Roy Schmidt

BFA in Art & Design

Relative Suffering

Relative Suffering is a graphic novel that uses illustrative techniques and storytelling to depict the experience of mental illness in high school. It begins with the story of realizing one’s own affliction, and tells the story of a multiple day journey from fear and misunderstanding to acceptance and emotional education, through the discovery of open mindedness and honest conversation with loved ones. This story is based on my own experiences, and the conversations and experiences are borrowed almost directly from my life. With some liberty in regards to privacy for specific places or people, I have done my best to keep this completely genuine. I want to share how my illness isn’t something I would change or bury, but rather something that taught me valuable life lessons and made me into a better person. Hopefully, this will show others that it can do the same for them, even (especially) when it’s hard.

This page displays some of the concept work behind the monster in my story