Comics in the Classroom

[Andy]

I got a call from someone who had seen my website -- from the Norman Rockwell Museum! They have asked me to present at their Educator's Symposium in conjunction with a show they are having on the art of the graphic novel. I will be sharing on the use of comics in the elementary school in January. Then they want me to come back to present a "Draw Yourself as a Superhero" lesson on their Family Day in February.

The keynote speaker will be Jay Hosler, creator of the Clan Apis comic (about a hive of bees).

As always on these events I plug Usagi to those who aren't familiar with him.

[Stan Sakai]

I got a call from someone who had seen my website -- from the Norman Rockwell Museum! They have asked me to present at their Educator's Symposium in conjunction with a show they are having on the art of the graphic novel. I will be sharing on the use of comics in the elementary school in January. Then they want me to come back to present a "Draw Yourself as a Superhero" lesson on their Family Day in February.

The keynote speaker will be Jay Hosler, creator of the Clan Apis comic (about a hive of bees).

As always on these events I plug Usagi to those who aren't familiar with him.

Congratulations.

Jay is a really nice guy. He spoke at the Nobel Institute in Stockholm a few years ago, but he is very down to earth. Besides Clan Apis, he did Sandlot Tales about Darwin.

[Andy]

I don't have any of his comics. I'm definitely going to have to get some before I go so I can have him sign them and maybe make a sketch. I'll be making a "beeline" for his table!

It's cool that the Rockwell is having an art exhibit of comic art. It's a sign of the gaining respectability that this art form is getting. A lot of my co-workers were surprised that they'd have one there. I think I'm winning some of them over to see the value of comics as art and a learning resource.

[go]

Dear Readers,
Congratulations Andy, you are making real progress!
Clan Apis and Sandwalk Adventures are excellent.
I first read Clan Apis when I found out Sensei Sakai had drawn a bee.
Can you pick it out?
http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/b ... 025278%202

Best wishes to all!
go

[Andy]

That's too cool! I didn't know about this. I'm guessing middle one on the bottom, am I right?

[Stan Sakai]

That's too cool! I didn't know about this. I'm guessing middle one on the bottom, am I right?

That's the bee.

If I remember correctly, Norman Rockwell's nephew, grandson, or some other relative was Milt Canniff's assistant on Steve Canyon.

[Andy]

I didn't know about the Milt Caniff connection. When I was a kid, I wrote a letter to Rockwell.

I had a hobby of drawing pictures of famous people, then mailing it to them, requesting them to autograph it. In this way, I got autographs of NY Yankees Reggie Jackson, Mickey Rivers, actor Gabe Kaplan ("Welcome Back Kotter") and a few others.

My drawing of Rockwell came back unsigned. Of course an artist isn't going to sign someone else's drawing! He was also very ill, it was just before he died, but I got a nice letter from his secretary saying that Rockwell wished me well in my career. I think I was about 13 or 14 then.

[Andy]

I just got back from a fantastic four days in NYC. I was invited to present on the topic of Using Comics to Teach Literary Devices at the National Conference of Teachers of English. I was part of the Posters Gallery. Basically, I set up my six triptychs and waited for people to come by and look and ask questions. I got a lot of visits! It went very well. I even sold about 15 of my self-published comic.

In the past I've done the typical speech/presentation/workshop. This, however was different, but really cool in that people came by, learned what they wanted and moved on. I made a lot of good contacts. Probably 150 people heard my spiel.

One of the high points of the conference was sitting in on a session with Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon, editor and artist of the graphic adaptation of the 9-11 Report. Ernie is famous for (among a host of other things) 25 years of drawing Casper, so I asked him to draw a quick sketch of the friendly ghost in my sketchbook. He obliged!

[img]<a%20href="http://photobucket.com"%20target="_blank"><img%20src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee242/andrewwales/CasperScreen.jpg"%20border="0"%20alt="Photo%20Sharing%20and%20Video%20Hosting%20at%20Photobucket"></a>[/img]

I'm an art teacher, and it never would have occurred to me to attend a conference for English teachers, but there were sessions related to integrating art with language arts continually. In fact, there were sessions related to comics almost continually! Sometimes I had to choose between two comics related sessions. I learned a lot and was really inspired to continue to invite the visual learners I teach into the world of literacy through art.

[Andy]

Last weekend I presented an activity at the Norman Rockwell for Family Day: Draw Yourself as a Superhero.

There was a record attendance of 82! It was a fantastic time with parents, grandparents and kids all drawing themselves as superheroes.

The poster for the event is here, with more info on my blog at http://www.andrewwales.blogspot.com/

[Stan Sakai]

Great report on your blog. I like all the photos of visitors getting into drawing.

[Andy]

Thanks! My foremost mission in life is to promote this message to as many kids and adults as possible: art is something that we can all enjoy our whole lives long. We may not all be published, and we may never make a dime, but art is something that can enrich your life. Seeing this large a group willing to express themselves visually was a big thrill.

[Andy]

Our local paper did a nice write-up on my comics in the classroom work.

http://www.thedailyreview.com/site/news ... 5049&rfi=6

[Andy]

Super Friends #1 is out and my son Nathan is a big fan. The art is drawn to look like the big, clunky Mattel action figures he has. He stares at this comic for the longest time, and even lets me read a few pages to him. I think it's great that there's something for the pre-school kids now.