Square #2—Back to our narratives
Today, we are going to recall our narratives that we are
constructing, and develop a character “sketch.” In this case, we will work with
a creative writing “sketch” or description of our character, and add a visual sketch to help flesh that character out.
Choose a character in your narrative.
Again, remember that we are not aiming for historical
accuracy but narrative truth. In other words, a character you focus on may be
an actual player in the “real” event that you are exploring, or he or she may
not be. Perhaps, the character you create is representative of some emotion or
thought or feeling. Perhaps, your story comes from your youth and you do not
remember it well: construct a character that can explain this event to your
younger self. That person will have known things that your younger self could
not have know. You will have to conjure up what those things might be.
Keep in
mind, this is a character (not a real
person, even if based on a real person) so you are free to play with the boundaries of what that character
knows or doesn’t know.
This person many not have been real, then, but he or she is
real now, for the purposes of telling this story.
A Character Sketch:
There is a written and a visual sketch we will be doing:
The written sketch . . . .
There are lots of good templates for character sketches on
the inter net. Feel free to google them if you want to elaborate on your
sketch. But for our purposes, try to consider the following questions:
Name
Age
Appearance (height, weight, hair color)
The character’s favorite quote or philosophy
The one most important goal in this character’s life
The impact of your community event on this character
The visual sketch . . . .
Continuing our work with collage, look for actual or
possible images of what this character looks like. If the character is a real
person, you might put pictures of the person on the page (several or one), if
the character is a purely imaginary construct, you might search the web for
images of what this person could look like, or you could draw the potential
character. And/or you could use both
mechanisms—actual and possible physical images of the person.
Both the visual and the written will appear on the same page
as you work through your character sketch. As you do so, draw on skills you
have developed and are developing. Consider laying a background or not; etc.
Keep your images and such coming: thassele@bryant.edu
I love these narrative challenges! My character is not based on someone I know but is impacted by my event. I used colored pencils to do my character sketch in both words and for my character.
ReplyDeleteI drew a small clip from my event as my narrative. It focuses on a person, but not a specific person.
ReplyDeleteMy character is based upon someone in real life. It was fun to find pictures of the person and write a description of him. I glued pictures of him in my sketchbook, did some doodling, and wrote facts about him all over! He was a big supporter in my community and means a lot to people.
ReplyDeleteMy character is based on an imaginary character I invented when I was little. It is somewhat dark bringing her into the narrative, but she actually relates perfectly to the event I'm trying to show and how it has affected me in a way that is more symbolic, but also somehow easier for me to explain.
ReplyDeleteThis challenge reminded me a lot about Dunlavey's presentation yesterday when he shared with us his sketchbook of characters. I used his characters for inspiration to create one for myself, somewhat relating back to my event.
ReplyDeleteI found this challenge particularly poignant and important for me. I continued on the narrative I began a few challenges ago. What was so tender for me was the working in of the profoundly human irony that sometimes the person in the world best suited to console you and be with you in that pain is often the one who has broken your heart and broken apart your world. Not to get too morose here; I was simply put in a place where I took that this observation to a personal place in my sketchbook. (And, of course, not completely personal because I sent it along to Prof. Hasseler.)
ReplyDeleteI liked that this challenge allowed me to go back to a previous challenge and create somewhat of a sequel to it. The only difficult thing to do was choosing one specific character, because thousands were impacted by the event I chose to work with.
ReplyDeleteIt was fun to be able to play with the boundaries of the character and be really creative. I liked thinking of a background and working to develop it. It was really fun to work to develop this visual character.
ReplyDeleteMy focused character was a group of people rather than an individual which allowed this activity to become very abstract from my point of view. I tried to generalize my group and focus on common denominators, which turned out well. I also did this with my drawing.
ReplyDeleteThis character is based on my grandfather who passed away and this challenge was a good way of remembering him. It was nice to think about his goals and ambitions when he was alive
ReplyDeleteMy character is my papa (grandpa) because he means everything to me, and he taught me many traits that make me who i am today!
ReplyDeleteIt;s interesting to match writing with my character. I couldn't decide if my words brought my image to life or my image brought my words to life.
ReplyDeleteThese narrative challenges have been exciting. They have not only helped my narrative skills but also my creative skills by helping me develop an actual image of my character.
ReplyDeleteThese challenges that connect writing with visual images have been fun and helpful. Writing about the event and my character has made it very easy to create an image of how I described the event and character.
ReplyDeleteChoosing a specific character to focus on was a tough challenge but thinking of people who have inspired me narrowed it down. This activity let me express creativity through making a narrative character who does not exist but really makes an impact,
ReplyDeleteMy character is a girl that committed suicide in my town, she was a very popular girl in my community and it took a huge toll on our town.
ReplyDeleteMy character is the "cowboy hat" hero from the Boston marathon bombings. His name is Carlos Arredondo. He helped save a victims life after the bomb went off at the finish line.
ReplyDeleteDidn't think this challenge would be so hard trying to pick a specific character. Sketching the character made it easier to predict how I want my characters to look like in my drawings.
ReplyDeleteI used my best friend from home and I liked this challenge because I was able to send her a picture of my drawing. I also liked working on drawing people.
ReplyDeleteI think the most fun part of this sketch was the ability to use both words and an image. It encapsulated all possible creativity when trying to describe someone.
ReplyDeleteThis exercise was really powerful for me. I was able to reinvent me chosen character in a way that I think might really reflect all of the power and strength that they had. I rewrote the real version, and it gave me a great feeling of control.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the idea of choosing a character and creating a representation of this. I enjoyed forming a role for them within my page.
ReplyDeleteThis challenge was fun for me because my character was inspired by a real person in my life and event. However, I was also able to give this person the traits I knew they wish they had versus the one they possess. It was like being able to create them in their most optimum form. It was also awesome to be able to create a representation of this person via art.
ReplyDeleteI loved this challenge. I felt like I succeeded in capturing the emotions of the thousand effected by my chosen event by sketching just one individual. I would love to develop on this one and add color to it.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun trying to come up with a character for my event since I never pinpointed a specific character that played a part in the first place. My drawing was definitely something I would have done in elementary school-- a somewhat fictitious character with a personality of her own- super fun! After jotting down and sketching my character, I definitely realized I could have used more color and attention to detail. Definitely a good starting point for the story!
ReplyDeleteI related this sketch to my father.....he served in the Air force and I look up to him as role model.
ReplyDeleteI liked this challenge a lot. I like drawing cartoons so I decided to draw a cartoon version of my character. I chose someone who I did not know, and it was cool to make up who this person was. It almost felt like my character was actually real at the end of this challenge.
ReplyDeleteI dedicated this page to my uncle who passed away a few years ago. This was a great way to remember him. I think approaching this challenge in a personal way makes the Art that much more special.
ReplyDeleteThis was nice because I love creative writing and creating worlds/people/things that don't exist. I enjoyed this challenge a lot because it played on one of my strengths, writing
ReplyDeleteThis was a lot of fun! Truly enjoyed being creative with this challenge.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting assignment and a lot of fun. I really enjoyed making a collage again and this assignment allowed me to think outside the box more.
ReplyDeleteI decided to work with a group of characters. These characters represent associates that I work with as well as associated I met this summer. I had a lot of fun with this challenge. It seems as though my story is beginning to come together.
ReplyDeleteMy character represents the inner me that was created by my experiences and understandings.
ReplyDeleteThis was another interesting assignment. The idea of creating a character reminded me of an author putting together characters for their book.
ReplyDeleteThought this was one of the funnest challenges so far! Spent some time thinking of what my character would look like. Pretty much put myself in my characters shoes.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really fun and interesting challenge. I liked having the opportunity to turn something real into something a little fictional!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting challenge to say the least but I enjoyed it! I enjoy the more creative ones without to much guideline because I had the opportunity to create and be creative.
ReplyDeleteThis was a challenging sketch. The hardest part was determining what the particular person's goal in life was.
ReplyDeleteI thought this challenge was really fun. but also very interesting and challenging
ReplyDeleteI made a child stuck in the floods of 26 July that took place in Mumbai. This kid was based on my friend. It was fun to incorporate his physical features and twist it a little to give it a cartoony touch. It was fun trying to search a quote and a goal that would match his personality.
ReplyDeleteMy character is representative of a group of people, so it was interesting coming up with a sketch that embodies the whole group.
ReplyDeleteI liked that we could build and almost further explain a previous artwork in the sketchbook. Breaking down the reasoning behind our choices in our art
ReplyDeleteSpent quite a bit of time deciding my character but eventually the whoe activity played out pretty well
ReplyDeleteMy character was one that has always been my favorite since my childhood and It was a fun challenge.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was really fun because I got to draw one of my favorite characters, something that I used to do a lot as a child.
ReplyDeleteThis challenge was fun because you got to be creative with your character.
ReplyDeleteThis challenge was really fun since we had the chance to create a character and give it certain unique characteristics
ReplyDeleteMy character is based upon someone in real life. This person had a huge impact on my life and that is why I decided to represent them in this sketch.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting how we get to sketch out a particular character and use both text and images to describe them.
ReplyDeleteI chose to use an imaginary character and first let my creative flow draw them then try to describe them based on what my actions had created.
ReplyDeleteI chose to work with a real character rather than an imaginary one. This challenge was difficult which made me think maybe I should have worked with an imaginary character because I spent a lot of time trying to perfect my real one.
ReplyDeleteI chose to work with an imaginary character. I bought the challenge to life by using a lot of color, as well as different shapes.
ReplyDeleteI kind of liked this challenge. I normally hate using the watercolors, but I found that with this challenge, it was necessary and even cool looking for my character. I picked a character from a comic I really like that described me perfectly in the event I chose to work with.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed portraying the main character of my story. It was fun to play with the different elements of the situation to create a sketch of the banana bandit.
ReplyDeleteI found this challenge hard to bring my character to life. I choose a character that was not specific to work with. With doing this though, it does bring my narrative more to life.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this challenge! My character is based on a person I know and I strive to be like. This made me think more about my differences with that personas and how we both complement each other.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it was very difficult to pick a character, I really liked this challenge. I liked how we were able to create a representation of someone that means a lot.
ReplyDeleteI liked this challenge because it helped me express my own thoughts and feelings through the character "Sean" I created.
ReplyDeleteFor this challenge I chose an object to turn into a character. The character itself was not a part of the subject of the event but was instead watching all of the people from afar (not actually as creepy as it sounds!).
ReplyDeleteIt was challenging to pick a character to focus on at first. My character is based on a real person so I chose to cut and paste a picture of them in the middle of the page and then use words and other pictures around the page to describe them and their impact on the story
ReplyDeleteThis challenge was difficult for me but I enjoyed it at the same time because it was something I had never tried before.
ReplyDeleteFor this challenge, I was glad to be able to draw my favorite artist. He is a huge inspiration to me and I saw him live for the first time a few years ago in a concert. I drew a picture based on my perspective during the concert, which I hope to never forget.
ReplyDeleteI liked this exercise because I was able to reflect with both words and picture
ReplyDeletethis challenge was very fun because how we had to connect are character using both visually and writing
ReplyDeleteImmediately, I thought back to how I wanted to rule the world when I was little. I remember how I always would promise myself that one day I would take charge. As I grew up my friends and family would give me the nickname "Madame President". My character drives from this fantasy. I enjoyed thinking back to my mentality at that age. I felt like I could accomplish anything.
ReplyDeletethis challenge was really fun because I could express the character by words, images and drawing.
ReplyDeleteMy character is a mix of a bunch of different ones that I know. He has a big head with spiky hair. a little body with a red shirt and blue pants.
ReplyDeleteMy character was more of a group of people, which made this more fun for me. Seeing how the collective qualities of a group can be so similar to that of the individual.
ReplyDeletei really enjoyed making my own character i tried to mix the different culture where i came from to make one character!
ReplyDelete