Make your own comic! On May 14th we hosted a zoom workshop with Napatsi Folger who taught us about the art of comic-making. Comics have long been thought of as "low art" or not even considered art at all, a medium of the common folks, but what that really means is that they are an extremely accessible and versatile medium for communication. Do you like comics and want to learn more about how to create them? Napatsi Folger shared with us a lesson on the art of comic-making from the simplicity of stick figure comics about daily life, to topics that range into more artistic and emotional territory, Napatsi covered the wonderfully broad range that comics can provide for a world stuck inside our homes. All ages welcome, even children who cannot read or write, because comics are for EVERYONE!
The session took place online using Zoom. This workshop, like every De-ICE-olation event, is free.
Required materials for following along at home:
Paper
Something to draw with: Anything works! Good options are a pen, pencil, crayon, charcoal, or markers.
A ruler or anything with a straight edge (for drawing panels)
Napatsi Folger is an Inuk comic artist, fiction, non-fiction, and children's literature writer from Iqaluit, NU. She now lives in Vancouver, BC where she is attending UBC to complete an MFA in the Creative Writing Program. She is a Fellow in the Concordia Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq / Pijariuqsarniq Project. Folger is also a contributing editor for Inuit Art Quarterly, where her comics will be featured as a limited series in 2020. Folger's most recent comic publication is pending release in the Spring 2020 issue of Long Con Magazine. Folger's written work has appeared in Walrus Magazine, Pruitan Magazine, Matrix Magazine, Taddle Creek, Town-Crier, and Word Hoard. Napatsi's first book, Joy of Apex, was published by Inhabit Media in 2011. If you ever meet her and she looks spaced out, she's probably imagining you as a stick figure.