Homage to Jack Hamm

Here is why all comics are abstract. Jack Hamm was the first teacher I found who showed his students the simple yet profound fact of cartooning: the human mind is predisposed to recognize the human face, no matter how simple, as long as the pattern resembles the positional arrangement of human features, even when disorted by imagination.

I also want to thank Scott McCloud for his wonderful pryamid with the three points depicting the "picture plane," "reality," and  "meaning." I love the scalene triangle where the border of language bends toward the conceptual edge after passing through the retinal edge along the scale of the representational edge.

References:

Jack Hamm, "Cartooning the Head & Figure" (1967).

Scott McCloud, "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art" (1994).

The Absolute Luxury of Discomfort

As I find my way through the labyrinth, I remember there is only one path to the center. I watch for change, because that is how the eye works best. I find the perfectly-sized journal for the next ROAD TRIP, and I know that I need to start using it now so that I won't forget the transitions.