Let's Make a Comic Book!

To create a comic book from concept to completion learners should come to class excited with a written story or robust idea. 
We will work  together to create our own comic books. 

Learners will interact with the teacher by using classroom video demonstrations, brainstorming threads, sharing and developing visual work together. Learners will interact with the teacher  using the Outschool classroom,  nearpod for collaboration boards, visual games, and summary quizes. All of our classroom interaction will occur on the outschool platform and there is no sign-in needed to use the additional nearpod features. Learners will need the capability to reply to materials and brainstorming using written word,  and most importantly uploading photos of their art work to the classroom. Some learners may need parental assistance to upload their work to the classroom successfully. 

Learners can expect the course to explore: 

Week 1: In the first week learners will share their story concepts, we will work with thumbnail sketches and storyboards to identify the pacing of our comic book. We will use contour lines, sketches, and gesture drawing to establish main characters, costumes, and visual elements to support plot points. 

Week 2: This week will have us exploring the various ways to produce illustrated comic books. We will decide on our use of ink and colour and using classroom prompts, nearpod collaboration boards, and video replies we will talk about the process of digitizing for reproduction.  We will see video demonstrations and nearpod visual games to look at different art styles in sequential illustration. At the end of this class we will have decided upon page number, page size, and page panels for our personal comic books. 

Week 3: Learners and the teacher will delve into panel layout and sketching our page content. We will use a cut paper exercise to talk about page layout and composition, and we will have a real world scavenger hunt to help us look at comic books from our own collection that demonstrate key aspects of composition, line quality, and visual hierarchy.  Learners will be drawing their panels and stories in pencil at this stage.

Week 4: This week we will pause with our pages and take a look at Cover Art. With video demonstrations, classroom sharing, and discussion, learners and the teacher will explore art materials used to create cover art. We will look closely at font use, margins, and we will practice digitizing art while we create compelling covers for our comic books. Learners will share their covers in the classroom 

Week 5: This week learners will discover all about inking. We will participate in exercises on line quality, line variation, and talk about how artists have inked work over the years. We will participate and share in an activity using hatching and cross hatching to create value. We will look at portraying mass, depth, and form in our objects. Along with the teacher demonstration we will share and comment on an inking exercise in high key value. 

Week 6: This week learners will begin to colour their comics and will explore and implement decisions about spot color, limited color palette, and full colour. We will explore the print process and learn why certain decisions about colour is made in book  creation. Some colour theory concepts will be touched on here to examine how to use colour to reinforce action in our composition.

Week 7: In the second to last week of this course learners should be completing their comic books. Together we will take a look at reproduction options, and will be uploading to the classroom. Learners will be shown how to bind their work and protect their original art. This week will also include a look at distribution options for comic book creators. 

Week 8: After weeks of hard work Learners will present their comic books to each other. As a fun nod to each other's creative efforts, learners will engage in an exercise called "in my style" where we take all of the drawing skills we have learned in previous weeks and draw a character made by another comic artist in their own style. We will include a "guess the side kick" game using Nearpod.

For this program learners are expected to have a keen interest in drawing and comic book creation. This class is for experienced artists and artists who feel comfortable sharing their work in the Outschool classroom.