Maggie's Animation Practicum Blog

Understanding Comics This is the second or third time I'm reading Understanding Comics . I think I will always find it a little goofy just because of how much Scott McCloud's analysis of symbols/icons in relation to reality always sounds a little bit like a freshman stoner in art school. BUT, I do think there is a lot to learn from it. I really like the bits about comics that have realistic backgrounds and iconic figures, how words are the most abstracted symbols we have. I think it's important to think about the ratio of iconic to realistic in comics and animation in order to figure out a style that is dynamic and a story that is not see/say. The "picture plane" is an interesting concept and probably a good way to measure where exactly your art must lie to be meaningful but also interesting to look at/digest. Ways of Seeing John Berger's Ways of Seeing is one of the first influential texts to analyze the roles of the female figure in art history, a...

Medium is the Massage It is really amusing/strange to read this as a PDF on a computer. Besides the fact that the current-day iteration of computers did not exist at the time of this text's publication, and besides the face that it completely destroys the intended medium and therefore meaning of the text, I had a funny interaction with Adobe Acrobat Pro. When I opened the file, I was clicking around to find a “full screen” mode to read in, and saw an option to “read out loud.” Out of curioisty, I clicked this option. For some reason, the application was only capable of reading blanks in the page. There would be silence and then suddenly a robotic voice would announce the void it came upon, “Buh-lank.” The idea that “Innumerable confusions and a profound feeling of despair invariably emerge in periods of great technological and cultural transitions” basically proved itself to me. Beyond this experience, I really enjoyed this reading. I am 99% sure I have read this before at some oth...

Phoenix Perry Gah. I'm never really surprised by any discussion about sexism in programming or video games. This talk was no exception, but I appreciate it for existing because there will always be people for whom all of this *is* shocking. Though I agree with Perry that advertising is part of the problem, I think it's reductive to suggest it is the only thing contributing to the declining percentage of women programmers and developers in the work force (especially in the age of ad-blockers, the dying off of print media, and the steady trading in of cable televisions for on-demand streaming services with limited commercials). I think she could have made a stronger case by detailing the toxic masculinity in gaming/programming blog threads (see: Reddit), the rape and death threats women gamers/developers receive via social media, and tales of misogyny in the workplace (both subtle and overt) that scare off potential women employees. Regardless of my oratorial advice, I think Per...

VIEW WORK HERE This summer I was approached by the New Yorker to submit comics. I tend to draw comics that are slightly depressing and semi sci-fi, so I stuck to that approach for this story. However, I attempted to insert a bit more humor than usual since the New Yorker 's cartoons and comics are generally funny. In “Your Summer BodBot,” I wanted to speak to the destructiveness of insecurity/vanity and the pointlessness of pining after exes—timeless problems faced by humans. To make these themes more specific to my generation and the current state of the world, I wanted to explore the idea of unquestionably turning to technology as a solution to a crisis. I am obviously a big fan of technology, but I often find myself relying on it too much or using it to avoid life's worries. I think a lot of people would confess to this habit as well. Visually, I aim to use strange but not totally unworldly colors to create a sense of near-futurism. I want readers to find this ...