The comics below have been made during the workshop 'Graphic Narratives', where we focussed on different styles of visual storytelling, and how to best represent the stories we wish to share in our own personal style.
every wingbeat takes me further away
A comic about loss and the difficult process of moving on, based on the song 'Yorugaakeru'
Type: Class Project
Time Taken: 5 days | Software Used: Adobe Illustrator, Medibang Paint Pro
For our workshop 'Graphic Narratives', we had to choose a song that resonated with us, and make a comic based on it. I chose the song 'Yorugaakeru', from an anime series called 'Given'. Given is an anime that deals with loss of old relationships and how deeply they affect life in the present, and how to get over them to form new relationships that help enrich your life.
The song 'Yorugaakeru' (literally meaning 'Dawn Will Break') is a song is about the process of letting go of someone you love, and how you remind yourself that while you will always cherish what you had, it is now time for new beginnings.
This song deeply resonates with me, as I am someone who tends to hold onto my misery and cherish it, as if it were the very things I have lost. It has led to deep sadness throughout my childhood, which I have slowly been learning to let go of as I grow older.
I have attempted to showcase what the song means to me through visuals and composition, paying deep attention to every single detail to ensure it delivers maximum impact.
This comic is deeply personal to me and holds great significance, and can be said to be the culmination of the art that has inspired me throughout my life.
Listen to the song here.
Life After Death
Type: College Project
Time Taken: 1 day | Software Used: Adobe Illustrator, Medibang Paint Pro
For our workshop, Graphic Narratives, we were given multiple prompts to create comics about, the first one being 'Time'. For this concept, I chose the five stages of grief, and used my personal experience with loss and grief to illustrate it in a manner that can connect with the viewer through colour and composition.
In this comic, I have depicted grief as a puzzle box.
In Denial, the existence of the puzzle box itself is denied, forgotten. It lies abandoned in a corner of the chaos of life.
In Anger, the puzzle box is finally acknowledged, but it is blamed for the chaos that has erupted. It lies broken, the puzzle pieces inside it scattered across the floor, the person uncaring of what they have done.
In Bargaining, the person feels bad for the violence against the puzzle box. They try putting the puzzle together, hoping that this will somehow bring back the very thing they are missing.
In Depression, the puzzle is forgotten. The weight of grief is too much to continue it, to acknowledge that the thing you wish for no longer exists.
In Acceptance, you finally accept the fact that you will have to live with this loss for the rest of your life. Instead of forcing yourself to forget about it, or being angry, it is better to remember the memories with fondness.
the seconds between spaces
Type: College Project
Time Taken: 1 day | Software Used: Adobe Illustrator, Medibang Paint Pro
For our workshop, Graphic Narratives, we were given multiple prompts to create comics about, the second one being 'Space'. As exploration was one of my main motives behind choosing this workshop, I tried using photography with illustrations to show my concept.
I have always had problems with memory, and as a result, do not have many memories of my childhood. People around me often talk of things I have, at most, faint recollections of. This has bothered me immensely as it makes it difficult to navigate the world around me.
Through this comic, I've talked about how spaces are very closely connected to memory. When you walk through any space, whether old or new, you use your previous memories of similar spaces, or the same space, to understand where you are in the present.
However, if you do not have the very memories which help in this process, does a space where you have existed in for a significant amount of time, still exist? Different spaces have different meanings for people depending on their experiences in said spaces, but if those experiences themselves are forgotten, can we ever truly 'own' a space? It may still exist in the physical dimension, but what about our mind?
being known
Type: College Project
Time Taken: 1 day | Software Used: Adobe Illustrator, Medibang Paint Pro
For our workshop, Graphic Narratives, we were given multiple prompts to create comics about, the third one being 'Memory'.
When people around you know of the things you have faced, both happy and sad, they know you in a way that is impossible to replicate otherwise. Sometimes, this is good, as people feel more connected to the world around them. At other times, it is a burden, as you cannot escape your experiences anywhere, and are forced to live them again in the reflections of the eyes of others.
In such cases, moving to new places can be a relief, a fresh start, where one can begin anew. However, this leads to its own kind of loneliness. You feel adrift, unmoored from the world. You feel like nobody understands you.
It is often in the absence of something that its presence is most cherished. And thus, when even one person understands you despite you not telling them of your experiences, you feel seen. It's a wonderful experience.
I struggled with arranging the various elements in this comic, but ended up trying something new in order to continue experimenting with new things.
Mangifera ippika
Type: College Project
Time Taken: 1 day | Software Used: Adobe Illustrator, Medibang Paint Pro
For our workshop, Graphic Narratives, we were given multiple prompts to create comics about, the fourth one being 'Food'.
The name is a wordplay on the scientific name of the mango, Mangifera indica. As friends call me Ippi, I changed the word to make it something that belongs to me (as 'ka' in Hindi means 'of'- Ippika literally means 'of Ippi's').
My father's side of the family has always been diligent about eating fruits. As a child, I remember bunches of bananas hanging on doors instead of door-knockers or other decorations. There is even a mango tree in our garden, along with multiple other fruit trees and plants.
But to me, the mango is special. It was a cherished fruit for my dad and my brother, who would eat it almost obsessively once summer arrived. I was never partial to them, mostly due to being unable to understand how they were able to eat them with every meal. But in the past few years, I have realised that the sweet taste of the mango is more than just the taste itself. It is the memories inside it that make me reach for it now.
Through this comic, I have related the different parts of the mango tree to various memories of my time in Jharkhand, my birthplace, and where my grandparents currently reside. Time spent playing with old childhood friends who I have now lost touch with, explaining plants and their wonders to younger cousins, sitting inside with annoyance and impatience due to the high temperatures in the afternoons making it humanly impossible to play outside, the time there was a huge storm which caused a fruit-laden branch from our mango tree to fall in the garden, or just spending time with my father, talking over a plate of mangoes he had cut and was enjoying with relish.
When you look at the world around you, it is through the lens of that which you have already experienced. I find this a true wonder of life, and it is something that makes me marvel at it even now, and it is what I have tried to show through this comic.
In this comic, I have tried experimenting with a lineart but still lineless art style, with special emphasis being given to the background which truly brings the scene to life. The mango simply serves as an introduction to the memories located in the house seen behind it.