Welcome
to the Drawing Words & Writing Pictures Student Union. This is where you'll find critiqued examples of most of the activities and homework in the book, prep guides to help you get ready to start a new chapter, as well as extras: links and other goodies.
Click on the chapter sections on the left to get started.
How to use the chapter guides
In the menu on the left you will see a link for each chapter in the book. Click those links, and you'll find a few chapter-specific features. First, you'll find the chapter’s "prep guide", a set of pointers, questions, and a list of to-dos and to-brings for you to review before attacking the chapter, and, especially, before showing up for a meeting or class that deals with the chapter.
Second, you’ll find a section called "activities/homework." This is where you'll find examples of student work with comments from Matt and Jessica. Note that the examples of homework are in the chapter section in which they were assigned (that is to say, even though in class you will likely do the critique along with the following chapter). If you are working alone or just want extra dialogue about a given assignment, these pages will give you material to compare your work to. When you click on the link for any of these activities or homework assignments, the work will pop up in a new window. When you mouse over the image Matt and Jessica's comments will appear in orange text. However, before you read the comments you should spend a minute looking over the work and making your own observations, so that you can compare what you thought to what we think. (To get started thinking about critiques, review the talking points in the activity boxes and the critique guides in Appendix B: Homework critiques).
Our comments should not be considered as an "answer key" but as an example of the kinds of issues you should be thinking about when you critique your work and that of your peers: things that work, things that don't, interesting details, technical points, and so on. Even if you are working alone you should read through the introduction to Appendix B: Homework critiques, where we give pointers on giving and taking critiques.
A third heading, "extras" appears in a few chapters—this is where we put links, extra tidbits, and critiques of extra credit assignments. As we create more content for these sections, we’ll be adding "extras" to more chapters.
We plan to update these chapter sections occasionally as well as add examples for activities and homework assignments that don't have them at this time, so check back in the future if what you’re looking for isn't there.
Who's using DWWP?
Classroom students
Students in traditional classroom settings as well as workshops will depend on their teacher to pace their use of DWWP, but you still may want to look ahead, and, especially, check out the prep guides before tackling a chapter in class.
Independent solo learners (Ronin)
Those of you who are using DWWP on your own, as you lack a crit group to get feedback on your work, will get the most out of the activity and homework examples. Follow the instructions in the book as to how long to wait before reviewing your work, however, in order to maximize the impact of comparison between your work and the work here. You may also want to review the crit guidelines on pp 237-238 every once in a while to see if you can apply any of those ideas to your self-critiques.
Independent groups (Nomads)
If you've formed a group to work through DWWP together, good for you! It can be a challenge to keep up the momentum, but the rewards are great: you get feedback and perspective on your work, and you also form bonds with other working cartoonists that will serve you well over time. The work available on this site will help you guide your critiques, and the prep guides will be essential for you; you want to make sure that when you meet, you all have at least read and reviewed the same material and are ready to dive in.
For tips on forming a Nomad group and running group meetings, click here.