What's included
1 live meeting
50 mins in-class hours per weekHomework
1 hour per week. Students may choose to spend extra time on their comics outside of class.Assessment
Students will need to photograph and post their work weekly.Grading
Graded assessments provided by request.Class Experience
Explore the world of comic book art as you learn how to tell fantastic stories through hand-drawn comics. Create a new comic or continue an on-going one we learn about a new comic arts or story-telling technique every week! ⭐New to Outschool? Send me a message before you enroll!!!⭐ ⭐ Get $10 off your first class with coupon code BFAMANEW10 until Jun 21, 2025. Enter the coupon code at checkout. ⭐ First, students will introduce themselves and share about their favorite comic-- Peanuts and Charlie Brown, Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, the Babysitter's Club, Marvel and DC universe superheroes like Superman and X-men, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dogman, shoujo and shonen manga, and graphic novels, etc. Then I will introduce the topic of the day: a new idea for story-telling, drawing concept, or an example artwork from comic books or related pictures from art history. Many of the ideas and techniques discussed in this class are inspired by Scott McCloud's books "Understanding Comics" and "Making Comics." Students will spend the rest of the class creating their own new, unique comic or continuing to work on a comic they previously started. For students who "don't have any ideas," I use a random story generator help students brainstorm creative story-writing. As students are working, I will check in with them and assist. Students will have the opportunity to share their work throughout the class and post their works in the classroom forum. My goal is to create a fun, creative learning environment where students can comfortably learn and share their ideas with others who also love comics. Students will bring their imagination to life, invent unique characters and stories, and have the opportunity to share their art with other students. This class is great place for aspiring authors, comic artists, and game developers to create characters, illustrate their backstory, and develop a style. Tentative topic schedule: Week of 8/19: New spin on an old story (The story of Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, King Arthur's horse, etc.) Week of 8/26: 3 panels, One Action Week of 9/2: The Hero Archetype and Superheroes Week of 9/9: Panel-to-panel Transitions: Comparing American Comics & Japanese Manga Week of 9/16: Character Design: Using shape and color Week of 9/23: Genre: Categorizing Contemporary Stories (Dogman, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Pokemon, Spiderman, etc.) Week of 9/30: Exaggeration and non-sequiturs Week of 10/7: Word art and word bubbles Week of 10/14: Subject-to-subject Transitions Week of 10/21: Ordering the panels, a look at different cultures in Art History Week of 10/28: The Setting: how to draw characters in a place Week of 11/4: Humor and the one-panel comic Week of 11/11: World-creation: Mars, the mall, or life at home? Week of 11/18: Mixed media comics: the Art of David Mack Week of 11/25: Mixed Genre Stories (Cowboys... in space???) Week of 12/2: Drawing bodies: American Cartoons & Japanese Manga Styles Week of 12/9: Scene-to-scene Transitions ** This schedule will repeat.**
Learning Goals
Students will learn about comics, graphic novels, and manga and become better communicators, story-tellers, and illustrators as they create their own comics.
Other Details
Parental Guidance
Warning: Comic books, especially superhero comics, usually contain violent conflicts, violent images, and weapons. While I discourage my students from creating gore for gore's sake and generally consider guns to be the most boring weapon in a story, my focus in these comics classes is to help students communicate a story that makes sense, not to attempt to remove the violent element from the superhero genre. If you as a parent find violence distasteful or do not wish your child to depict violent images, please discuss this with your learner.
Supply List
Drawing pencils Large eraser (pink, white or fun shapes) and/or Art Gum Eraser (preferred) White printer paper or drawing paper, or paper with comic grid already printed Ruler Colored Pencils, Markers, or Crayons
4 files available upon enrollment
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Teacher expertise and credentials
Virginia Teaching Certificate in Music/Theater/Arts
Master's Degree in Education from Virginia Commonwealth University
I teach classes on a variety of arts-related subjects:
* piano, sight-reading, song-writing;
* realistic drawing techniques;
* comic book creations & anime drawing styles;
* digital arts, Photoshop, graphic design.
Look at the bottom of my profile to find my other classes.
→ https://outschool.com/teachers/Elizabeth-Essex ←
I hold a Bachelors in Fine Art from Virginia Tech and a Masters in Art Education from Virginia Commonwealth University and am a former public school art teacher. I love teaching drawing, painting, sculpture and Photoshop to learners of all ages. I've been teaching for 20+ years and running my own piano studio for 10+ years. There's a special place in my heart for creative works and the artists that make them, especially fantasy stories and narrative artworks, comics and graphic novels.
Reviews
Live Group Class
$17
weekly1x per week
50 min
Completed by 52 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 7-12
2-7 learners per class