For Exercise 1.3, I was tasked with splitting an A3 page into a grid with 8 panels. I found creating panels with a 1cm gap a little tricky, but luckily I also had a long ruler, so it didn't take very long. It was interesting to read about panel layouts, and I've spent time noticing the layouts in the different comics that I have been reading over the festive period.
Exercise 1.4 asked me to use the grid I had created, and fill each panel with memories of a place: Thinking about different rooms, views and angles from memory. I found choosing what place hard - too many options often ties my mind up. In the end, I surprised myself by choosing the memory of a house I lived in as a child in Saudi Arabia. I have many happy memories of this place, and I was surprised by the clarity of the images that came back to me.
Perspective when doing quick sketches from memory proved difficult, and I am sure that some of my dimensions and proportions are off, but I loved remembering that place and the exercise has meant a lot to me as a result.
The exercise asked for the images to be done as pencil sketches, and I am not sure I enjoyed doing it in pencil, I find my marks to be tentative, and I worry too much about them being right - meaning I end up erasing and re-drawing a lot. I still think I prefer to sketch in ink. Even though it can sometimes be messier, it feels more productive for me to own the marks that I end up making, and making the most of the permanence of the choices.
I wonder if being forced to do this exercise in different stylistic choices (similar to exercise 1.2) would change my approach in how I choose to capture and render the different aspects. I find when I sketch (particularly in pencil) I become reliant on a ruler and get very fussy over perspective lines. Would I feel as precious if I was re-drawing these in the style of Schulz I wonder?
I am tempted to do so straight away, but I am also conscious about moving forward. I think in this case it will be prudent to remember this exercise and look for opportunities where I can try future exercises in multiple ways to explore different approaches.
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