I love narrative-based art forms, both as an artist and as an educator. Comic strips, graphic novels, picture books, pop-up books, and zines are some of my favourite art forms.
Classes in cartooning help students maximize the expressiveness of their work, a critical first step to being able to tell stories through drawings. Classes in illustration and comic arts teach artists how the formal elements of each medium (colour, composition, character design, etc) are used for storytelling. Games and collaborative exercises create a fun and relaxing environment, and help students gain confidence in their unique artistic style.
Collaborative Illustration activity at SkyBlue Studio
Storybook Illustration at the Toronto Public Library
Creating a Cartoon Object Workshop
Comics Arts program with VIBE Arts
Character design game
Cartoon Portraiture with VIBE Arts
Pop-Up Books with Skyblue Studio
Pop-Up Books with SkyBlue Studio
Digital Illustration at Humber River Hospital
Recent programs in Illustration, Cartooning, and/or Comics:
Digital Illustration - VIBE Arts and Humber River Hospital - May-June 2021
Six workshops facilitated over zoom for the youth at Humber River's inpatient program. Participants were taught how to Procreate to create digital illustrations and basic animation.
#VoiceUp Comic Arts - VIBE Arts and Art Starts - March-April 2021
A series of 8 virtual workshops exploring the fundamentals of illustration and comics. The culminating project was the creation of a short, one page comic on the topic of mental health, resiliency, and/or self-esteem.
Creating a Cartoon Object - Various - 2020-2021
A single workshop introducing participants to the development of a cartoon character based on an everyday object. Workshop has been run with artists as young as six and as old as sixty!
Pop-Up Books - SkyBlue Studio - April 2021
PA-Day workshop on how to use simple paper folding and cutting techniques to bring our storybook illustrations to life! Participants wrote a short story and created 2-3 pages of a pop-up book based on their story.
Comic Creation - VIBE Arts and Evelyn Gregory Public Library - Nov-Dec 2020
Virtual art program introducing students to the fundamental principles of writing and drawing comics. Topics covered included character design, panel composition, page layout, and colour theory.
Storybook Illustration - VIBE Arts and Evelyn Gregory Public Library - January 2020
A program introducing participants to various visual art techniques used in storybook illustration, incuding painting, collage, drawing, and more.