A Nice Day Out

New Content, #34 MEETCUTE, #34 Art & Comics / By
Madelene Start
Madelene Start is an illustrator and printer based in Adelaide, South Australia. Madelene works primarily with markers and pencils to produce highly saturated and textural interpretations of the built environment around us. She focuses on the mundane and often overlooked features that are passed by every day with little notice given. She also has a keen interest in small press and has released several comics and zines under Fuzzy Print. Madelene’s studio practice currently resides at the Rundle Collective in Adelaide city.
Image is a comic page, made up of 13 panels. PAGE 1 Panel 1: A hand-drawn heading on a hand-coloured orange background. The text reads ‘Nice day out by Madelene Start’. Panel 2: A pink cat sits looking out through a window. Only the back of the cat is visible. In the background is bright green grass, a brown wooden fence and a green tree, slightly obscured by the window frame. Panel 3: The cat is visible from the other side of the window, its face now showing. It is clawing at the window, with a concerned look on its face. Panel 4: The panel zooms in on the cat’s pink paw against the glass, trying to escape. Its toe beans and claws are featured. Panels 5 & 6: A speech bubble appears, reaching from panel six back to panel five. The cat says: ‘Every day I wait for this door to open. Sometimes the waits are long and sometimes they are short’. The cat appears with arms frantically waving at its sides, on a teal green background. There are yellow stars around its arms, showing the effort it is making to escape. Panel 7: The cat is in side view, arms outstretched and waving. A single yellow star is on its head. Panel 8: The comic POV zooms out, and a person appears behind the pink cat, who is still pressed against the glass. We view them from a distance, with only minor details of their features visible. At the forefront of the image is a metal door handle, and the side of the house—made of red weatherboard or wooden planks. Panel 9: The comic POV zooms in again, a close up of the cat’s face. Beads of sweat drip down its face as it tries to escape through the glass. Panel 10: The door finally opens a little, only slightly ajar, and the cat’s face is squished as it tries to rush through the door. Panel 11: The cat is seen from behind, about to walk through the door onto the grass. The human stands behind it, only their dark blue jeans and hands at their sides visible. Panels 12 & 13: The cat raises its arms and prepares to bound outside. A speech bubble appears, stretching across both panels. It reads ‘it’s play time!’. The cat’s legs bound off the ground.
PAGE 2 Panel 14: The cat lands on the grass, a look of surprise on its face. Panel 15: Lots of brightly coloured flowers, seen from ground level, rise up from the green grass. Panel 16: A close-up of bright yellow daffodils. The cat’s face is obscured by the flowers as it hides behind them. Panel 17: The comic POV zooms out, the cat is seen making a path in the grass as it explores, having only travelled a small distance through the yard. In the distance, a small hole in the yard’s wooden fence is visible. Panels 18 & 19: A close-up of the pink cat making its way through the grass, only its behind visible. A speech bubble appears, stretching from panel 18 to panel 19, that reads ‘So many things to see!’. Purple butterflies emerge from the behind the speech bubble. Panel 20: A close-up of the wooden fence, bright green grass in front of it. An orange cat is visible through the gaps in the fence. Panel 21: From a distance, only the pink cat’s face is visible—surrounded by and emerging from a pile of colourful flowers. Panel 22: A close-up of the pink cat’s face in side profile. The cat is smiling as the butterflies from panel 19 fly past its face. Panel 23: white clouds emerge on a hot pink background. Subtle text that’s also cloud-shaped reads: ‘Wow what a good time’. Panel 24: The comic’s POV turns back to the pink cat. It is shown nose-to-nose with an orange cat, meeting through the gap in the fence. The cats’ eyes are in the shape of bright red hearts. The pink cat says: ‘Umm… Hey?’ and the orange cat says ‘Hi!’. Stars/sparks fly between them.

         

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