This week I enjoyed three days in schools in Dublin, working with high school kids from Crumlin, Tallaght and Finglas, teaching them how to draw comics. Here are some of the results.
The Minecraft comic (The World That Nobody Thought Was Real) was an interesting project where, rather than do my usual practiced introduction to comic art, I worked with pupils who'd already had my class and we tried to turn the resolutely narrative-free Minecraft into comic strip stories. This was a challenge as, when you remove the movement from animation, the characters and objects don't look like very much, and they don't speak. Amazingly we found a way, and my efforts will form part of their coursework.
The eponymous heroes of The Adventures of Leek & Charline began life as Lee and Charli - a common feature in teenage comics in my classes is that the pupils will choose their classmates as the subject (these were 1st & 2nd years, that is year 8 & 9, the hormonal minefield years). However Lee went on to not want his name on the comic, hence the addition of some extra letters and a pair of specs.
The 2-Pac comic was originally entitle 2-Pac Eats an E, and that was one of the more tolerable titles. Did I mention this week's pupils were first, second and third years, with a group of sixth formers thrown in for balance?
The celebrities they chose for the demonstration strip were Mrs Brown, Bob Marley, Elvis Presley, Johnny Depp and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing Pansy Potter, Bananaman, Biffo The Bear et al in The Beano, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. He's been writing and drawing comics for 25 years, he must know something.
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