I’m excited to share my love of comic books with a new audience!

It’s no secret that comic books greatly influenced my path to becoming a fine artist and later educator. In fact, I’ve continued to collect comic books for nearly thirty years! I’ve had the pleasure of meeting several of my favorite writers and artists and even consider a few friends and mentors. That being said, I’ve often had comics and graphic novels as a part of my studio library and classroom, always handy for a particular reference. My current works in progress, “Heroines”, directly relates to my love of comics.

On and off for the last few years I’ve taught after school comic book/cartooning classes, even hosting an after school comic book/manga club. This past year I took a break, choosing to focus on other mediums of art. That was until recently when I was offered an opportunity to teach it again by a friend and fellow teacher I have a great respect for. And it fit perfectly into my schedule! Within the first hour of registration the class was filled, but we’ve extended the number of seats and maxed the class at twenty!

I’ll be teaching the basics of drawing and cartooning, of course, but 4th and 5th grade students and I will be exploring story structure and character development. We’ll be delving into the global history of comic books and its influences on animation, music, and film. Students and I will briefly discuss gender roles in comics as well as the lack (but rise) of diversity. At the end of our ten weeks, students will create their own graphic novel with focus on pencil and ink art. I can’t wait to share some of the work the class generates!