Alexa K. – Exploring my Personal History through Comics

For my senior project, I wanted to create a comic for the first time. At first, I wanted to make it about my own life and experiences. I also have a passion for history, and it was important to me that my work was meaningful. I find that when I dedicate my art to other people, I tend to care more about it. I decided to make this project a comic about the Partition of India as it was a historical event that had a large impact on my mother’s side of the family. My mother was born in India in 1966, less than 20 years after its independence from Britain. Growing up, I remember how my mother would talk about the Partition of India all the time, and how it affected her life as well as the lives of her parents and relatives. I decided to base my comic on the experiences of my Great Uncle Jagdish because he was born in Pakistan while it was still part of India, and had to migrate to New Delhi when his village became unsafe for him to stay in. This comic is dedicated to my Great Uncle Jagdish Wadhwa, and I am very grateful for all the wisdom he imparted to me.

For the beginning of my Senior Project, I spent many hours interviewing my Great Uncle about his past, as well as researching, reading, and watching information on Partition. Once I finished my research, I wanted to make a large comic book detailing the stories of my great uncle during the late 1940s in India and Pakistan. However, once I started on my comic for the first story of the book, I realized that it would take much longer than I thought. The story of my comic centers around my great uncle’s babysitter Baba Halil, who he spent time with while he lived in rural Raval Pindi during his childhood. Baba Halil is Muslim and my uncle’s famly is Hindu. During the Partition of India, the two religious groups were turned against each other due to their mutual fear of having to leave their homes. However, this story takes place months  before the partition, and my goal in telling it was to show the unity and connection between Hindus and Muslims that happened and still happens in India and Pakistan today. 

  Many of my influences for this project came from the comics I read in order to inspire myself. Some of these comics include The Kampung Boy by Lat, Marzi by Marzena Sowa, and Persepolis by Marjane Sartrapi. These comics in particular inspired me the most because of the detail and perspective (both visually and culturally) of the setting in each novel. I found that after I read all of these books, I became much more interested in the histories and landscapes of many countries that I had no prior connection to. 

In order to make this comic as visually appealing as I could, I utilized a few mediums that were both familiar and new to me. For the colors, I painted with watercolor as it has become one of my favorite mediums over the years. When I used watercolor, I tended to start with light coats of each color, then go back and add shading, texture, and saturation as needed. In this comic, something I kept in mind was how colors would be impacted by distance, and how I could show depth in my work. For the outlines, I used pen and ink, which was as challenging as it was smooth and rewarding. Using this medium required me to practice constantly while I was inking as I was worried that my lack of experience would mess up my work. Before I drew a single line on my comic, I would prepare by drawing pen strokes on a piece of scrap paper.  Prior to this comic, I had never used this combination of materials. Now, I feel prepared to attempt the entire comic creation process again, as I feel like I can make my own visual universe. I am so grateful for this senior project experience and I hope that what l learned, both technically and personally, will help me grow and develop as an artist in the future.