Reply from Friday:bluskies wrote: Hobbes, I’m surprised at your analysis. Look again at all 4 panels. The spatial relationship between Mom, the tree branch, and Calvin is unchanged throughout. The change you see in panel 2 is merely the artist changing HIS point of view from ground level more or less in front of the tree to behind (and above) Calvin. Watterson was nothing but consistent in his drawing.
Hi bluskies.Well, I certainly don’t want you to lose all of your faith in my analysis, so I’ve reproduced Friday’s Calvin and Hobbes below, and here is some further clarification:In the first panel, the tree is on Calvin’s left, and Calvin’s right arm is in front of the tree, toward Mom.In the second panel, the tree is on Calvin’s right, and Calvin’s left arm is in front of the tree, toward Mom.In the third and fourth panels, the tree is once again on Calvin’s left, and Calvin’s right arm is once again in front of the tree, toward Mom.Click here: Calvin and Hobbes (June 9, 1989)Bill Watterson sometimes switches things around like this to make the panels look better. He is always aware of wanting things to be arranged in a particular way within the frames, especially depending on who is doing the speaking. For example, sometimes Mom and Dad switch sides of the bed, or a watch switches from a left wrist to a right wrist. He is also aware of the left-to-right flow of the strip and often arranges the characters accordingly.Here is a strip in which Calvin is writing with his right hand, because he is on the left side of the panel, facing away from us, so that only his right hand is visible. Bill Watterson wanted the reader to be able to see him writing:Click here: Right-handed CalvinOn the other hand (literally), here is a strip that we read two weeks ago, in which Calvin is writing with his left hand. In this case he is facing at an angle toward us, so that both hands are visible. At this angle, it looks better for Calvin to be writing with his left hand, so that’s how Bill Watterson drew him. Because the pencil is in Calvin’s left hand, we can clearly see him writing and we can also clearly see him leaning on his right hand, emphasizing his boredom with the homework. If the pencil had been in Calvin’s right hand, we would not have been able to see him leaning on his left hand, because his left hand would have been blocked by his head. Also, Calvin is facing left-to-right, in the direction of the flow of the strip.Click here: Left-handed Calvin
Reply from Friday:bluskies wrote: Hobbes, I’m surprised at your analysis. Look again at all 4 panels. The spatial relationship between Mom, the tree branch, and Calvin is unchanged throughout. The change you see in panel 2 is merely the artist changing HIS point of view from ground level more or less in front of the tree to behind (and above) Calvin. Watterson was nothing but consistent in his drawing.
Hi bluskies.Well, I certainly don’t want you to lose all of your faith in my analysis, so I’ve reproduced Friday’s Calvin and Hobbes below, and here is some further clarification:In the first panel, the tree is on Calvin’s left, and Calvin’s right arm is in front of the tree, toward Mom.In the second panel, the tree is on Calvin’s right, and Calvin’s left arm is in front of the tree, toward Mom.In the third and fourth panels, the tree is once again on Calvin’s left, and Calvin’s right arm is once again in front of the tree, toward Mom.Click here: Calvin and Hobbes (June 9, 1989)Bill Watterson sometimes switches things around like this to make the panels look better. He is always aware of wanting things to be arranged in a particular way within the frames, especially depending on who is doing the speaking. For example, sometimes Mom and Dad switch sides of the bed, or a watch switches from a left wrist to a right wrist. He is also aware of the left-to-right flow of the strip and often arranges the characters accordingly.Here is a strip in which Calvin is writing with his right hand, because he is on the left side of the panel, facing away from us, so that only his right hand is visible. Bill Watterson wanted the reader to be able to see him writing:Click here: Right-handed CalvinOn the other hand (literally), here is a strip that we read two weeks ago, in which Calvin is writing with his left hand. In this case he is facing at an angle toward us, so that both hands are visible. At this angle, it looks better for Calvin to be writing with his left hand, so that’s how Bill Watterson drew him. Because the pencil is in Calvin’s left hand, we can clearly see him writing and we can also clearly see him leaning on his right hand, emphasizing his boredom with the homework. If the pencil had been in Calvin’s right hand, we would not have been able to see him leaning on his left hand, because his left hand would have been blocked by his head. Also, Calvin is facing left-to-right, in the direction of the flow of the strip.Click here: Left-handed Calvin