The Noble Eagle: A Senior Comic Strip by Chelsea Whitmore (2013)

In our English class, we wrote a narrative about the characters we crafted from clay in our Design classes. I made a small, chubby, white bird. I didn't know what his adventures would entail when I first held him in my hand, but I knew it would be something good. The coming-of-age story of the century.

From the beginning, I had an idea of what the first scene would be: the small bird walking through a large, regal hall, surrounded by the great bird-faces of history, and envisioning himself amongst them. I wanted to accentuate his clumsiness, lack of coordination, and his lofty goals.

Art direction wise, I knew I wanted to use simple shapes to create everything, giving it a child-like feel. I also wanted to use subtle gradients and bold colors, to make things really pop. Overall, this was a very experimental comic for me, very different from my usual style.

Made in Adobe Illustrator with a Wacom tablet, this comic was the culmination of only a few hours of work spread out over a month. After I got the idea, I sketched out an idea of layout. I outlined the layout and worked panel by panel, often reusing shapes, such as the tail feathers, hat, beaks, feet, and eyeballs. Choosing the gradients was one of the more rewarding parts of making this comic.