The Comics Lab is an art happening where school-age students write, design, and illustrate their own comic strip. This spring I had the honor of hosting a Comics Lab at FerryCon at the Dobbs Ferry Public Library. Here are some photos from the event if you would like to see…
We had so much fun together!
I was amazed to watch these young comics in action: brainstorming plot ideas, developing characters, and planning out their story boards. Like all artists, children experience challenges, resistance and obstacles along the way. (The tricky spots are just part of the process.)
If you are a teacher or parent who would like to make comics at home with your children, here are some strategies I suggest for making the experience fun and easy:
Encourage your young comic to start small by choosing a 3-frame strip.
If they’re feeling stuck, you can have them touch the frames to think through how their characters would talk to each other.
For the kids who think they can’t draw or are bad at it, ask them to tell you what happens in their story and/or model a simplified drawing for them, step-by-step.
Encourage your young comic to keep their main character very simple. Start with one that they can draw over and over.
Have them add something to their characters that makes them stand apart, so they can tell which character is which.
Copying if OK if that’s what gets them going. Encourage your young comic to make a twist or a change to what they’re copying.
Help them brainstorm specific ideas. (I created a ‘brainstorming cheat sheet’ for the Comics Lab.)
Ask your young comic to think about the ending before they get there. Do they want their hero to reach their goals? Get what they want?
Get out the scissors and the glue. Try collage if drawing is getting your young comic down.
Include pre-readers and emerging writers! For children who are learning how to draw, ask them to tell you what’s going on or who’s saying what. Then, write this down in the frames for them.
Flip through comics to get some ideas. Take a break and read some comics!
Thanks again to FerryCon and the Dobbs Ferry Public Library for having me!
Locals….
…please follow the library to stay in the loop on programming for kids and information on how to participate in the next FerryCon!
Not a local?
Interested in partnering with me for children’s programming at your school or library? Please drop me a line — I’d love to connect!
