Capstone Draft Proposal Worksheet

Name: Duvan Mercado

Website: duvanmercado.weebly.com
Topic: Writing and Drawing a Comic Book
Focus Area: Product Creation
Inquiry Question: How can I turn a short story into a comic book?

1) Capstone Project Summary:

In the box below, please type out 200 – 300 words explanation of what you are planning to do with
your Capstone Project. It should be as specific as possible, detailing what you hope to accomplish.

The first step is to learn how to draw people and landscapes, learn how to shade, and how to
pace the comic book. I’ll need to start with basic shapes and the physics explaining how shadows are
created from different lighting angles. From there, I’ll need to learn the human anatomy so I can draw
the proper face and body shapes. I’ll also need to learn how to implement perspective and my own art
style into my drawings. To develop my own art style, I can find inspirations from other artists, and use
and refine the elements I find pleasing. Then the second step is to write the manuscript of the comic
book. I am aiming for a short story, roughly 1500 to 2000 words. I’ll need to decide the genre and
theme of the story. This short story will be translated into 20 pages with roughly 5 panels per page
depending on the pacing. When drawing the rough copy of the comic book, I’ll need to consider the
“camera” angle and choreography depending on the story. Once I have drawn the comic book on
paper, I will illustrate a cover page.

2) Core Competencies:
In the boxes below, explain how your project will demonstrate your abilities and skills from each
section of the Core Competencies. (You must choose at least two points from each skill area of the
core competencies. All the core competencies are attached in the assignment.)

Core Competency (skill area): How you demonstrate it in your Capstone Project:
Personal Awareness & When writing the manuscript and learning to draw, I can reach out to my
Responsibility peers and teachers to give feedback.

I will set goals and deadlines to help plan and time manage the capstone
project.

Social Responsibility By reaching out to peers, teachers, and classmates for help, I can build
relationships and rapport.

I can reach out to several people read the manuscripts and review my
drawings and learn from their feedback and experiences
Critical Thinking By considering the targeted audience, I can determine the purpose and
message of the book.

When tackling a problem, I can reassess, troubleshoot, and find an

alternative route or procedure by learning what went wrong and why.
Creative Thinking By considering my targeted audience, I can consider the perspective of
certain topics, genres, and themes of a book.
 I can look to other artists for inspiration, personal events to influence the
plot, and culture to help shape the characters.
Communication I can receive feedback on how to improve the drawings and story by
asking from others.

Reflecting on my current and past work, I will be able to determine what

works and what doesn’t, and what I like and don’t like.
Personal & Cultural Identity The book will reflect what I value and believe, and/or my culture.

My strengths include planning and organizing, which will help me stay on

track.

3) Rationale/context: Detail your reasons for choosing this inquiry question.

Explain WHY you are choosing to investigate this topic as a major area of focus. How does this area of inquiry
connect to your passion(s), purpose? Why is it of personal interest to you?

This project is the perfect opportunity to learn how to draw and improve my writing skills. One of
my life goals is to write, draw, and publish a graphic novel.

4) Background: What background knowledge / connections / prior learning do you have that can help you
to be successful with your project?

I have almost no background knowledge and prior learning to help me with the drawing portion.
Drawing will be a completely new skill for me to learn. Writing wise, in grade 10 and 11 I took creative
writing. So, I have some knowledge on the writing process, craft moves, and different styles of writing.
Writing the manuscript will be like writing a screen script.

5) Career connections: What is your intended career area at this point in time? What connections does
this inquiry question have to your life, academic and/ or career goals? What are you hoping to gain from
completing this project (other than graduating or passing CLC 12)?

My intended career area is civil engineering. The purpose of writing and drawing a comic book for
my capstone project is to introduce myself to the process a person goes through to write and draw a
comic book and to develop the necessary story-telling skills, written and illustrated, to write a graphic
novel.

6) Capstone presentation medium: select one or more project mediums you wish to use to present your
project. Outline and give details about how you will present your project once completed. You may use a
combination of mediums.

o Electronic portfolio: Power Point, Canva or Prezi

o Physical portfolio
o Website
o Video presentation
 o YouTube channel
o Prototype
o Product
o Other

I will use an electronic and physical portfolio to show the progress I made in learning to draw, writing
the manuscript, and the final product. The electronic portfolio will be for the manuscript, which will include
the initial draft, editing and refining, and the final story. I will keep a folder (physical portfolio) of the
drawings I’ve done and related work to present.