Exercise 1: creating a character, playing with stick drawing
Have a go at one of the following
1) What is the first thing people notice about you? What is the first thing you *wish* people noticed about you? Draw yourself (as a stick figure avatar) with that thing highlighted. Don’t worry too much about making things look like the thing they’re meant to be – think about what communicates to people that it is that thing. If you brought or thought of an item or idea associated with yourself, try using that as the object or idea to highlight.
2) Try drawing some stick animals. Here are some ideas. There is a gallery of reference images below.
giraffe
bee
octopus
firefly
lemur
meerkat
warthog
heron
highland cow
axolotl
3) If neither of these ideas appeals to you, just draw whatever comes to mind.
Exercise 2: creating a story
Now try one of these:
1) Think about the last conversation you had that pissed you off. Draw yourself having that conversation. Or draw your cartoon animal having that conversation! Sometimes what makes a cartoon funny is transposing human traits or situations onto animals or vice versa.
2) When did you last find yourself stuck in a double bind, or a lose-lose situation? Draw your character in conversation with the person or organisation which put you in that situation.
a. Have a look at @dorrismccomics on twitter for some great “oh no” moments – they sort of semi-relate to this prompt, but as a sub-prompt, have a go at an “oh no” comic with your character or animal. There’s a couple of “oh no” examples in the gallery below.
3) Try a how it started / how it’s going meme with your character, avatar or animal (also in the gallery).
4) Create a dating profile for your avatar, animal, or character - if you created yourself as a stick figure, try drawing out your mad dating profile for the Nuttr app using quotes from your medical notes. If you’re using an animal character, maybe invent an animal dating app or imagine animals on tinder. If you finish this, try drawing your character on a date.
5) Again, if none of these appeal, feel free to create whatever story you like.
