BAM | The Art of Visual Memory SP2026

Topic

Beats, Closure, and Visual Metaphor

Activities

WARM UP: 8 min Brunetti

DISCUSSION: Lighter than My Shadow by Katie Green

Visual Metaphor in comics

• They depict the internal world
• They depict the emotional state or the state of the world
• They use allegory to help us process life stories.

Shawn Tan – The Arrival

Laura Lee Gulledge – Paige by Paige

Asaf Hanuka – The Realist

PÁNICO – Ana María López

By Peter 🙂

INTRO NEXT WEEK’S BOOK: Mexikid by Pedro Martín

REVIEW HOMEWORK: 4 Panel Comic 

DEMO: EDITING COMICS for FLOW

DISCUSS: Favorite Scene Breakdown

LECTURE: PANELS and PAGE COMPOSITION

DISCUSSION: Final Project Work in Progress Check-in

Due Next Week

• MARCH 3rd – PROPOSAL DAY

Final Project Proposals (5 min each + Q&A)

Guest Lecture: Visual Research CUNY GC Library

• Homework 3: REVISED 4 Panel Comic 

Keep playing with this exercise. Consider what we looked at in terms of editing for flow in class. You may choose to apply feedback to your exisitng 4 panel comics, OR create new ones. Try using other forms of CLOSURE between panels or try to depict the internal world of the protagonist, or perhaps the overall mood of the comic through visual metaphor. Again, keep mining your diaries for source material. Also, keep posting your progress on Discord.  Please be sure to bring your final work to class next week so that we can hang them up for discussion.  

• READ “The Perfect Pen” Materials Introduction

• Please be prepared with your supplies for a group work session next week.  We will continue to explore materials and working processes in class. 

• Feel free to continue your diary – But remember it’s a tool to help you, so please also take a break from it or reinterpret the assignment to suit your needs.  It’s not your main priority. NO STRESS.
• If you’d like to meet with me, your Prof., one-on-one regarding the final project, send me an email.

• READ: MEXIKID 
• READ: Jessica Abel – Drawing with Words, Writing with Pictures pages:

• ORDER: The Lost Diamonds – * not sure of ship time for radiator comics*

Topic: ACTION in COMICS

Activities

Warm Up Drawing 5 min – Self Portrait as a _______

COMIX MAKING COMMUNITY STANDARDS

REVIEW: THE LANGUAGE: Comics Grammar

• Reading Order
• Panel
• Gutter
• Tier
• Flow and Eye Track
• Beats and Timing
• Point Of View
• Shot Choice
• Pagination/ Page Turn

REVIEW CRITIQUE GUIDE:

• Clarity
• Story Structure
• Reading Order
• Rhythm
• Writing
• Uniqueness
• Craft

SHARE: Homework 2 – 1 Panel COMICS

REVIEW: Lynda Barry’s Diary.

Reading Response: THE REALIST & UNDERSTANDING COMICS

CHOOSE THE NEXT BOOK

WELCOME TO MULTI-PANEL COMICS!

Activity: ACTION in COMICS – a frozen moment in TIME!

Activity: I am a TIME LORD!

DISCUSSION: FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL

By this point in the semester, you should have a clear idea of what you would like to pursue and have a rough outline. MOST beginning cartoonists find that they overestimate the length and complexity of the narrative that they can successfully complete their first time creating in this medium.

Homework:

– Daily Diary Pages

– Final Project Scene Test

– Complete Activity: Time travels

– Create a 3–4 panel comic strip

READ: See Reading List / Jessica Abel

HOMEWORK – FINAL PROJECT SCENE TEST (SEE LECTURE*)

• Take just one scene from your final project.
(only 1, so pick a favorite -it’s not important where in the story it is sequentially)
• Close your eyes and WATCH the scene.
• NOW, consider the frozen moments in time that are needed to SHOW (not TELL) this scene.
• List OR sketch the BEATS (Remember each BEAT is a separate panel.)
• This scene is your test for story length.

REMINDER: Week 5, March 3rd is Proposal Day! Create a PDF slide deck describing what you would like to do for your final project. An excerpt of a larger work or a short story is encouraged. Include details such as the medium you plan to work in (if you know), intended audience, and comparable graphic novels.

Final Project Proposals (5 min each + Q&A)

Homework 3 Multipanel COMIC STRIPS

READ: JESSICA ABEL WHAT IS A GRAPHIC NOVEL https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/bam-visual-memory-sp26/2026/02/02/what-is-a-graphic-novel/

Topic: WORDS + IMAGE = MEANING

Activities

Warm Up Drawing 5 min – Self Portrait as a _______

REVIEW CRITIQUE GUIDE:

• Clarity
• Story Structure
• Reading Order
• Rhythm
• Writing
• Uniqueness
• Craft

SHARE: Homework 1 – Self Portraits 15 min

REVIEW: Lynda Barry’s Diary Format.

Reading Response 15 min SMILE & UNDERSTANDING COMICS

LECTURE: THE LANGUAGE: An Overview of Comics Grammar

• Reading Order
• Panel
• Gutter
• Tier
• Flow and Eye Track
• Beats and Timing
• Point Of View
• Shot Choice
• Pagination/ Page Turn

LECTURE: WORDS + IMAGE = MEANING, SHOW OR TELL!

DISCUSSION: What are some of the ways words and images interact in comics? Where do we see writing in comics? How might the meaning of a drawing change when combined with different words?

IN CLASS ACTIVITIES: New Yorker Captions

LECTURE: The 1 Panel COMIC

IN-CLASS ACTIVITY: Ivan Brunetti meets – Overheard in NYC!

SHARE: 2-3 Final Project Ideas 30 min

Due Next Week

Homework:

• In Sketchbook (aim for 3) DAILY DIARY PAGES
• Complete 1-Panel Comics (aim for 3-5) based on your diary observations.
  • Use the Language of comics purposefully. Consider how text and image interplay. Consider how a scene reads from differing points of view and uses text in different ways. What happens when information is conveyed through dialogue? Through captions? Through background text embedded in illustrations?
  • Bring your 1-panel comics to a level you consider FINISHED – They can be simple, or more detailed; Stylized or more realistic. Try using ink to finalize and tighten the rough pencil lines.
  • FULL DESCRIPTION BELOW

• Workshop your FINAL PROJECT IDEAS. By next week’s class, you should close in on one you would like to pursue and have a rough outline.

READ: Jessica Abel – What is a Graphic Novel (Print me and hang me up!)

READ: Jessica Abel Chapters 1 & 2 Drawing Words and Writing Pictures

READ: Chapters 3 & 4 Understanding Comics

READ: The Realist – Asaf Hanuka