Category: Workshops

No comments

Cartoon Creation Corner – The Big Picnic Workshop in Rochester

  By , ,

Not a bad backdrop to be running comic workshops with the fabulous Gary Northfield in Rochester yesterday…
Rochester01Armed with some fantastic worksheets provided by the Phoenix Comic, I was helping Gary out in the Cartoon Creation Corner as part of the Big Picnic, itself part of the Fuse Festival.

Gary is an incredible comic creator, responsible for (amongst other things) Derek the Sheep from the Beano, Gary’s Garden from the Phoenix, the all ages graphic novel Teenytinysaurs and the upcoming book Julius Zebra, which I’m looking forward to reading to my boy when it’s out in 2015!Rochester02We got asked to draw all sorts of odd creatures and things for the steady stream of kids and their parents that came to join in the comic making fun. Here’s some of my efforts…Rochester03 Rochester04 Rochester05I drew this owl at the request of a young girl, to put up on her wall. Afterwards she politely told me she’d wanted a barn owl and I’d drawn a long eared owl.
Felt such a fool. Rochester06One popular worksheet showed visitors how to draw the Evil Cat character from Laura Ellen Anderson‘s Phoenix Comic strip: Evil Emperor Penguin…
 Rochester07People also created strips from scratch including this one about a cactus who blows up a rival plant food shop…Rochester08Lots of great work was laminated and hung out to view in a pop up gallery…
Rochester09 Rochester10 Rochester11 Rochester12Did you spot a Porsche, Scooby-Doo and One Direction?

No comments

Superhero Workshops at the Cartoon Museum…

  By ,

Yesterday I returned to the great Cartoon Museum for a couple of fun workshops with children from a school in Tottenham.

The theme of the session was Superheroes!  Now while I read a lot of superhero comics (mainly Marvel – Go Nightcrawler!),  my doodles quickly displayed I need a little practice (maybe fifty years) before being able to draw them…
Superhero-1 Superhero-2Superhero-9I did manage a highly sophisticated visual explanation of word balloons though…Superhero-3The children did some fabulous panels…
Superhero-4 Superhero-5 Superhero-6 Superhero-7 Superhero-8Click here and here for samples of work from my previous trips to the Cartoon Museum!

No comments

My comic workshops for adults are heading to Esher College

  By

My comic creating workshops at Esher College
Weston Green Road, Thames Ditton, Surrey, KT7 0JB

Saturday workshops 18 October and 6 December – come to either or both!

Creating comics, Graphic Novels and Manga
These workshops are suitable for anyone looking to create their own comics. The tutor is highly qualified, having written hundreds of Wallace & Gromit newspaper comic strips, written for Adventure Time and Almost Naked Animals comics, and created his own range of comics including teenage manga Rosie and Jacinda and web comic Lucy the Octopus.
Day: Saturday Time: 10:00 Start Date: 18/10/2014 End Date: 18/10/2014
Number of Weeks: 1 Code: CWM1 Price: £37.00
Day: Saturday Time: 10:00 Start Date: 06/12/2014 End Date: 06/12/2014
Number of Weeks: 1 Code: CWM2 Price: £37.00

And a heads up for my evening course starting in January 2015…

Creating Comics and Graphic Novels
Whether you want to write or draw comics, graphic novels or manga the course will help you develop your skills. It will cover techniques and knowledge applicable to creating comics in all genres. You will learn to: Develop characters and story ideas; Write comic plots, scripts and dialogue; Use pictures to tell a story; Create lettering and sound effects; Use colour to help tell a story; Create a comic or graphic novel cover; Collaborate with other comic creators; Have a basic understanding of editing a comic; Self publish a comic, through print or online; Promote yourselves and your comics.
Day: Tuesday Time: 10:00 Start Date: 13/01/2015 End Date: 24/03/2015
Number of Weeks: 10 Code: CCM1 Price: £122.00

Click here for details of applying for the workshops or course!

No comments

Gnash Comics Workshops in Devon

  By , ,

Had a great time yesterday traveling to the lovely town of Ashburton in Devon.

I find long train journies great to work on, and had time to finish a script Paul Shinn will be drawing for the upcoming Tempo Lush Tales, plus some work on a project for Titan Comics and then a blog about the making of Lucy the Octopus.  All coming soon!

Anyway, the real reason for the trip was to run a couple of comics workshops at Gnash Comics, an absolutely fantastic shop with a great set up and mix of goodies.

Pleased to say that Tempo Lush comics are now on sale there too!

The first workshop saw a wonderful bunch of local kids developing fabulous story ideas, like this…Gnash-1The second workshop saw the turn of the grown-ups!  Some of them pictured below – Maybe there are signs I worked them too hard.
Gnash-2We did some fun work on story development and thumb-nailing towards finished comic pages.  There was a lot of talent on show…Gnash-3 Gnash-4 Gnash-5One of the most satisfying parts of the trip was the fact that adult workshoppers made plans to meet regularly and talk comic making.  Hope big things grow from that!

No comments

One Day Workshop at the Institute 10 May 2014

  By , ,

There were some fantastically skilled kids in my workshop at The Institute in North London on Saturday.  Warming up with a bit of quick character doodling…Institute-Day-Workshop-01 Then designing characters hinting at their personality and backstory…
Institute-Day-Workshop-02 Institute-Day-Workshop-03 Institute-Day-Workshop-04 They came up with some fantastic possible endings to a three panel strip...Institute-Day-Workshop-05 Institute-Day-Workshop-06Then came the point in the workshop where I asked them what they’d like me to draw peeping over the top of a box.  “A not very well drawn tiger-cub!” they all cried.  Nailed it.Institute-Day-Workshop-07I like to use my collaborator’s work as samples of comic making.  Here are some early Rosie and Jacinda designs by the great Zarina Liew…Institute-Day-Workshop-08The kids picked up ideas of character design, story crafting and thumbnailing really well…Institute-Day-Workshop-09 Institute-Day-Workshop-10 Institute-Day-Workshop-11 Institute-Day-Workshop-13And finished up the day making some fantastic comics…Institute-Day-Workshop-12 Institute-Day-Workshop-14So happy when the kids really get into their work!

No comments

Secret Agent Fun at Discover Children’s Story Centre

  By , , , ,

I had such a great day on Saturday taking part in a comic making workshop as part of the Secret Agent Themed Season at Discover Children’s Story Centre in Stratford, East London on Saturday.

Sunday would see the skills of Sarah McIntyre, Gary Northfield and Alex Milway assisting any kids up to the mission of making fantastic comics and characters.  Saturday however, the crack team of agents consisted of (left – right) myself, David O’Connell (who organised the day perfectly and created some brilliant worksheets), Laura Ellen Anderson and Jamie Littler.Discover01Discover02David (above) drew a fantastically evil scientist (below).  My secret agent was called upon to sort him out! Discover03 Here’s Laura wowing kids with her drawing talents…
Discover04 This was definitely a highlight of the day for me – Laura and David having an improptu Tadpole Attack Squad draw off.  It was a fierce battle!
Discover05 When I heard that Laura had an octopus character in her Phoenix comic strip Evil Emperor Penguin, we had to have an Octopus draw off too!  Was amazed at Laura’s unplanned linework – so good!
Discover06 Some more Secret Agent themed art by Laura, myself and visitors to Discover…
Discover07 Jamie did a mind-blowingly good take on the evil inventor including a Laser Shark!
Discover08 Discover09 Hmmm… Well, you try drawing Scooby-Doo without any reference then!  I had to explain to the girl who asked for this who Scrappy-Doo is.  Kids today, eh?!
Discover10 Finally here’s a secret message, written using David O’Connell’s secret code!
Discover11So good to work with David, Laura and Jamie and especially at such a special place as Discover!

No comments

Showing 165 kids the fun of making comics

  By ,

Earlier this week I had an intense but fun day running six comic workshops for children at Cranmer School in Surrey.

All in all, 165 kids worked to produce comic strips with some serious talent on display…

First I wowed them with my mastery of zoological form…Cranmer1 Cranmer2Then they warmed up finishing off one of my strips…Cranmer3 Cranmer4Finally, they were let loose making their own comic strips from scratch!Cranmer5 Cranmer6 Cranmer7 Cranmer8 Cranmer9 Cranmer10 Cranmer12 Cranmer13 Cranmer14 Cranmer15Some great work was produced and featuring robots, dog people, living goalposts and all sorts!

No comments

Workshop Round Up: 2 Schools, 2 Libraries and a Museum!

  By , ,

It’s been a busy but fun time lately running loads of comic workshops.

I’ve started a project through Apples and Snakes.  Poet and writer Inua Ellams and I are working with pupils of City of London Academy and Highbury Fields School, both in Islington. We’re developing a poem and a story that will be visualised and turned into a printed booklet.
We’ve got a few sessions to go and so far the children’s work looks extremely promising…

Here’s some great characters designed as a warm up for the City of London Academy kids..

CityIs2 CityIs1Next up was last Tuesday’s half term holiday workshop at Walthamstow Library.  Here’s some more character designs from them…Walthamstow1 Walthamstow2 Walthamstow3 Walthamstow4That last one also includes a happy cat character I asked the kids to create, alongside some other possibilities…Walthamstow5 Walthamstow6 Walthamstow7 Walthamstow8 Walthamstow9Next up, was a fabulous visit to the lovely Higham Hill Library…
Higham1 Higham2 Higham3These children learnt how to craft comics and told some fantastic stories…
Higham4 Higham5 Higham6 Higham7 Higham8Finally I made a return visit to the fantastic Cartoon Museum,  which has this wonderful space to teach…
CartoonMuseum1Visiting the museum on the day were the Crystal Palace Community Development Trust (Art Group).  The teenagers had lots of emerging talent which they used in my Manga workshop…
CartoonMuseum2 CartoonMuseum3 CartoonMuseum4 CartoonMuseum5Phew!  Lots more workshops to come soon…

No comments

Purley Manga Club – Comics Writing Workshop

  By ,

I had a great time on Saturday, meeting kids at the Manga Club in Purley Library and running a workshop there on writing comics.

I’d heard good things about the club as my friends Chie Kutsuwada, Inko and Karen Rubins have all run workshops there before.  It’s enthusiastically run by Jayson Arago.  He’s created a perfect fun environment for kids to meet and talk about their passion for Manga, Anime, Cosplay and gaming.

Here’s the space ready to go….

Purley-Manga-01

How many libraries offer folders full of Manga reference material, eh?!

Purley-Manga-02

I wanted to talk about developing original ideas for stories.  The kids had fun using their skills to write six different endings for the same newspaper strip.

There were a lot of Pokemon references (no bad thing in my book)…

Purley-Manga-05 Purley-Manga-04 Purley-Manga-03

The pic below illustrated the obstacles characters must face in their stories, and how finding solutions makes the story!
One boy in the group added the Health Points bars – nice touch!

Purley-Manga-06

To end the workshop, the children all made their own comic pages.  The stories were based on their own Saturday mornings, often with a few fantasy elements thrown in…
They had a really good grasp of visual language.  I love the tummy rumbling here, an effective way to show the character’s wants and needs.

Purley-Manga-07

This story below was a beautiful poetic take on not having enough time to get things done…

Purley-Manga-08

There were some great Mangaka in the group…

Purley-Manga-09

Thanks Purley Manga Club!  Stop on by at my table when I’m at a con some time!