1/29/12 - Bob McLeod Comic Art Workshop Coming in March

(Revised 3/24/12)
3/24/12 -Last day of discounted registration - you will need to come the Lexington Comic & Toy Convention at the Lexington Convention Center, Heritage Hall East to pre-register ($45). The CCG will be setup at table #131 surrounded by good friends RD Hall, Mark Kidwell, Comic Related , and  A+Comics! Come by and see us while you're at the show! The CCG did early setup on Friday evening and I was amazed at how good the show looks! Kudo's to Jarrod Greer & gang on putting together an amazing first year comic con here in Lexington!

The CCG will be hosting veteran comic artist, children's book author and illustrator, magazine editor, and art educator Bob McLeod for a day of comic art instruction on Sunday March 25th, 2012 here in Lexington! The workshop will have two sessions: storytelling and inking. Those who pre-register will receive a packet of instructional information as well as a couple of sample scripts to create sample comic pages from. Pre-register and save on a single session ($25) or get both morning and afternoon ($45). At the door registration will be $30 per session or $60 for the day

Online flier: (added 3/14/12)

Bob McLeod: Visual Storytelling and Inking

Sunday March 25^th, 2012 

ArtsPlace*, 161 North Mill Street, Lexington KY 40507

Join us for a rare local learning opportunity. Bob McLeod is a veteran comic book artist working for Marvel and DC comics. He has edited the comic art magazine Rough Stuff, authored and illustrated a children’s book, and teaches art at the college level. Given Bob’s significant experience and prominent art and teaching skills this will be of interest to novice as well as experienced comic artists/cartoonists!

This workshop will have two segments – you can choose one or both

9:00 -9:30        Check in and late registration.

9:30 -12:30      Morning session – Visual Storytelling

Learn about layout of the page, pacing, clarity and focus. Bring your sample page (get sample scripts and tip sheets beforehand by pre-registering) and get expert advice and feedback from Bob.

12:30-1:45       Lunch

1:45 -2:00        Check in and late registration

2:00 -5:00        Afternoon session - Inking

Learn about line weight, texture, spotting blacks, and creating depth. Learn about the tools and their proper use (get suggested supply list when pre-registering).

Pre-register for $25 single session or attend both morning and afternoon sessions for $45.

Late registration is $30 per session. Pay by cash or check. Class size is limited - sign up now to reserve your spot!

We strongly encourage everyone to pre-register to get the most out of the workshop. Bob has graciously provided learning assets that will get you prepped for a premium learning experience during the workshop time. Registration preference will be given for those attending the full day. Please note, instruction will be tailored to the group at hand and accommodations for late registrants made as possible.

To register or for more information –

Contact us by email:. lexkyccg@gmail.com  or by phone: (859) 276-5528 or on the web:

CCG workshops – www.lexkyccg.blogspot.com

Bob McLeod  - www.bobmcleod.com

ArtsPlace – www.lexarts.com  *Workshop facilities generously provided by LexArts.

Suggested art supplies (added 3/14/12)

Essential:

¨     11" x 17" 2-ply 300-500 (400 recommended for inking) series Strathmore paper. Pre-lined paper is available from several places. The good stuff is well worth the price.

¨     pencil

¨     large white eraser

¨     18" ruler

¨     india ink,

¨     good quality brush (Raphael 8404 , size #2 or #3 recommended) a good brush is well worth the price

¨     pen nib and holder (Hunt 102 is the standard)

¨     rapidograph,

Optional, but handy to have: (all of these should have a raised inking edge)

¨     ellipse guides

¨     french curves

¨     T-squares

¨     triangles 

Brush Review (Added 3/19/12) - Here is a link to a web page by Mike Crowell that discusses the quality and characteristics of five popular brushes for inking - very helpful when you are making a $15-25 purchase!

Early registration is highly encouraged. Space is limited and you will get a richer learning experience if you have had time to work with the instructional packet and create sample pages from the scripts. Anyone interested in attending or wanting to learn more should contact the CCG Coordinator  (email: lexkyccg@gmail.com).

09/26/09 Back to School Special Meeting/Workshop Sunday

Tomorrow we will having our annual "Back to School Special" Meeting/Workshop at the Beaumont Branch Library. This meeting is our annual recruitment drive also - so you regulars: please bring that friend who you have been meaning to tell about our little group! New folks: bring samples of your work to share and get input from fellow comic creators, illustrators and animators.

It should be an exciting meeting, our special guest speaker and instructor will be Fran Riddell. Fran will be talking about her training and experiences as a caricature artist and give an introductory lesson to the group. Fran, besides teaching art full time at a local parochial school, is in great demand by groups and agencies for her skill at caricature. It is encouraging to hear her reports that her part-time vocation is in great demand and should serve as encouragement for many visual artists out there that there are still ways to make a living following their passion and creating art.

05/05/09 - Educational Opportunities

Some comic/cartooning educational opportunities coming up this month (don't wait to check this out as these classes will fill quickly!).

School of Visual Arts (SVU) instructors and authors of Writing Pictures and Drawing Words, Matt Madden and Jessica Abel will lead a two week Summer Intensive Comics Seminar at SVU in NYC:
http://mattmadden.blogspot.com/2009/05/pre-mocca-art-festival-class-summer.html

Matt is a good teacher (I attended his one-day workshop at OSU's Wexner Center last summer) and can help you get through the inertia often stymieing a new cartoonist. Some additional info taken from Matt's blog:

Starting the day after Memorial Day, Jessica and I are offering an intensive 2-week class at SVA, the goal of which is to learn how to make comics by writing, drawing, and printing a minicomic in time for the MoCCA Art Festival the weekend of June 6-7. We'll teach in the mornings and afternoons will alternate between open studio time and visits from a group of stellar guest cartoonists: David Mazzucchelli, Becky Cloonan, Tom Hart, Gary Panter, and Kim Deitch! Each will have a three hour session that will be a combination workshop/craft talk/crit.

The roster's filling up fast so sign up sooner rather than later. Info below, registration info here.


If you can't travel to New York then this may be for you: Bobby Chiu's Schoolism is offering a "Build a Powerful Comic Book Portfolio" online course taught by Alvin Lee:
https://www.schoolism.com/
Click on the sample video link to see and hear Alvin critiquing a students work. There are two tuition rates: you can get reduced rate if you opt out of instructor feedback. This "self taught" option saves you more than half the cost of the regular rate!

9/30/07 - "Back to School Special " Meeting/Workshop Today!

Today we are having our "Back to School Special" Meeting/Workshop at the Beaumont Branch Library here in Lexington. Hopefully everyone knows to watch our CCG Calendar for keeping track of our events and regional comic/illustration/animation events.

This is a special meeting because we are actively recruiting new members who are new or returning to the area for college, high school or middle school. We will have some small door prizes and may have a raffle for some bigger items. All proceeds will go toward operating expenses or for future expenses. So don't wait, come on down and join the fun! This will be a great time for checking us out or joining in!

6/30/07 - May Workshop Pages

These pages were created as part of an exercise we did during the May CCG Meeting/Workshop at the Tates Creek Branch of the Lexington Public Library.

While the pages are a bit rough around the edges it was fun to churn out something so quickly. It was also a hoot to play off the creativity of the the other cartoonists. I think we all agreed that this was something we should keep up. The basic exercise is a variation of the "Quanto Comics" one Scott McCloud suggests in his book Making Comics, chapter one.

5/30/07 - Graphic Novel Seminar This Saturday

Lexington multi-media artist Sara Turner and her Make Like A Tree Comics partner Jerzy Drozd will putting on a short seminar this Saturday (see below) at the Carnegie Center in downtown Lexington. Below is the description from their course catalog.


saturday seminars
Storytelling Through Graphic Novels
Saturday, June 2 10:00-noon
Explore comics as a visual language and understand all the aspects that comprise the graphic novel. Learn and practice some of the techniques that can set comics apart from other long-form storytelling media such as prose and film. Short scenarios will be created and translated to comic form; the participation by all will prove the multitude of ways in which a single idea can tell a story effectively and visually. Young adults welcome! $25 Sara Turner and Jerzy Drozd


There is a cap on the class so call or visit them ASAP to assure your place.

The Carnegie Center
for Literacy and Learning
251 West Second Street
Lexington, Kentucky 40507
(859) 254-4175

12/04/06 - Scott McCloud Making Comics Book Tour

UPDATE (1/15/07): Looks like it will be this fall for our chance to host Mr. McCloud. Still need help pulling this off - we need to be working now to make this fall a reality!

Sequential Narrative Guru, Scott McCloud, is making a 50-State tour to promote his latest book: Making Comics. Visit his site to see his itinerary. McCloud is responsible for coining the term "24-Hour Comic" and has been a vocal proponent of the web comic.

He is scheduled to be passing through our region in March/April; I am working fervently to find a local host/venue for him to talk or even possibly instruct.

Please contact me if you have any ideas or can offer any assistance.

11/26/06 Digital Illustration Links & Events

Guys, here's a little doodle to get you in the Christmas Spirit (women visitors are encouraged to post a link for their hot Santa).

Did not get to go to MOC (see previous post), home sick today ;-(

But here are some links some of you may find interesting. I have talked about the Gnomon Workshop videos before, they are based out in California and really work to support the movie and television production industry out there. Well I have found some other folks in that same market who have some nice sites with really good tutorials (no videos or DVDs yet). Conceptart.org is hosting the Insomania workshop and seem to be physically centered in the San Francisco area. I know of at least one CCG member who is a big Jason Chan (lately of Imagine FX magazine fame) fan, he seems to be a prominent member in this online community. Some great content there, but hard to navigate all the forum posts to know what's happening! Massive Black is a large studio for concept artists and they apparently are on the brink of releasing some video instruction and also have info about a workshop they host/hosted in June (I checked my calendar and think this is a past event - but they were too cool to put the year anywhere on their site!).