Grad Show Gallery

Esther Riley
Jan 9
1 min read

At the end of my education at Seneca Polytechnic, I got to be part of a gallery grad show with my amazing peers. We all worked hard for 4 semesters, a lot of us going through the summer, and working part time on top of our course work, and it all culminated in this show. We got to invite our friends and family to show off our work.

Photo of me in front of my didactic at the gallery.

I made a series of sequential panels to tell the story of 3 Gen Alpha kids who discover the wonderous potential for imaginative play in nature. I wanted to spark a sense of nostalgia and inspire viewers to think about their relationship with nature in the past and present. I made the black and white panels using India ink and a nib pen, and the full colour panels using Crayola crayons and India ink.

Photo of me with my work on the wall at the gallery.

As part of my display, I also got the chance to share my mini comic, "A Solemn Vow," that I made for my comics specialization, and my mini magazine, "Rouge Valley Kids," from my editorial specialization that I audited.

For my work, I won one of a few awards handed out that night, the Pikto Storytelling Award!

Check out the series below!

An inked illustration of three kids, Anika, Eli, and Ethan, walk into a forest on a path. All three are upset.

Inked illustration. Eli is leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, still upset. Anika is starting to see the wonder in the forest, watching leaves fall from a tree. Ethan is beginning to make his own fun by throwing leaves in the air and watching them fall.

Inked illustration. All three kids are now starting to gather leaved in a pile.

Illustration in full colour. Anika, Ethan, and Eli jump into a large pile of autumn leaves together.

Inked illustration. Ethan collects smaller sticks while Eli and Anika carry a bigger log between them, building a collection of found wood.

Inked illustration. Ethan is tying smaller sticks together while Eli and Anika put up a wall of larger sticks tied together.

Full colour illustration. Ethan and Anika stand in awe of their new created fort while Eli stands at the top, triumphant. The fort has a turret on either end and a ladder leading to the open second floor.

Inked illustration. Eli puts together leaves into one large fabric. Anika has made a crown of sticks, decorated with leaves. Ethan tries on his new stick hat.

Full colour illustration. With their new fort in the background, Anika knights Eli, wearing her stick-leaf crown, holding a large branch, still with leaves at the end. Eli wears a cape of leaves, kneeling as a knight in front of a queen. Ethan wears his stick hat, solemnly witnessing the knighting.

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