Graphic ovelwriter ad/or artist. Comic art colorist, iker, or letterer. Politicalcartooist. Sydicated comic strip or paelartist. Freelace cartooist r Video game artist. Advertisigdesiger. Portrait artist o Caricature artist. Police sketch artist r Graphic artist r Muralast r Greetig card desiger r Special effects artist. Storyboard aimator. Aimated character artist. Backgroud aimatio artist :{ *li. :J j, o Costume desiger. Fashio desiger r Childre's book illustrator { EMANATAarethe scribbles that emaate from a drawig,like drops of sweat or lies to il lustrate movemet. :1 :i COMIC ARTIST

6 Momet to Momet: like flip books or aimated film. Actio to Actio: Slightly more is doe per pael-it's completed actio to completed actio. Subject to Subject: Oe perso orthig moves to a differet perso or thig i the ext pael, like showig a coversatio. Scee to Scee: From oe place to aother. Aspect to Aspect: shows adifferetpartof same scee or thig or perso. Ad the o seguitur: A trasitio that purposely makes osese! -from Scott McCloud's Uderstadrg Comtcs STEP flframeiti E four paels It's time to put your characters ito actio, ad that meas framig them-drawig them i little boxes called paels. So imagie your story as characters i a series of actios. Create paels with sticky otes or by usig a ruler to draw them o paper. Tell your storyfrom step 2 by placigyour characters ito four paels i oe of these ways. chotces - Do one: Use facial expressios. Some comics use oly faces to illustrate their stories, simply chagig the expressios to show emotio ad move the story alog. OR t aaa aoaaaaaaaaaaaa at aaaaaaa.. aaaa Use body postures. For some comic artists-ad for some stories-it's more about actio tha emotio. You ca leave the faces pretty much the tr same ad move the story alog by showig small movemets, such as shrugs, ad big actios, such as ruig ad leapig. OR aa aaaaaataa aa aaoaaaaaaaataaaaa aa aa Use both facial expressios ad body posture. Illustrate movemet ad emotio usig both techiques. May artists will switch from oe style to the other: Oe pael might show a ball fallig o a girl's head, ad the ext pael might show a close-up of her face as she reacts. TIP: To fill i your eomics-a process called ikig-try elargig a small sketch o a copier.lk i the details, the reduce it agai.

7 t- -i 5 edd *ke q*erds STEP Yes, there are comics outtherewith o words, butforthe most part the art is a meldig of words ad pictures meat to be experieced together. Add words to your four-pael comic strip i oe ofthese urays. ct{otces - Do one: il Add some dialogue. If you have more tha oe character, a classic way to tell your story is through dialogue. Ifboth characters speak i a pael, the oe o the left should speak first. Write your character's words i oval coversatio bubbles coected to the character with a fie lie. Comic creators agree that drawig ability has little to do with comic art success-may cartooists use simple lie drawigs, eve stickfigures, to maketheir poits. OR &raao?aaa aa aatoataatataatttataaett Add thought bubbles. If your story revolves aroud oe character, have her "speak" i thought bubbles, puttig her words i ovals coected to her with tiy bubble circles. OR raaa aaataaaaaaaaaioarata!tt&tt aaoa Ru a arrative i separate boxes below the paels, Istead of tellig your story through dialogue or ier thoughts, you ca write a ruig third-perso arrative at the bottom of each pael. /FUN\ abotttons Tell the whole story! Tur your four-pael comic ito a full-fledged comic book! Gutter Speech bubble 0 o You could add some or all of theseelemets to your comic either by had or by scaigyour workadthe usig computer programs: c color o shadig. shadows e backgrouds cor,rrqerrsr I z

8 ^Edd the Badge toyour Joureys Your Leadership Joureys ivite you to Take Actio ad make a differece. Try usig cartoos to teii a story about a issue you care about, a adveture i Takig Actio, or to share a message that ispires others to get ivolved i chagig the world. Now that l've eared this badge, I ca give service by: o CreatiS a ispiratioal comic that shows Juiors what they'll love about beig Cadettes o MakiB comic posters whe a fried rus for studet office o DrawiSa comic about a school or commuity issue ad sharig it with others I'm ispired to: "l'