teachingarts

New Summer and Fall Comics Workshops!

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If you live in Ohio and know young people who love making comics, I have some exciting news for you. I’m leading a week-long minicomic camp in Wooster, OH for the Buckeye Book Fair starting July 21:

Buckeye Book Camp

If you’re around the Worthington area you can register your young artist for my 5-week workshop series, Minicomic Challenge:

I have more workshops and events for autumn 2024, which I’ll be posting soon on my classes page.

You can also get updates on my workshop schedule by subscribing to my calendar:

New Summer and Fall Comics Workshops! Read More »

Farewell, Students! Hello, Summer!

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May 31st marked the end of my first year where I led in-school comics residencies full-time. I’ve been a teaching artist since 2007, but it’s never been more than a part-time gig until the 2023-24 school year. It’s been a rich, meaningful challenge, but this introvert is ready to spend some time in the studio quietly making art for a bit.

On my last visits, some of the students gave me art as a thank you/farewell present, and I feel seen:

You don’t have to spend a year with me to find out how much I love Orko. The fact that a teenager, the natural enemy of all things sweet and sincere, spent the time to make this for me was touching.

And another student celebrated my odd convergence of interests by drawing the Bleacher Creature, a Gill-man plushie I take to every Columbus Clippers baseball game:

My thanks to all of the teachers and schools who invited me into their spaces to work with their students, and to the Ohio Arts Council, whose TeachArtsOhio grants make my residencies possible.

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I’ll be at ALA Annual 2024!

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I’m excited to return to ALA Annual after almost 10 years! I’ll be at the Iron Circus booth (2534D) on the expo floor signing advance reader copies of The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue!

I’m also going to be drawing custom cursed objects for anyone who stops by:

And you’ll be able to get some of the first Doctor Baer talismans! These ceramic objects are in-world artifacts you’d find if you visited Doctor Baer’s spooky home.

I’ll also be participating in as much programming as they’ll let me–check out my profile to see where I’ll be. Hope to see you there!

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Super Comics Challenge at the Ashland Art Show

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Earlier this month I had the privilege of being the visiting artist at the Ashland High School Art Show. Instead of leading some formal presentation, I invited some of their art students to play along in the Super Comics Challenge game show, which reveals the principles and process of art-making through gameful Taskmaster-like challenges.

It was one of those marvelous experiences that felt perfectly aligned with how I like to show up as a teaching artist. I’m grateful to Ashland High School staff and students, and the Ohio Arts Council for making this experience possible.

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Talk & Teach: Dressing Up History: Translating Research and Reference into Narrative Costume

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CXC 2023 Talk & Teach with Chris Schweizer

Join Chris Schweizer, The Roanoke Colony: America’s First Mystery, The Creeps series, The Crogan Adventures series, for an exploration of strategies for visual historical research and adapting those findings to suit the needs of your aesthetic, characters, and story.

Photos by Raylavoie.com
Video production by Nicolettecinemagraphics
Logo by Victoria Douglas
Frame design by Han Donovan

Part of Cartoon Crossroads Columbus – September 27 – October 1, 2023
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus – CXC is a FREE comics, art & animation festival in Columbus, Ohio!

Something I’ve been watching on YouTube. Follow the playlist here.

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Super Comics Challenge at CXC 2023 – Replay

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If you couldn’t make it to Cartoon Crossroads Columbus 2023, you can check out all of the recordings of events as they post them to their YouTube Channel. Here is this year’s edition of the Super Comics Challenge game show, starring Raina Telgemeier, Coni Yovaniniz, and Rafael Rosado. Oh, and hosted by me!

Some highlights from the show:

Speaking of that, I have to share the drawings they all did of Martha Bee!

Rafael Rosado, who went for Heel points when drawing my beloved Martha Bee.
Raina Telgemeier, who went with the reference photo wherein Martha Bee was done with me.
And Coni’s drawing of the angelic (but not juicy) Martha Bee.
And some of the kids in the audience joined in to draw Martha Bee after the show! Thank you, Hank, I love this drawing.

I love leading this game show. Here’s hoping we get to do it again next year!

Back in 2020 I led a few virtual versions of Super Comics Challenge. You can watch them below:

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From Pixelfed: 2023-11-01T15:33:34.000Z

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This week in high school comics class: working on outlining and structuring our minicomic stories. The structure is there to support them when they’re stuck and for them to rebel against when they’re not.

P1: Introductions – We learn about the characters and setting

P2: Characters interact – We learn more about how the characters see themselves and each other, particularly through dialogue

P3: Conflict – Some kind of problem shows up

P4: Characters react to conflict – We learn more about the characters through their reaction to the conflict

P5: Twist – Some kind of surprise shows up–could be big, could be small

P6: Characters react to twist – We learn more about the characters through their reaction to the conflict

P7-P8: Resolution – I always think about this part as answering one of two questions: *How* is the world different, or *Why* is the world the same?

#teachingarts #comics #drawing #storytelling

Follow me on Pixelfed!

From Pixelfed: 2023-11-01T15:33:34.000Z Read More »

Super Comics Challenge!

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The global health crisis that kicked into high gear in early 2020 challenged us in so many ways. But one of the less dramatic ways it invited us to level up was in creating meaningful and engaging activities at virtual comics festivals.

I’m so grateful to Gerimi Burliegh, Aaron Polk, Gregg Schigiel, and Elizabeth for stepping up to participate in the first Super Comics Challenge game show. And thanks to Rob Stenzinger for the voice over!

And if I may congratulate myself, I’m proud of this playful, fun game show that incidentally teaches some techniques of comics storytelling. Playful teaching is my favorite kind of teaching. I think it came together pretty well. Virtual or in person, I’d love to do this one again.

You can watch the second edition below!

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Teaching: the Tension Between the Arbitrary and the Algorithmic

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This snippet of a recent episode of the Emerge podcast does a terrific job of framing the adaptation that I think is necessary for a good experience in a classroom. Yes, I write lesson plans (that’s the algorithmic part), but I change the plan based on what the room needs in that moment (that’s the arbitrary part). Here’s the whole discussion:

I explore this artful way of planning and teaching in a webinar I led for the Ohio Arts Council back in 2020:

While this series of microcasts explores the adaptive, in-the-room quality of being a teaching artist. You can start with the episode below:

TPD 264 – Ways I talked myself out of teaching

Interested in something more interactive? I regularly offer training for teachers and teaching artists. Click here to find out more about how I can help inspire your students!

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Hooray for the OAC!

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And here’s the final word on my 2023 residency at Tri-Rivers Career Center! This was made possible by a grant from the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). Over nine weeks I worked with the students to make their own minicomics, which they debuted during Free Comic Book Day at Thunderfury Comics in Marion, Ohio.

I can’t say enough about the OAC’s TeachArts Ohio grants. Thanks to them, I get to see kids walk taller semester after semester.

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