Filed under: Events, Fun, Manga | Tags: drawing, events., fun, letraset, London, manga, MCMexpo, things to do, workshops
MCM Expo Letraset Manga School
Come along to the Letraset Manga School at MCM Expo this weekend! I’m running workshops on Body Pose and Movement and Drawing Clothes, on both Saturday and Sunday. All the details are on Letraset’s website.
Filed under: Comics, Events, Fun, News | Tags: children's, city read, cityread, comics, events, fun, London, things to do, workshops
Phew! That was a mammoth month of kids’ comics. Now I’m recovered, here’s a blog post! After a month spent running around to 18 different libraries all across London and meeting hundreds of comics-loving children, I finally completed my run of workshops for CityRead London. So many crazy characters created (with at least one called “Bob” in every group), so many random stories written and drawn!
The idea of London Lives was that after making up a character each, the kids would pick two characters made in the group at random, a random object and a random location, and make a comic strip based on whatever they had. (No looking, and no swapping!)
My example, made with two random characters (Ted Todd the skateboarding student, and undertaker and amateur magician Peter Charles Griffiths) created by my friends, with a football as my random object and a museum as my random location. All objects and locations were inspired by A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks, the book for CityRead London this year.
Workshop in Hounslow, photos courtesy of John from Hounslow Libraries.
Almost all of my workshops were at maximum capacity! It warms the cockles and mussels of my heart to see that so many young people are really engaged with comics, both reading them and making their own.
Children’s finished comic strips at Barbican Library.
A selection of characters made by the participants.
Many thanks to CityRead London for inviting me to run comics workshops again this year, and all the participating libraries and staff! It was brilliant.
And I’ll leave you with a quote from one of the children who took part.
“I loved the workshop! It was terrific! I gained loads of confidence in drawing comics and know about them. I never had such a wonderful experience! If I had a word to describe it: Comic – cool” Abdul age 9
Filed under: Comics, Events, Fun, News | Tags: children's, city read, cityread, comics, Easter, events, fun, London, things to do, workshops
For children 8 – 12 years old. This April, join me for London Lives: Cityread Comics Workshops in libraries all around the capital. Create colourful characters, then see what happens when they meet other peoples’ in the streets, stations and stadiums of London.
Cityread London is a campaign to spread a love of books and reading to the widest possible audience throughout our capital. This year the chosen read is A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks. There are also many other events happening for all ages, so take a look at their website for more.
London Lives Comics Workshops
Please contact individual libraries for details of how to book your place!
Tuesday 2nd April
Newham
Manor Park Library
685-693 Romford Road
E12 5AD
11:00 – 12:30
Dagenham
1 Church Elm Lane,
Dagenham,
RM10 9QS
2:30 – 4pm
Wednesday 3rd April
Barnet
East Barnet Library
85 Brookhill Road,
East Barnet,
EN4 8SG
2:30 – 4pm
Thursday 4th April
Bromley
Bromley Central Library
High Street
Bromley
Kent – BR1 1EX
11:00 – 12:30
Bexley
Bexleyheath Central Library
Townley Road
Bexleyheath
DA6 7HJ
2:30 – 4pm
Friday 5th April
Barnet
Edgware Library
Hale Lane,
Edgware,
HA8 8NN
2:30 – 4pm
Sunday 7th April
Hounslow
Hounslow Library,
Treaty Centre,
High Street,
Hounslow,
TW3 1ES
1:30 – 3pm
Wednesday 10th April
Wandsworth
Southfields Library
300 Wimbledon Park Road
London SW19 6NL
10:30 – 12:00noon
Southwark
Peckham Library,
122 Peckham Hill Street
SE15 5JR
2:30 – 4pm
Thursday 11th April
City of London
Barbican Library
Barbican Centre
Silk St
London
UK
EC2Y 8DS
11 – 12:30
Westminster
Marylebone Library
109-117 Marylebone Road (entrance Gloucester Place)
London NW1 5PS
2:30 – 4pm
Saturday 13th April
Merton
Morden Library
Civic Centre
London Road
SM4 5DX
10:30 – 12noon
Brent
Kingsbury Library Plus
522 – 524 Kingsbury Road
Kingsbury
NW9 9HE
2:30 – 4pm
Tuesday 16th April
Hammersmith and Fulham
Hammersmith Library
Shepherds Bush Road
London
W6 7AT
4:00 – 5:30pm
Thursday 18th April
Harrow
Wealdstone Library,
The Wealdstone Centre,
38/40 High Street,
Wealdstone,
HA3 7AE
4 – 5:30pm
Thursday 25th April
Havering
Upminster Library,
26 Corbets Tey Road,
Upminster,
RM14 2BB
4:00 – 5:30pm
Saturday 27th April
Hackney
Hackney Central Library
Hackney Technology and Learning Centre
1 Reading Lane
E8 1GQ
10:30 – 12:00noon
Croydon
Central Library,
Katharine Street,
Croydon,
CR9 1ET
2:30 – 4pm
Need to know the date? Like pictures of trees and birdies? Look no further.
You can download an A4 size, print quality version for use in your home, studio, office, garage, shop or garret.
Have a great 2013!
Karen
City Read London is the “World’s Biggest Book Group”, aiming to get everyone in London – yes, everyone! – reading Oliver Twist this April.
8 million people. 1 book. Pick up a copy of Oliver Twist in April and join readers across London in our first Cityread.
On 2 April, across London, thousands of people will pick up a book and start reading together. This is London’s first ever Cityread, and we’re kicking off with Oliver Twist in celebration of Charles Dickens’ 200th birthday.
There are hundreds of events for children, young people and adults taking place in libraries, museums, cinemas and other places in all 33 London boroughs during April. From hip hop to graphic novels, live performances to free cinema, its never been easier to discover Dickens.
I am running “Twisted London”, comic strip workshops for children aged 8 – 12 in libraries across many boroughs of our fine capital, exploring the dark and dirty side of Dickensian London. After discovering more about Oliver Twist’s London, participants will create their own comic strips to take away, and have the opportunity for their work to be featured in an exhibition in the cafe at Foyles’ flagship Charing Cross Road store.
They will be happening from 2nd April 2012, in Greenwich, Bexley, Barnet, Harrow, Islington, Westminster, Hillingdon, Croydon and Camden, as well as part of a special Dodgy Dickens Day at the V&A Museum of Childhood.
Find out more information, including dates, times and contact details at the City Read website.
You can also Like Cityread London on Facebook or follow them on Twitter @cityreadlondon
Twisted London Workshops
2nd April – Woolwich Library
3rd April – Central Library Bexleyheath
3rd April – Welling Library
4th April – Mill Hill Library
5th April – Northolt Leisure Centre Library
10th April – Pinner Library
11th April – East Finchley Library
12th April – Central Library Islington
14th April – Queens Park Library
15th April – Museum of Childhood
19th April – Botwell Green Library
24th April – Thornton Heath Library
Filed under: Fun
The art of Apathy: one of the deadly seven! I found this doodle on a scrap of paper I had squirreled away.
These animal portraits were drawn for con attendees at MCM Expo and Thought Bubble, Autumn 2011:
Friday Lates: evenings of jolly good fun at the V&A, held on the last Friday of every month from 6 o’ clock in the evening. Last year, on the Halloween Friday Late, I ran a drop-in workshop about making Japanese monster lanterns. This Friday, 24th September, I’m contributing artwork to a giant pelmanism-type memory game, along with about a hundred other artists and designers. Participants get to win original artwork, if their remembering skills are up to scratch.
I decided to draw two enormous Caipora’s (the heroine of Urban Beasts), at roughly six times the normal size of my drawings. This was all done without the benefit of “undo” or computer touch-uppery, and features the use of actual screentones, although admittedly in a slightly unorthodox fashion. Come along to the V&A for the chance of winning one, or one of the other giant cards!
Kazmantra's Blog 