Chris Riddell’s chosen quest as the new Children’s Laureate is to encourage children to draw – and to keep them drawing! One of the best ways to get children hooked on drawing is to get them making their own comics. Hannah Sackett looks at the advice and inspiration available, and at examples of children and young people who are establishing themselves as cartoonists.
Cartoonists Neill Cameron and Sarah McIntyre have both been advocates for children creating their own cartoons. Asked why children should make comics, Neill Cameron says: ‘I think making comics is, frankly, one of the best things kids can do. It combines all the fun and imagination of making up stories, with all the creativity and expression of drawing, and is a form that is uniquely open to people of all ages and ability levels. If you haven’t quite got the hang of writing yet: you can tell a story using comics. If you’re not very confident in your drawing: you can still tell a story using comics. Basically, if you can draw a stick figure, you can make comics. And if you can’t draw a stick figure, you can learn how in about seven seconds.’ Cameron has published a book on making comics, and has also created a large number of resources for budding cartoonists which can be found on The Phoenix website. He has also run a comic club at The Story Museum in Oxford, and argued for the power of comics in teaching literacy skills.
Sarah McIntyre, meanwhile, has created a series of brilliant videos for Booktrust on how to draw characters, create comics and run a comics jam. She also has a guide on how to run a school comic fair:
The colourful pages of readers’ comics and artwork published in The Phoenix and The Beano every week show that many children are already accomplished cartoonists. Some young artists take their dedication to story-telling further – creating their own comics to sell to friends, at school, in comic stores, at comic conventions and online.
14 year-old cartoonist Zoom Rockman started drawing comics six years ago, when he bought a box of old Beanos at a car boot sale. Now he has his own comic strip (Skanky Pigeon) in The Beano, and publishes his own comic The Zoom.
Self-published or ‘Small Press’ comics by young cartoonists have been popping up at conventions and in independent comic stores. Last year’s Thought Bubble – the annual Comic Art Festival held in Leeds – included comics by young creators Johnny Toons (cartoonist behind The Crystal Orb), Jordan Vigay (creator of The Red Crow) and the comic collective Pink Fluffy Ketchup Covered Flower Ponies (or Team Ketchup for short).
But children don’t need to print large numbers of comics to get their work seen. Widcombe Junior School’s Library Newsletter, sent out once a term as a PDF, features comics by several children at the school. Year 5 pupil, Matty has been making comics for the newsletter for the past two years. Her cat-girl characters, influenced by Japanese anime, have encouraged other children at school to make their own comics. Book Week, school fairs and comic clubs have also provided children at Widcombe with the chance to draw their own cartoons.
So, with the summer holidays stretching before us, maybe now is the time for more children to get drawing comics and start sharing their own stories.
Advice for children who want to make their own comics
Zoom Rockman says ‘A lot of people think about making comics but never actually get round to doing anything. My advice would be to just do it. When you start something try and fill a whole page even if it’s just a pencil rough – you can ink in details later. It’s a real boost to get a whole page finished and it only takes 10 – 20 pages to have a whole comic ready to print out.’
Matty of Nimbus Comics says, ‘Don’t be embarrassed about how you draw. I used to worry if my character’s noses were right or their feet were too big. You can get ideas from other comics, but don’t just copy them. Make your own stories. Go Crazy! Comics don’t need to follow strict rules. You could make a comic about a talking jelly or a spider that turns into a marshmallow.’
Neill Cameron says
Books to help you draw your own comics!
How to Make Awesome Comics, Neill Cameron, David Fickling Books, 978-1910200032, £6.99
Write and Draw Your Own Comics, Louie Stowell et al., Usborne, 978-1409564256, £9.99
Let’s Make Comics!, Robin Etherington and Zak Simmonds-Hurn, Oxford University Press, 978-0198308195, £5.80
The Blank Comic Book Panelbook, About Comics, 978-1936404391, £5.75
Check out these comics by Young Cartoonists
The Red Crow by Jordan Vigay
The Crystal Orb by Jonny Toons
The Zoom by Zoom Rockman
Comic conventions, workshops and competitions:
The Cartoon Museum in London runs children’s workshops all year round, and has an inspiring range of workshops lined up for this summer
The Thought Bubble Comic Art Competition has a category for 12-17 year olds. The entries go on display as part of the festival, while winners have their entry published in an annual charity anthology that’s sold in comic shops all over the world (the deadline for entries is 9th October, 2015). The Thought Bubble convention takes place in Leeds, November 14th and 15th 2015 and has free entry for under-12s.
The Lakes International Comics Art Festival runs from 16th 18th October 2015, and has an excellent range of activities and workshops for children and families
The Phoenix Comic Festival is held every May at The Story Museum in Oxford
Hannah Sackett works part-time as school librarian at Widcombe Junior School, Bath, where she runs an after-school comic club. She also works as a freelance educator.