Crazy Creatures, Too! - Using "Art" to Improvise Spontaneous Creature Designs
This is a fun, ongoing surrealist cartooning class for intermediate learners. Students practice drawing a spontaneous visual vocabulary of "creature parts", which they arrange to visually improvise surprising and original characters.
Randy James, MEd
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:(351)
What's included
1 live meeting
45 mins in-class hours per weekHomework
Recommended Study There is no specific homework or outside reading required for this class. However, these books and movies inform the general art styles students will learn: "Where the Wild Things Are", "ParaNorman", "Aliens vs Monsters'', "The Nightmare Before Christmas".Class Experience
Intermediate Level
All drawing activities will cycle back to the beginning every four weeks, or be variated spontaneously depending upon the skill level of each week's group of students. Over a four week period, eventually each exercise will be introduced and practiced in class. Weekly Class Activities: 1. Week of Dec. 5th: Topic: "Scribble Monster Face" Theme: Visualization and imagination exercises Topic: "So Scary!" creature expressions Theme: Learn and practice drawing cartoon emotions Topic: Wings and things Theme: Experiment drawing a variety of wing shapes 2. Week of Dec. 12th: Topic: "Monster MadLibs" Theme: Students suggest a range of monster parts to combine Topic: Strange shapes for strange creatures Theme: Base character shapes on ovals, rectangles, triangles, etc. Topic: Spooky backgrounds with V's, B's, and Z's Theme: How to convert alphabet shapes into scary scenes 3. Week of Dec. 19th: Topic: "Story Tag: You're An IT!" Theme: Suggest themes for a scary story Topic: Zombies, mummies, and aliens Theme: Focus on drawing key elements of these creatures Topic: Castles, crypts and caves Theme: Where do cartoon monsters live? 4. Week of Dec. 26th: Topic: Horns, hooves, and fangs Theme: Exercise your ability to draw these various monster parts Topic: 20 second scenarios Theme: Quickly brainstorm a "who, where, what" story Topic: Tentacles, eye-stalks, and energies Theme: Exercise your ability to draw these various monster parts
Learning Goals
Skill Acquisition
- Students create unique, original cartoon monster illustrations using specific techniques demonstrated by the teacher
- Methods for quickly illustrating many kinds of monster "parts" are imparted to students, which they learn to combine into unique and surprising creations
- Through brainstorming sessions, students provide verbal and illustrated responses to questions which form the basis of new characters, names, and story plots
This is a live class, and the instructor uses a 2-camera system to feature specific illustration styles and techniques. Students are encouraged (within reason!) to spontaneously interact with the instructor and others during most exercises, and this class can be very interactive and lively.
Other Details
Supply List
Required Materials -Lots of white A4 (printer) paper (or similar) -Thick black pens, sharpies, pencils, and erasers (colored markers optional)
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined December, 2021
4.9
351reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
Master's Degree in Education from San Francisco State University
Randy James, MEd
Creativity Coach, Cartoonist, Animator, Word-Nerd
Hi, please call me Randy! As a college professor of game design and animation I mentored the artistically gifted for over 20 years. I have a Master's Degree in education and recently taught over 5,000 ESL classes to more than 1000 VIPKids. Parents routinely praise me for my humorous and creative classes and I love to keep things lively!
Much of my creative arts curriculum stems from experiences as an award-winning cartoon animator and educational game producer in San Francisco. I rely on these professional skills and instincts in the classroom to identify your child's artistic potential, and it's always a joy to nurture their creative abilities.
As a kid myself I always enjoyed language games that reward clever wordplay like "telephone" and "madlibs", and have designed a series of word games and activities that really spice-up vocabulary and grammar classes. Students who may think vocabulary is "booooring!" can abruptly devour their nomenclature (eat their words) as they learn how the English language is alive and composed of fragments from world history!Reviews
Live Group Class
$14
weekly1x per week
45 min
Completed by 33 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 8-13
1-6 learners per class
