Mini Comics Fever

While I relied on this quick paper model from Glen to start making some mini comics for my cartooning class, you could check this video if you need further guidance on how to make the actual folds and single cut to create a 6-pages + front and back cover mini comic booklet out of a single sheet of paper. The neat thing about this simple Kirigami activity is that all you need is paper, scissors, and something to draw and color your story. No staples nor glue are needed to hold it together.
The mini comics are fairly close in size to the Artist Trading Cards (ATC) format.
Used the Sakura Pigma Sensei 0.4 and 0.6 mm pens to illustrate these mini comics.The goal here was to reinforce the concepts discussed during class, and to serve as a reminder to continue practicing.Quick rundown of popular manga genres appropriate for the students' age group.Kaiju (Strange Beast) pocket guide.The purpose of this mini comic was to illustrate how sketching and drawing can help students in learning scientific material.
Once an original was drawn, it was scanned and printed to try different coloring approaches for the cover. For this batch, I used some Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens.
A few mini comics with colored covers to serve as samples for my cartooning class later today.

City Fest done ... well sort of!

Yesterday afternoon we set up a handful of demo tables behind The von Liebig Art Center to host arts and craft activities for the families attending the Naples City Fest. Yet we ended up being so far from all the booths and attractions clustered on the opposite end of Cambier Park that nobody realized we were also part of the same event. Thus after drawing cartoon portraits of my fellow instructors and the ARTScool interns present, we all packed up our supplies and called it a day. Yet I decided to check out the festival before leaving, and was quite intrigued by the Super Science presentation on the flying paper ring. I am normally so swamped with drawing requests, that I usually never get a chance to check out the other activity booths of the events that I participate in. It was nice to chat a bit with Glen who happens to be a real expert on cool paper activities (I plan to use his timely tip on how to make a neat mini comic out of a single letter-size sheet paper in my cartooning classes, thanks Glen!). Since their face painter got sick and had to leave early, I ended up filling in the table next to them for the last hour of the event. Thus a few boys and girls and a couple of adults got their cartoon portraits drawn. Popular requests remain ninjas, mermaids, and fairies. The special portrait requests that stuck in my mind were the ninja shark, Transformer robot, and the Radiology nurse. It was great to see so many families enjoying the drawing process, and to meet a couple of people that had already attended Family Art Night at the Boys & Girls Club and my presentation at Lake Park Elementary. Sadly I got no pictures from today cause my cell battery died and forgot my camera battery in its charger.

Pop-Up Cards Elementary School Session Photo Journal

For a creative change of pace decided to introduce a pop-up card making lesson to my cartooning classes.

Two sample pop-up cards featuring the ever popular mermaids.

These two sample pop-up cards were done by drawing a background on a blank sheet of card stock and pasting some toy packaging inserts from the collage supplies bin.

The first batch of pop-up cards finished by the students relied heavily on pre-cut templates and some Bakugan toy packaging inserts.



Student drawn background pop-up cards to be completed on the next session.

Family Art Night at Boys & Girls Club notes

At the last minute decided to add a few more pop-up card samples for the Family Art Night at the Boys & Girls Club that took place yesterday. We had a wide selection of coloring pages, standing cut-out cards, and card-making supplies (plenty of blank card stock, child-safe scissors, and glue sticks). Once the kids started with their coloring projects, I spent much of the evening speed sketching special requests (lots of ninjas and dragons and a few popular cartoon characters) and personalized cartoon portraits. As usual, I relied upon a fresh set of Sakura Pigma Sensei pens to draw constantly at top speed with smooth bold lines. I really wish I could get their 0.6 and 1.0 mm pens in bulk, for they are great cartooning pens that sadly are yet not available in open-stock.
Among the assorted art supplies that I brought to the event, we had a set of Elmer's Squeeze 'n Brush Washable Paint-Cool Classics brush pens. While a few kids seemed to enjoy using them, they were also the messiest choice from our range of coloring options (mainly washable Crayola markers in regular and Pip-squeak format, watercolor pencils, and a portable Sketch, Color & Paint art set). I do not think I will continue using them in venues where a wash sink is not so readily available. At least the paint washed off easily enough from my hands. Note to self: Gotta remember the tub of baby wipes for outside venues.A couple of kids actually tackled the pop-up card idea and required just a bit of help at the end to attach their colored pieces to the blank pop-up cards that were prepared in advance.
This budding artist in particular spent a good part of the evening doing a great coloring job on the ninja elf coloring template. Keep on practicing and speed will develop naturally as I told most of you when you commented on how fast I could speed sketch throughout the event.

Succesful Open House at Jo-Ann store completed

Thanks for stopping by at the Jo-Ann's Open House, I enjoyed meeting so many potential students for the summer camp and sketching cartoon portraits for quite a few as a preview of our beginner's cartooning drawing and pop-up card classes.
Suggested materials to start practicing:
- Sakura Pigma Sensei drawing kit
- Canson Fanboy manga papers
- Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens Manga sets
- Prismacolor Double ended markers sets (Manga and Grays)
- 2 mm leadholder with B-2B leads
- sketchbooks/copy paper

Observations on the Crayola Watercolor Colored Pencils Classpack

Having reviewed the Crayola watercolor pencils already, we'll just take note of a couple of details on this sturdy classpack box. According to the labeling, the pencils were manufactured in Brazil with reforested woods and contain no tropical rain forest wood. There is also a warning that some of the pencils contain colorants that might stain.
To save class time and facilitate their distribution and collection, I bound each set of 12 pencils with rubber bands. So we ended with 20 individual coloring sets in each classpack box.
The bottom of the classpack box features a handy Color Wheel that works well as a teaching aid for explaining color theory, primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors, and how to select complementary colors for maximum visual impact.
One of the main advantages of using watercolor pencils is that they provide a pretty effective painting experience while minimizing the potential for accidental spills. All the colors could be applied dry before having to use a water loaded brush to blend them. With their water solubility and washability, we were able to use these Crayola pencils at the library without problems.
We had a few coloring template options for the students to practice with their new water soluble tools.
Some picked animal coloring templates.
Many of the girls chose to work on the mermaid coloring template.
Some of the students supplemented their color options with custom palettes made by scribbling Faber Castell aquarelle sticks on scraps of paper.
With colors left dry.
With colors partially blended with a wet brush.
The students seemed to enjoy their first session with the Crayola watercolor pencils, so we'll continue to keep them as a coloring option through the rest of their cartooning course.