Prompt: For this project, we were asked to design and illustrate a sequential piece of art that depicts an event or experience that shifted our life’s direction.
I decided to represent when one of my dogs, Gabbar, passed away in March 2023 from cancer for this project. He was diagnosed in December and was given less than 2 months, so it was expected. Still, he seemed perfectly healthy and upbeat until the day of his passing, so it felt like time passed extremely fast that day, even though we all knew the day would come. In order to represent the passing of time as well as my emotional state, I chose to have the images I illustrate fade into the background, as my dog has slowly been fading from everyday memory, unfortunately. By making each panel in the sequence smaller and darker, I wanted to express my anticipated despair and eventual grief. I also decided to include dates (“MAR 18”, etc.) to emphasize the passing of time, as well as to memorialize the last few days of his life. I chose to ink this illustration as sequential art makes me think of traditional comics, and I also wanted to use solely black and white visuals. After I had all my pencil lines covered with ink, I decided to cut my paper to make the composition longer and more spread out. After cropping the page, I used a brush and covered the background with ink to emphasize the fade into nothingness. I debated on adding color, but I think it would’ve taken away from the dramatic effect of the black-and-white visuals and storyline.