afurnishedsoul

Some memories from my comics workshop at SOS Kinderdorf, Bremen, 20-21 April 2017.

Seven kids (ages 10-12) attended the workshop. We kicked off with some drawing games, gradually slipped into group storytelling (starting with an abstract circle we brought to life, moving on to characters) and ended up creating little A4 comic zines on the second day. The local newspaper also paid us a surprise visit. Clown comic by Alma, created towards the end of the first day!

I really enjoy doing comics workshops. It’s fascinating to see what the kids come up with intuitively, how fast they pick up and incorporate new input and how they progress, individually, in the course of one or two days. It’s so rewarding to return home with a feeling that the kids enjoyed the experience and took pride in their achievements, and that I was able to pass something on.

But it is always a learning process for me, too, and always will be, thankfully. Preparing the workshop, interacting with the kids and discussing questions that come up for them in their own work, really forces me to reflect on my own practice, on drawing and storytelling in general, and allows me to experience different approaches and points of view, and to broaden my own perspective, not just as far as drawing comics is concerned but also on an interpersonal level. I’m really glad that I can have this experience.

I always make sure to bring a broad selection of books, too, so that they can have reading breaks whenever they like. My personal collection of comics is very international, and initially I used to regret not having a wider range of German-language (all ages) comics available. Many of the books I own are in French or English, and I have zines in Dutch, Arabic, Korean,… But I’ve found that the language barrier can actually have a very positive effect, since it leads the kids to engage more intensely with the drawings themselves and pay closer attention to style and visual storytelling. 

Special thanks to Monika and SOS Kinderdorf for the warm welcome and great support!

Pre-production drawings and concept painting by Dorothea Holt Redmond (May 18, 1910 - February 27, 2009) for the films Shadow Of A Doubt (1943) and Gone With The Wind (1939).

Dorothea Holt was an illustrator and production designer. In 1938 she became the first woman to work in motion-picture production design. Apparently, out of resentment, male co-workers demanded that she work in a walled-off area separated from theirs.

Widely considered to be one of the most talented illustrators in the film industry in her day, Dorothea Holt contributed to many legendary film projects, including Gone With The Wind, and is credited with heavily influencing Alfred Hitchcock’s trademark German Expressionist aesthetic.

She later worked for Disney, designing portions of Disneyland and the Walt Disney World Resort. She also did interior designs for the L.A. International Airport and County Museum of Art, and was involved in the designing of the Seattle Space Needle.

In 1940 she married Harry Redmond Jr., himself a respected special effects artist who contributed to such films as King Kong, Last Days Of Pompeii and The Woman In The Window.

Happy birthday, Scharlih! :-)

According to Wikipedia, Karl May (1842-1912) is “one of the best-selling German writers of all time with about 200 million copies worldwide.”

I drew these shortly before my tenth birthday, in April 1992. Scenes from various Karl May movies, depicting Donald Duck versions of some of his main Wild West characters: Old Shatterhand, Winnetou and Old Surehand.

Back then, I was a passionate fan of Karl May (the books, the movies, even the Native American dictionary he used, of which I hold a bound photocopy to this day) and one of my many dreams was to become a writer of Wild West stories just like him. I also wanted to become a Disney cartoonist and bring Winnetou to the Lustiges Taschenbuch series. Obviously :-)

Some memories from the comics workshop at Deutsche Schule Hurghada (Egypt), 2-4 December 2016.

Mohamed and I really enjoyed it! Our fourteen participants (from grades 7 to 10) did so well and were such fun to work with! They created lots of comics (published in a collective zine) and over thirty six-page mini-zines! We celebrated the end of the workshop with a little group exhibition. The most exciting development, to me personally, is that the kids’ work was so inspiring to their peers that comics have since been added to the school’s arts curriculum! :-)

Many thanks to Robert Bosch Stiftung / Goethe Institut, Egypt Comix Week / Sefsafa Publishing, Deutsche Schule Hurghada and CC Red Sea for having us and being such lovely hosts!

On my way to Cairo to meet up with Mohamed Wahba :-) We met in Erlangen this year. Now, six months later, Egypt Comix Week 3 is about to kick off and the two of us are teaming up to run a comics workshop at Deutsche Schule Hurghada. I’m really excited and curious. Whoopdeedoo!! :-)

Links: Mohamed’s Youtube Channel (Live Drawing / Sketchbook)