This spring I had the honor of returning to #FerryCon to host a virtual Pop-Up Comics Lab sponsored by the Dobbs Ferry Public Library!
What is the Pop-Up Comics Lab?
The Pop-Up Comics Lab is an art happening where school-age students write, design, and illustrate their own comic strip.
What do young comics learn in this beginner’s workshop?
The one-hour one-off workshop is a great format for sparking kids’ interest in developing their own comics. We chat a bit about comics and graphic novels (and how they’re different from other books), the elements of a comic, and what kinds of characters and stories we see in comics. (Hint: all kinds!)
We discussed the process of coming up with story ideas. It’s not as mysterious as you might think. Everyone has the raw material to come up with good stories!
We even took some time together to do a step-by-step drawing tutorial. (Usually, I work with comics one-one one to push through tricky spots with their illustrations.) But since this was an online class, we spent some time together thinking through decisions around how to illustrate a character. (One key “rule” or tip is it keep it simple so you aren’t stuck drawing a very complicated, detailed main character over and over again!)
Every student received THE COMICS LAB STARTER KIT. The Starter Kit is a simple method I developed to help kids think through their story — from designing their main character, to imagining the setting, to understanding their character’s conflict and even their hero’s deepest wish! Some kids like to get right in there and make their comic while others take some time to plot out their idea. (In honor of FerryCon, author and illustrator Dav Pilkey sent over an awesome freebie, too. His Cat Kid Comic Club has a lot of fun resources for young comics to play around with.)
The thing about zoom that I still can’t get used to is is saying goodbye so quickly! I wonder what the kids are working on and how their comics are shaping up since we all met together. Here are a few things I overheard on our video call…
“Can we do this again?”
“If I had a superpower I would grow plants in an instant.”
“I would control the ocean!”
“I’m going to keep working on this after class.”
Supporting young comics after the class
If you are a teacher or parent who would like to make comics at home with your children, check out my previous blog post on making comics with kids to learn about some of the strategies I suggest for making the experience fun and easy.
Bring the Pop-Up Comics Lab to your school, library, or event!
Interested in partnering with me for children’s programming at your school or library? Please drop me a line — I’d love to connect! Thanks again to FerryCon and the Dobbs Ferry Public Library for having me (again)!
