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As everyone knows, but not everyone admits, graphic narratives are among the most direct and absorbing of story-telling forms – a sort of cinema of the printed page. Comics (and their supposedly more “adult” cousin, the graphic novel) synthesize two great languages – visual and written – to bring to life real or invented characters that inhabit actual or imagined worlds. They make us laugh, cry, scream, dream, and ponder. Theirs is a deceptively sophisticated mode of exposition that requires abstraction and distillation of words and pictures to grab and hold the reader. On a good day, they pack a more powerful punch than most superheroes. In less than a century, comics have moved beyond the daily and Sunday newspapers and the thin stapled “books” of D. C., Marvel, and Ace, to specialized outlets like Raw and Fantagraphics, and even such non-traditional venues as The New York Times Magazine, McSweeney’s and The New Yorker – not to mention an occasional cameo appearance, unbound and magnified, on the canvases of Warhol and Lichtenstein. They’ve also been the source of animated cartoons and critically acclaimed dramatic films, as well as grist for museum exhibitions and scholarly treatises. But despite their upward mobility and capacity for translation to other media, they remain a living art form for the delight of viewers/readers of all ages. In this studio you’ll acquire the techniques necessary to make a great comic book, from scripting stories to drawing characters and settings, including cover development, model pages, prop sheets, breakdowns, page structure/composition, panel relationships, point of view, masking, emotional content, motion, time, and sequencing. You’ll also learn the ins and outs of penciling, inking, layout, and professional production methods. Each class will begin with a lecture/discussion/presentation of topics related to the history of cartoons and comics, analysis of classic and underground comics, and the influence of comics in contemporary art and culture. All work will be done the old-fashioned way (by hand) and you will leave the studio with your own finished, self-published, limited edition comic book, and the skills to make more! Good drawing skills are essential. This 5-week program of learning by doing is open to students from the Houston metropolitan area who will be entering the 10th, 11th, 12th grades or college. To apply, complete the student section of the PDF form and give it to a teacher who knows you well or a counselor to fill out the recommendation section. Your teacher/counselor should mail the completed form along with an official transcript directly to:
To ensure full consideration, applications must
be received by 5 May; early applications are encouraged. All applicants will be notified by
2 June; early applicants will be notified sooner.
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