HeroesCon and Workshops

My second year of exhibiting at the popular HeroesCon (comic convention) in Charlotte was as thrilling as the first. I was set up nearby the talented Kids Love Comics creators; among them- "Amelia Rules" artist Jimmy Gownley, who recently signed with Simon and Schuster; Ray Friesen with his wacky collection of books about pirates and penguins, and ninja chickens! Also, Scott Sava- of The Dreamland Chronicles fame. Acredale and Wild Lion creator Harold Buchholz, a publishing genius- no kidding- was in attendance as well. This group of all-ages comics creators has been a great source of guidance and support for me personally, and I've got some "homework assignments" to take care of if I want to get to their level. I also had the opportunity to sit in on a "Kids Love Comics" panel with these guys; just a fun bunch of creative souls with a common interest of bringing good comics to kids. The session focused on the state of the market for all-ages books, the goals of the non-profit group 'Kids Love Comics", founded by Jimmy and Harold, and explored the different paths we are all taking to get our books into the hands of young readers.
Next to me in the picture (taken by HeroesCon "go-to guy" Dustin Harbin) is a group of talented student artists who drove down from Detroit. Ahhh- to be young again; as these brave souls camped out during their stay! Why brave? It was VERY hot and humid here in the Queen City, even into the night time, but these guys appeared each morning refreshed and were ready to tackle the world and peddle their artwork! Some "locals" exhibiting at HeroesCon were Tommy Davidson, Derek and Nikki Davis of Bitter Tea Studios, Al Bigley, Andy Smith, Marcus Hamilton (Dennis the Menace) and Jim Scancarelli (Gasoline Alley).
Following 3 full days in the convention center, I headed north to Alexander County for some library programs on Monday. A "making comics" workshop for kids 8 and up yielded some hysterical full page comics. "Mike the Monster", Molly the dancing Dog" and "Stick the Potato" were just a few of the wild and wacky creations turned out by this room full of budding comic artists! Tuesday saw another room full of young cartoonists at the Gaston County Museum of Art and History in Dallas, NC. A morning comics workshop saw the creation of such characters as "Dave the Couch Potato and Rambo", a Snowman on a mission to the Sun (Gasp!), and an assortment of space aliens. Most kids who want to draw comics don't need much guidance in terms of creating their comics. Once I give them the tools, they become silent soldiers of comic creation! I can walk by and look over their shoulders; but they have definite ideas about what they are creating, and most times don't even look up from their paper. It is simply a blast to observe!

Public Library- Comics Mini Con

Last Thursday, I was one of a dozen or so invited guest artists for a comics mini-con held at the Union West Regional Library in Indian Trail, North Carolina. Children's librarian and himself an artist- John Tompkins organized this extravaganza, and it was huge! John did a great job putting this event together, and his efforts resulted in a swarm of comics-hungry kids and parents- over 300 attended! The kids were very excited as they went from table to table asking for artist's autographs and watching over our shoulders as we sketched characters. I was surrounded by tons of talented artists, all of whom live in the greater Char-Meck area; I was seated at a table with Marcus Hamilton, artist of "Dennis the Menace" panels from Mon-Sat. in the newspapers. It was thrilling to hear him talk to his fans about how he got one of the best jobs on the planet some 16 years ago; training with Dennis creator Hank Ketcham, and eventually taking over the duties shared with Sunday panel artist Ron Ferdinand. I say "trained" to draw Dennis- only to draw it the way Hank wanted; but make no mistake- Marcus had a successful career as an accomplished fine illustrator prior to becoming Dennis cartoonist. I also met the very kind Derek and Nikki Davis of Bitter TEA Studios. Check out their online strips and books- "T.E.A. The Ered Adventures", with new posts on Mondays and Fridays. On display throughout the children's section was one of the largest collections of graphic novels and "how to draw comics" books I think I've ever seen in a library of that size. Al Bigley and Andy Smith are two artists who offer "how-to-draw" books- you need to check them out! John holds a monthly cartooning club for kids at his branch, and he's developed a good following of readers-most of them boys from what I witnessed- who enjoy this art form. He also saw a spike in his Summer Reading program sign ups during the event; way to go John! In the picture above, I am standing with Alex, a new fan of Hamster Sam. He purchased a copy of the book and promptly ran over to a cozy chair against the wall and read it from cover to cover. A great time was had by all!

Hamster Sam meets Goofy!

Last week I had the extreme pleasure of meeting a very talented voice actor named Bill Farmer, THEE voice of Disney's "Goofy"! Bill was in town courtesy of our local school's PTA, all arranged by a local school teacher- Kris Thompson- who grew up with Bill in Kansas. In addition to lending his voice to Goofy, he provides the official "barking" duties for Pluto, and countless other character voices. He is a phenomenal talent, and during several school performances, he wowed the crowds with his arsenal of endless animated characters and celebrity impressions. Of course, I was in my glory; because growing up, I had always enjoyed the voice work of animated Saturday morning fare; and often practiced my impressions of Mel Blanc(Bugs Bunny etc...) Paul Winchell(Tigger and others) Bill Scott (Bullwinkle) and the Hanna Barbera duo of Daws Butler and Don Messick. During my run as a touring puppeteer with the Grey Seal Puppets, I performed 9 different character voices, but not at the level of Bill's work I promise you. Interestingly, I discovered that Bill and I shared some common history; beginning with the fact that my mom's family hailed from a small town in Kansas not far from the one Bill grew up in...We both studied Radio and Television in college; and Bill was also a puppeteer for a Mark Wilson touring puppet production!
I found Bill to be a very down to earth individual, and though he works with many of Hollywood's biggest stars- he is very humble and personable. I was very fortunate to have been invited to lunch with he and Kris. I was thrilled to talk to him about his working with some of the biggest names in cartoon show business history. In fact, Bill told me he took voice acting lessons from none other than Daws Butler himself. How cool is that? In addition to his voice work, Bill and his wife run a documentary film making company in California, and so Bill is quite a busy man. I will treasure my time spent with him, and perhaps he'll come back and visit again, and we can bring him to your school or event! And don't think it hasn't crossed my mind that if Hamster Sam ever went "animated" for TV, how cool it would be if Bill Farmer could provide his voice!
SAD NEWS:
Sadly, during his visit to the Carolinas, Bill had to try and deal with the unexpected passing of Wayne Allwine; close friend and voice of Mickey Mouse. What makes this more difficult is that Mr. Allwine was married to Russi Taylor; the voice of Minnie Mouse. These voice actors are like one big family; and my heart goes out to all of them with this tragic loss, and I only hope that along with time; that future recording sessions will bring healing through happy memories and the joyful sounds of Disney's wonderful character voices.

Eli Whitney spotted in NYC!

It's true! During a recent visit to NYC for the really cool Kids Comic Con (more about that in a minute) I spotted 'ol Eli Whitney himself...well, sort of. Kids Comic Con was being held on the campus of Bronx Community College, home of this country's first Hall of Fame, The Hall of Fame for Great Americans- which includes a bust of Eli Whitney himself. He is right next to Alexander Graham Bell in this unique display of bronze busts mounted inside beautiful arches. Visit this site for more info about the Hall of Fame: http://www.bcc.cuny.edu/hallofFame/
I snapped some pictures as you can see here; but had to hurry in to set up my table for the 3rd annual Kids Comic Con- http://kidscomiccon.com/
The day-long event featured a host of All-Ages comics creators, publishers, and lots of kids! It is nice to see an event that focuses on comics for KIDS. The only people wearing spandex at this event were...KIDS! I met many great folks who became instant fans of Hamster Sam, and I handed out lots of free "Hamster Samplers", a 2-page preview of the book. Kudos to event organizer Alex Simmons, Archie comics writer/playwrite/man of many talents. Check out their website to see what you missed. I also enjoyed meeting other creators, writers and artists; and traded books with them. Among them were Marc Tauss, who created "Superhero", a beautifully designed book from Scholastic featuring photographic image treatments composited with miniature models, and coincidentally featured- Time Travel! He and I compared notes on how our time traveling machines were powered. Isn't it fun when science and comics collide? Then there was Mark Mariano, creator of "Happyloo", a collection of cute stories featuring colorful characters who communicate through "icons", similar to Andy Runton's 'Owly'. His book also features educational pages after each story. Fiona Robinson was a pleasure to meet as well; her book "The 3-2-3 Detective Agency" from Amulet Books is a cleverly written tale about a group of animals who meet on a train and form a detective agency. Great characters, whimsical illustration style and funny dialogue...and she and I share something in common as well...we both have a rodent character who does good deeds in our stories! Writing and creating comics is often times a solitary affair; and to suddenly be put in a room full of so many talented people who share the common goal of making readers out of kids through comics- was such a thrill!

Joseph Beth Books Event

This past Saturday was a perfect day to be indoors; it was unusually cold & rainy. But inside at Joseph Beth Books in Charlotte, groups of young cartoonists were heating things up at the drawing board! Family Fun Day is an annual event at this gem of a bookstore near the Southpark Mall, and tons of parents and kids came out to enjoy the activities. I held cartooning demonstrations and signed books during the event, and in the pictures you can see some future cartoonists hard at work! Among them, to my left; were brother and sister Max and Sophie, who seemed to enjoy drawing Miles the inchworm. Their dad Steve is a talented cartoonist in his own right, and he took these pictures- thanks Steve! It was great to see Steve and meet his wife and children, if for no other reason than to verify that artists like us can actually have normal families! :) Many thanks to marketing manager Caroline Crownover, who organized the event; and to children's manager Julie Foster for bringing Hamster Sam to the shelves of Joseph Beth!

Conference & Wren Elementary visit

This past week I was a presenter at the state conference for school librarians (SCASL) in Greenville, SC. I had a blast in my session with a group of media specialists; demonstrating how to draw cartoons and discussing ways to incorporate comics into the classroom. I also had a nice visit in the exhibit hall with the always cheerful and ever-helpful Randa Edmunds and her husband & genuine nice guy Sam. Sam even joined us in our cartooning and comics session; and he had so much fun, I think he just may be inspired to create his own book!



But the coolest part of the whole day was my visit to Barbara Wagher's 4th grade social studies class at nearby Wren Elementary School! Barbara Wagher had attended my "Hamster Sam: Using comics to bring SC Standards to Life" Teacher Workshop last summer, and has really put the principles into motion in her classroom. As Hamster Sam puts it- she "Thinks outside the cage!" Her students and Team Teacher Kim Brock's students had recently created comics that told various stories of the American Revolution, including that of George Washington's crossing of the Delaware, and the Battle of Bunker Hill. You can see in the photo, that the wall outside of her classroom is filled with 54 students' works. I was thrilled when a few of the students were able to take some time and share their comics with me personally! They were so proud of their work; and they should be- They used great storytelling elements such as narration boxes, dialogue balloons, sound effects and one young girl even incorporated primary source images into her comic- Fantastic!!! I wish I could showcase all of their artwork here; but here are just a few of the wonderful comics that I got to enjoy(sorry- a bit fuzzy). I could tell right away that they knew the material; they were very familiar with the history that they spoke of as they talked me through each panel of their comics. This just validates for me that comics can be a great tool for learning. After our group photo, they presented me with a very thoughtful gift and a very sweet handcrafted Hamster Sam 'Thank you' card for stopping by. I was very impressed with Wren Elementary; these students demonstrated great manners, asked very good questions, listened well and couldn't have been nicer! I hope they keep drawing, writing and creating comics, and I am very thankful for their hospitality.

Artist in Residence

I have just returned from a 3-day residency at a Middle-High School south of Orangeburg, SC, where I worked in the art classroom to teach drawing cartoons and creating comics. I introduced them to drawing and creating characters by starting out with simple shapes. We discussed writing as an important part of the comics creation process, and worked through some writing exercises. The students then created their own characters and developed character sheets, followed by the creation of their own comic strip. Penciling techniques, inking and hand-lettering were introduced and practiced. Even though most middle and high school students are at the age where they don't like to share their ideas out loud with adults, these students; as evidenced by their work; have highly active imaginations, and created some wild characters and story ideas. I had a blast!