Week 2: The Art of Comics
June 27 - July 1
Instructor: Josue Cruz
Some of the earliest forms of communication were the use of drawings to describe the world around us. We can take these images, and put them in sequences that help us tell more elaborate stories and share our unique perspectives with others.
Comic-making is the art form of combining words and images to create a narrative. The way we create these comics will depend on the kind of stories you want to tell. Our week with comics will start with learning how to break a story down into its basic parts, followed by an exploration into mark-making (being great at drawing is not necessary for making great comics!) , and lastly finding the art medium that makes the most sense to you – What do you want to use to make comics? Ink? Paint? Photo-collage? Recycled Materials??
We will be using class time throughout the week to develop and write a personal story, visualize it with the camper’s preferred medium, and then collect all the campers' work into a printed Zine.
Campers will learn character design, story boarding, and various drawing techniques as they design and create their own stories.
June 27 - July 1
Instructor: Josue Cruz
Some of the earliest forms of communication were the use of drawings to describe the world around us. We can take these images, and put them in sequences that help us tell more elaborate stories and share our unique perspectives with others.
Comic-making is the art form of combining words and images to create a narrative. The way we create these comics will depend on the kind of stories you want to tell. Our week with comics will start with learning how to break a story down into its basic parts, followed by an exploration into mark-making (being great at drawing is not necessary for making great comics!) , and lastly finding the art medium that makes the most sense to you – What do you want to use to make comics? Ink? Paint? Photo-collage? Recycled Materials??
We will be using class time throughout the week to develop and write a personal story, visualize it with the camper’s preferred medium, and then collect all the campers' work into a printed Zine.
Campers will learn character design, story boarding, and various drawing techniques as they design and create their own stories.
Day 1 (Monday June 27 ) Starting to Draw
9:00am Housekeeping and intros
9:30am Warm Up: Draw Your Neighbor/Instructor with the Opposite Hand
This is a warm-up to get the camper comfortable with drawing in a group setting. Campers will use their least dominant hand to draw a portrait of their neighbor or instructor, they first get 7 minutes to draw, then they will draw the person again but only get 5 minutes, then 3 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds, 10, and lastly 5 seconds.
The goal is to warm campers up to drawing, but also learn that they do not need to be perfect with their drawing. Campers will also be asked how they felt drawing at different intervals of time.
10:15am BREAK
10:30am Short Lecture (30 min): Starting to Draw
The lecture will go over different examples of comics from different artists, and from all over the world. Campers will be encouraged to draw the kind of comics they want to make and to feel welcome to draw with any ability they may know or not know they have.
Activity: Observational and Simplified Drawing
The goal of this exercise is to have the campers observe complex objects (such as those around the room or objects I bring to the class) and break them down to their simplest parts. What makes a flower look like a flower? What shapes make up a car? How can we make the simplest version of the object while still making sure it is still interpreted as it should be.
11:30am LUNCH
12:15pm Continue morning activity
12:45pm Game: Game of Fax Machine
A simple drawing game where campers will each write a short descriptive sentence, then pass the sentence to their neighbor who will then interpret the sentence with drawing. The campers rotate again and try to interpret the drawing with a sentence. We repeat until we have gotten a complete round of turns. We then put all the drawings and sentences together to see how well campers were able to interpret and reinterpret their neighbors sentence/drawing. Similar to the game of telephone.
1:00pm TINKER TIME Intro to Tinker Journal
2:15pm Snack
2:30pm Daily Camper Assessment
2:45pm Clean Up
3:00pm Camper Pick Up
Photos
9:00am Housekeeping and intros
9:30am Warm Up: Draw Your Neighbor/Instructor with the Opposite Hand
This is a warm-up to get the camper comfortable with drawing in a group setting. Campers will use their least dominant hand to draw a portrait of their neighbor or instructor, they first get 7 minutes to draw, then they will draw the person again but only get 5 minutes, then 3 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds, 10, and lastly 5 seconds.
The goal is to warm campers up to drawing, but also learn that they do not need to be perfect with their drawing. Campers will also be asked how they felt drawing at different intervals of time.
10:15am BREAK
10:30am Short Lecture (30 min): Starting to Draw
The lecture will go over different examples of comics from different artists, and from all over the world. Campers will be encouraged to draw the kind of comics they want to make and to feel welcome to draw with any ability they may know or not know they have.
Activity: Observational and Simplified Drawing
The goal of this exercise is to have the campers observe complex objects (such as those around the room or objects I bring to the class) and break them down to their simplest parts. What makes a flower look like a flower? What shapes make up a car? How can we make the simplest version of the object while still making sure it is still interpreted as it should be.
11:30am LUNCH
12:15pm Continue morning activity
12:45pm Game: Game of Fax Machine
A simple drawing game where campers will each write a short descriptive sentence, then pass the sentence to their neighbor who will then interpret the sentence with drawing. The campers rotate again and try to interpret the drawing with a sentence. We repeat until we have gotten a complete round of turns. We then put all the drawings and sentences together to see how well campers were able to interpret and reinterpret their neighbors sentence/drawing. Similar to the game of telephone.
1:00pm TINKER TIME Intro to Tinker Journal
2:15pm Snack
2:30pm Daily Camper Assessment
2:45pm Clean Up
3:00pm Camper Pick Up
Photos
Day 2 (Tuesday June 28 ) Building a Story
9:00am Warm Up : Mix ‘n Match
On a set of index cards, campers will be asked to write down a series of sentences based on prompts provided. Then, on another set of cards, the Campers will draw images based off a different set of prompts. Once completed, we will look over the phrases and images, mix and matching together to see which combinations create the most intriguing, funniest, or dramatic results.
9:30am Short Lecture (30 min): Building a Story
The lecture will go over the basic structure of telling a story, as well as looking back at yesterday’s lesson and breaking down a complex idea into a simplified form. We will look at different comic books I bring into class. We will discuss the differences and similarities.
10:15am BREAK
10:30am Activity: Our first Comic
We’re finally making a comic! Campers will freely improvise a story on a worksheet with 8-10 panels. Campers will be asked to think of a normal daily activity. Campers will be asked to write down every little detail/step that goes into the activity—the story can be as simple as showing someone getting ready for bed, or going to work, or walking their dog. The students will draw each of the steps in the panel. Once completed, we will cut the panels out of the sheet and start removing or rearranging panels to see how it changes, simplifies, or confuses the story.
11:30am LUNCH
12:15pm Continue morning activity
1:00pm TINKER TIME
2:15pm Snack
2:30pm Daily Camper Assessment
2:34pm Clean Up
3:00pm Camper Pick Up
Photos
Day 2 (Tuesday June 28 ) Building a Story
9:00am Warm Up : Mix ‘n Match
On a set of index cards, campers will be asked to write down a series of sentences based on prompts provided. Then, on another set of cards, the Campers will draw images based off a different set of prompts. Once completed, we will look over the phrases and images, mix and matching together to see which combinations create the most intriguing, funniest, or dramatic results.
9:30am Short Lecture (30 min): Building a Story
The lecture will go over the basic structure of telling a story, as well as looking back at yesterday’s lesson and breaking down a complex idea into a simplified form. We will look at different comic books I bring into class. We will discuss the differences and similarities.
10:15am BREAK
10:30am Activity: Our first Comic
We’re finally making a comic! Campers will freely improvise a story on a worksheet with 8-10 panels. Campers will be asked to think of a normal daily activity. Campers will be asked to write down every little detail/step that goes into the activity—the story can be as simple as showing someone getting ready for bed, or going to work, or walking their dog. The students will draw each of the steps in the panel. Once completed, we will cut the panels out of the sheet and start removing or rearranging panels to see how it changes, simplifies, or confuses the story.
11:30am LUNCH
12:15pm Continue morning activity
1:00pm TINKER TIME
2:15pm Snack
2:30pm Daily Camper Assessment
2:34pm Clean Up
3:00pm Camper Pick Up
Photos
PDay 3 (Wednesday June 29 ) Character Design
9:00am Warm Up : Memory Game
Campers will warm up with another drawing exercise, this time asking the campers to draw their favorite cartoon/comic characters from memory. Campers will have 30 seconds between the drawings, encouraging them to draw simply and quickly in order to focus on the main features of those characters.
9:30am Short Lecture (30 min): Character Design
The lecture will focus on creating original characters by using shapes, household objects, and outside inspiration to develop unique features in their drawings. How does the story you give your character change they way they look and act?
10:15am BREAK
10:30am Activity: Building your Character
Campers will start designing a character based on a random assortment of objects, writing a short story to give their characters a background and depth. Campers will share their creation with their peers. If possible, it would be great to also fit in some lessons on using different materials such as paints, foliage, trash, etc to design, paint, photograph, collage their characters.
11:30am LUNCH
12:15pm Continue morning activity
1:00pm TINKER TIME
2:15pm Snack
2:30pm Daily Camper Assessment
2:34pm Clean Up
3:00pm Camper Pick Up
Photos
Day 4 (Thursday June 30 ) Continuing a Story
9:00am Warm Up : Spiral and Scribble
This exercise is mostly to meditate and loosen the hand (We got some drawing to do ahead of us!). We’ll take a few minutes to draw a slow and steady spiral before we change up and turn the line into a scribble, all without lifting the pen up from the page.
9:30am Activity: Continuing a Story (No Lecture)
Going back to our activity from day 2, let’s take the character we designed and put them in the normal, ordinary scenario we worked on before, but instead, how can we elevate the story with the introduction of our character? How do they react in the situation, do they do something differently that you would do? Do they even know how to do this normal thing? The majority of the day and the following will focus on working on this final story.
10:15am BREAK
Activity: Continuing a Story (cont.)
11:30am LUNCH
12:15pm Continue morning activity
1:00pm TINKER TIME
2:15pm Snack
2:30pm Daily Camper Assessment
2:34pm Clean Up
3:00pm Camper Pick Up
Photos
9:00am Warm Up : Spiral and Scribble
This exercise is mostly to meditate and loosen the hand (We got some drawing to do ahead of us!). We’ll take a few minutes to draw a slow and steady spiral before we change up and turn the line into a scribble, all without lifting the pen up from the page.
9:30am Activity: Continuing a Story (No Lecture)
Going back to our activity from day 2, let’s take the character we designed and put them in the normal, ordinary scenario we worked on before, but instead, how can we elevate the story with the introduction of our character? How do they react in the situation, do they do something differently that you would do? Do they even know how to do this normal thing? The majority of the day and the following will focus on working on this final story.
10:15am BREAK
Activity: Continuing a Story (cont.)
11:30am LUNCH
12:15pm Continue morning activity
1:00pm TINKER TIME
2:15pm Snack
2:30pm Daily Camper Assessment
2:34pm Clean Up
3:00pm Camper Pick Up
Photos
Day 5 (Friday July 1 ) Binding your Book
9:00am Warm Up: Folding a Mini Zine
Campers will learn one of the easiest ways to make a small comic/booklet with a single sheet of paper.
HOW TO MAKE A ZINE - Quarantine Zine
9:30am Activity: Binding your book
(This might already be covered by the Tinker Journal) The Campers will follow along in a hands on demo of three forms of book binding.
DIY Staple Saddle Stitch Bookbinding Tutorial | Sea Lemon
Making Zines: Binding, Part 1: Pamphlet Binding
Making Zines: Bound Zines, Part 3: Perfect Binding
10:15am BREAK
Activity: Binding your book (Cont.)
11:30am LUNCH
12:15pm Continue morning activity
1:00pm TINKER TIME – ONLY if weekly project is complete
2:30pm Daily Camper Assessment
Weekly Camper Survey
2:45pm Snack
3:00pm Clean Up and Prep for Showcase
3:30pm Student Showcase
4:30pm Camper Pick Up
Photos
9:00am Warm Up: Folding a Mini Zine
Campers will learn one of the easiest ways to make a small comic/booklet with a single sheet of paper.
HOW TO MAKE A ZINE - Quarantine Zine
9:30am Activity: Binding your book
(This might already be covered by the Tinker Journal) The Campers will follow along in a hands on demo of three forms of book binding.
DIY Staple Saddle Stitch Bookbinding Tutorial | Sea Lemon
Making Zines: Binding, Part 1: Pamphlet Binding
Making Zines: Bound Zines, Part 3: Perfect Binding
10:15am BREAK
Activity: Binding your book (Cont.)
11:30am LUNCH
12:15pm Continue morning activity
1:00pm TINKER TIME – ONLY if weekly project is complete
2:30pm Daily Camper Assessment
Weekly Camper Survey
2:45pm Snack
3:00pm Clean Up and Prep for Showcase
3:30pm Student Showcase
4:30pm Camper Pick Up
Photos
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