Comics in The Classroom: April 1st at Artchurch Studio 1st Annual Comic Expo in Historic Whittington Valley

Graphic novels are one of today's fastest growing categories in book publishing. The scope and diversity of graphic novels has broadened in recent years to include much more sophisticated subject matter, including nonfiction, biography, and compelling stories melded from on-the ground reporting and research from the world's latest war-torn regions.

Public schools are proving to be viable markets for graphic novels and with the advent of a more serious and ambitious body of nonfiction work, high school, middle schools, college and university librarians are bolstering their graphic novel collections. The latter half of the 20th century has experienced an alteration in the definition of literacy. The proliferation of the use of images as a communicant was propelled by the growth of a technology that required less in text-reading skills. From road signs to mechanical use instructions, imagery aided words, and at times even supplanted them. Visual literacy has entered the panoply of skills required for communication in this century. Graphic novels are at the center of this phenomenon.

Hot Springs’ first Comic-Con style event, Comics on the Wall, will be held at the Artchurch Studio, 301 Whittington Avenue, beginning Thursday, April 1st, with Educators reception and exhibit from 5-9 p.m., including educator packages with lesson plans, power point video, and curricula while supplies last. Trina Bright, Literacy Coach with Little Rock’s School District, will lead discussion on Comics in the Classroom, followed by Robert O’Nale, who will lead a seminar in Comics: Very Brief History of Comics.

Comic Expo April 1st -3rd

This week I'm posting a day early because I'll be speaking Friday evening, April 2nd between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm and teaching a creating comics workshop on Saturday April 3rd from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at Comic Expo in Hot Springs, AR.

I'll be giving a Powerpoint presentation and discussing my past, current and future graphic novel projects as well as my approach to visual storytelling. I'll be a featured speaker along with Marvel Comic's, Captain America artist Mitch Breitweiser and Knights of the Living Dead artist Dusty Higgins.

Please visit http://artchurch.org/ for more information.

The Living Dark

Here are a couple of samples of promotional roughs I did for a feature length film entitled Living Dark, directed by David Hunt and written by Kevin Brown. These preliminary images are quickly rendered in acrylic and Prismacolor based off of provided stills from the film. Living Dark is based on the "Ted the Caver" internet urban legend.

Storyboard Samples

This week I've included samples of some story board images I worked on that were used as part of a television commercial proposal featuring esteemed neurosurgeon and Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at John Hopkins Hospital, Ben Carson.

Storyboards are demanding work and must be done quickly and efficiently. Storyboards are basically a comic-like narrative of a film and used before the actual film is shot to help provide a visual layout of the sequence of events as they will be seen through the camera lens. Film and video are highly collaborative and generally costly projects and the time spent planning during preproduction is much cheaper than when the camera is rolling. Since storyboards are a part of film making rarely seen by the public I thought I'd share a bit of my experiences with this exciting and challenging process.

Comic Expo 2010

I'll be a featured speaker at Comic Expo .ed at Artchurch Studio in Hot Springs, AR along with Marvel Comic's Captain America artist Mitch Breitweiser and Knights of the Living Dead artist Dusty Higgins on Friday, April 2nd from 6:00-7:00. My Creating Comics Workshop will be held Saturday, April 4th from 10am-11am, and I'll be featuring original comic art at the expo. For more information visit http://artchurch.org/comic-expo-ed/ & http://artchurch.org/comic-expo/.

Available Original Works

This week I'm featuring examples of original works that are on display and available for purchase now at the Northwest Arkansas Community Creative Center (Nadine Baum Studios) located at 505 W. Spring St, Fayetteville, AR 72701.