This Saturday I was joined by Matt Dembicki (Trickster, Wild...

This Saturday I was joined by Matt Dembicki (Trickster, Wild Ocean) and Brooke A. Allen (Lumberjanes) for an afternoon of comic book making with the kids from Powhatan School in Boyce, VA. Over the six-hour session we taught everything from character design to figure work to paneling, penciling, inking, cutting, and stapling. When we were done, everyone had a comic to show off and they were all really great!

I had the kids using ink in my sessions and they quickly tossed aside their markers and crayons for a chance to spill ink over paper. I had them inking with feathers, calligraphy pens, brushes, and even their fingers in order to get a feel to the different tools you can use to ink a page. They had a blast using it, but the clean-up took some time.

I’d also like to briefly mention 8-year-old Cal. He brought a ziplock bagged filled with his own minis and we were all blown away by how talented this kid was. Here’re two photos of his comics:

The kid just has a natural talent for storytelling and art. We gave him his first copic marker, and he spent an hour learning how to use it before drawing three panels about a pirate ship and calling it a day. He was a perfectionist and had patience and he wanted to learn - he’s going to be a star one day if he keeps drawing comics. 

But all of the kids were great and we had a blast. Hope to do it again next year!