Drafted: A Junior Visual Narrative Comic by Kai Jarmon (2016)

My story portrays a college baseball player's transition into Major League Baseball. I researched the process a MLB prospect goes through before and after becoming and professional baseball player. In my story, the main character, Ian Haynes, learns he has been selected as the third pick in the MLB draft. He then travels to Dallas to sign his contract with the Texas Rangers.

For this assignment, we were instructed to draw our graphic novel on the computer. In English, we were assigned to draw a graphic novel based on the fiction story we previously wrote. To create our graphic novel, we first took a photo of our drawn graphic and uploaded it to Adobe Illustrator. Then, using the pen tool we traced the photo of our drawn graphic novel. I learned how to use the pen tool efficiently and the concept of labeling layers. Throughout the process of creating a graphic novel I discovered that it is important to show different angles of scenes. This helps the reader maintain interest in the novel while displaying different views of one scene. I also learned that it is important not to skip scenes during the rising action. Another important aspect of rising action is the size and shape of the scene. I learned that creating a bigger and oddly shaped scene for the rising action draws more attention and emphasizes the scene's content. Using these techniques I was able to create my graphic novel. This project helped me discover how much I enjoy graphic design.