5 Day Holiday Comic Strip Course
Cartooning Workshop for the Vacation Between Boxing Day and New Year
Run your own 5-day community or family holiday cartooning project. The activity encourages participants to learn to draw as they imagine New Years Resolutions together.
This engaging cartooning activity is suitable for family and community groups. As the participants plan in their Visual Journals, they will sort through ideas and build up a body of work. By the end of the fifth day, they will be ready to put the finishing touches on a humorous comic strip.
Group members will get to know each other better as they learn to draw and look at their resolutions.
The Purpose
Through this workshop participants will
- learn cartooning
- have fun – laugh at life
- learn about each other as a community or family
- make productive use of down time / holiday time
- learn how to write and illustrate humour
- think and plan about the new year
- avoid paying the fees for fun parks, picture theatres or other holiday attractions
- stay off the roads over the Festive Season
- experience bonding time with family or community group
The Process
Create a workbook for each participant by copying this article and the accompanying Blogs. (No need to worry about copyright if you are not doing this commercially. Email to provide feedback about your workshop.) Ask the participants to read the workbook before they begin, so that if they have “down time” during the 5-day period they can
- come up with extra characters
- practice what they have experienced
- go ahead and try techniques by following the book
Materials
- Visual Journal used as a log, place to glue resource material, diary about the New Year as well as a planning space.
- Drawing paper
- Black Card
- Drawing implements such as HB pencils, colour pencils, felts, water colours, Gouche, erasers
- Glue spray, glue sticks or preferred adhesives
- Collage materials
- Black indelible markers, chisel tips, fine point tips
- Double sided tape, masking tape
- Rulers, sharpeners, Stanley Knives
Workshop Environment
You will need plenty of space so that members can find time alone with their thoughts and so that they can spread out to draw and collage. A large space such as the living room, rumpus room or picnic area should be set aside for group activity. To compliment this each member might have their own area such as the study area of their bedroom.
It would be good to have access to
- Internet
- computer
- projector
- computer art packages
- scanner, camera, printer
- space for acting out and mime
- food and beverages for refreshment
- relaxing space
- exhibition space
- table space for each person
Time Allocation
- 2 hours per day for a five day period
- plenty of personal time in between sessions
- closure time for an exhibition or launch of comic strip book
Workshop Schedule
- Day 1. The Basics of Perspective
- Day 2. Set The Scene When Telling A Story
- Day 3. How To Create A Cartoon Character
- Day 4. Cartooning With Mechanical Shapes
- Day 5. Polishing a New Years Comic Strip.
You will find these blogs next to each other as you scroll through them.
Closure
Be sure to set aside time for appropriate closure of the project. This could be an exhibition or launch of a book made from the comic strips would be fun.
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