From rockets to rainbows.Rockets and rainbows are familiar images which find their way into children's drawings and narratives. This past year, I taught comic bookmaking bookmaking Gambling practice of determining odds and receiving and paying off bets on the outcome of sporting events and other competitions. Horse racing is perhaps most closely associated with bookmaking, but boxing, baseball, football, basketball, and other sports have classes to children in Indiana University's Saturday Art Class program. This experience gave me the unique opportunity to see these familiar images become integrated with students' personal texts. The students' satisfaction in the creation of these personal narratives confirmed for me that comic bookmaking has an important place in a visual arts visual arts npl → artes fpl plásticas visual arts npl → arts mpl plastiques visual arts npl → curriculum. A Mirror to Society The enthusiasm for comics by children has not always been shared by teachers and parents. Education literature of the 1940s presents views of comics as fascist, vicious and as contributing to juvenile delinquency juvenile delinquency, legal term for behavior of children and adolescents that in adults would be judged criminal under law. In the United States, definitions and age limits of juveniles vary, the maximum age being set at 14 years in some states and as high as 21 . A classic study in support of the idea that comic books This is a listing of comic books. See also List of comic creators. Argentina (historieta)
Despite these criticisms, comics and comic books are a significant part of American culture. From its birth at the turn of the century, comics have held up a mirror to society. The greatest comic strips
High Interest Why teach a comic bookmaking project in a visual arts curriculum? Comics successfully capture the imagination of elementary students. As far back as 1909, a German researcher recognized that the picture-story, or visual narrative, was an important art form for children. Studies and observations show that children enjoy looking at and making comics. A 1941 study of children's interest in comic books revealed that both girls and boys like to make original comics; a tendency was clearly shown in fourth through sixth graders. Bookmaking is also a project that elementary students view with enthusiasm. A novel and challenging project, comic bookmaking allows students to create a portable work of art that sets the stage for looking and talking about narrative-art painting traditions. The Visual Narrative No other narrative art form could be more familiar, accessible, or such an integral part of our American culture than comics. An estimated one-hundred million Americans enjoy the comics in daily newspapers, and more than two-hundred million comic books are published every year. Today, there are over 300 comic-book publishers, and 10,000 comic-book titles to choose from. Studying comics as a contemporary narrative art form can develop art skills and a sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour . They can help children to generate their own narratives, utilizing themes of universal appeal. From the beginning, comics have concentrated on adventure and fantasy, thus lending themselves to a storytelling approach. Comics as modern-day narrative have a long tradition in art history stretching back to the merging of image and text in Egyptian hieroglyphics and illuminated manuscripts This is a list of illuminated manuscripts; that is, illustrated or decorated manuscripts. see also List of manuscripts 2nd Century
Warhol , Keith Haring Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was a pre-eminent artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York street culture of the 1980s. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania but grew up in Kutztown and was interested in art from an early age. and graffiti artists transformed narrative painting by incorporating cartoon and television comic images in their works. Some noted twentieth-century painters have also been cartoonists. Franz Kline Noun 1. Franz Kline - United States abstract expressionist painter (1910-1962) Franz Joseph Kline, Kline produced comics as a student; Lionel Feininger produced short-lived strips for the Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune Daily newspaper published in Chicago. The Tribune is one of the leading U.S. newspapers and long has been the dominant voice of the Midwest. Founded in 1847, it was bought in 1855 by six partners, including Joseph Medill (1823–99), who made the paper ; and Philip Guston Philip Guston (July 27, 1913 – June 7, 1980) was a notable painter and printmaker in the New York School, which included many of the Abstract Expressionists, such as Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning. produced comics for the Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Morning daily newspaper. Established in 1881, it was purchased and incorporated in 1884 by Harrison Gray Otis (1837–1917) under The Times-Mirror Co. (the hyphen was later dropped from the name). in the 1930s. Expressing the Humorous Comics in the visual arts curriculum can help students develop their ability to create humorous situations and satirical drawings and text. Humor development parallels social, emotional and cognitive development which means elementary school elementary school: see school. students in grades three through seven arc prime candidates for creating comic books. Children's cartoons reveal that the way students express humor is as individual as their drawing styles. Developing Social Awareness Comic bookmaking is an excellent medium for children to express their concerns about social and political events and issues. Political cartoons can provide debate opportunities, and sensitize sen·si·tize v. To make hypersensitive or reactive to an antigen, such as pollen, especially by repeated exposure. students to existing political and social issues. The stereotyping of ethnic groups in twentieth-century comics can provide opportunities for discussion about oppression and inequities. Students can also learn a great deal about the global portrayal of women through cross-cultural comparisons of images of women in comics. For example, Lynda Barry's comics explore race relations race relations Noun, pl the relations between members of two or more races within a single community race relations npl → relaciones fpl raciales from a working-class perspective, and Sylvia by Nicole Hollander Nicole Hollander (born 1939) is a cartoonist best known for the nationally syndicated newspaper comic strip Sylvia, distributed by Tribune Media Services and appearing in over 80 newspapers. tackles issues of politics and equality. Cathy Guisewite's Cathy expresses the preoccupations of a contemporary career woman, focusing on relationships and self-perception. All of these images can be departures for class discussion, and the creation of student books expressing similar issues and themes. Let's Not Let's Not is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in Boston University Graduate Journal in December 1954. It was written for no payment as a favour to the journal, and later appeared in the collection Buy Jupiter. Forget... We've discussed comics as an important learning tool in developing a sense of humor, and in expressing social and political ideas, but what about art? Yes, it's true that comic bookmaking provides students with opportunities to develop visual art skills. In the comic-bookmaking process, students consider and utilize concepts of design and layout, drawing, figure drawing, shading, patterning, color and perspective and making aesthetic, formal and technical decisions. They incorporate techniques of professional comic-book artists--cross hatching, shifting viewpoints, movement and action, using inventive lettering and frames. They even learn about facing deadlines. Although copying is often considered detrimental to creative development, young artists' drawing abilities become finely honed through copying comic-book figures. Cartoonists also agree: Lynda Barry says that she copied everything, and that's how she learned to draw. Art Speigelman notes that he was interested in satire, and mostly copied from Mad or Cracked. The Lesson In my comic-bookmaking classes at Indiana University, my students ranged in age from seven to twelve, and classes were for eight weeks for two hours every Saturday morning. I provided the students with 9 x 12" (23 x 30 cm) white paper, standard and colored pencils, thin black markers, rulers, triangles and erasers. I asked them to: (1) generate a page of imaginary characters--a number of faces with different emotions; (2) select two or three of these characters and generate a full page of action studies; (3) create a story line in one paragraph using these characters; (4) do a twelve-page layout in pencil; (5) create a cover design and advertisements; and, (6) integrate the story line with the images. Comic-book themes ranged from warfare to relationships--all had a conflict and a resolution. The format allowed students to grapple with to enter into contest with, resolutely and courageously. See also: Grapple social and personal issues, offering a release of emotions. The issues ranged in complexity and insight, but always contained elements of visual and/or conceptual humor. Finished comic books were read by classmates Classmates can refer to either:
The concept that required the most emphasis was sequencing and remaining true to the plot. Craft-personship was also emphasized. Throughout the class sessions we looked at many different comic books and graphic novels which the students and I brought in to compare and contrast for images, styles, plots and techniques. New Innovations Computer graphics programs on the market for the Amiga A personal computer series introduced in 1985 by Commodore. Amigas gained a reputation early on as advanced graphics and multimedia machines, and NewTek's Video Toaster application brought it to the forefront of economical, high-end video editing. and Macintosh help make the medium of comic bookmaking accessible in the classroom. Comic Strip Factory for the Macintosh consists of pre-drawn characters, fonts, backgrounds, balloons and clip-art files. Comic Setter for the Amiga has similar features to the Mac program, and additional features for character development of science fiction and super heroes. Both can assist students in overcoming the initial technical problems of how to set up a format, while providing the freedom to innovate and express themselves humorously and imaginatively. Wrapping Things Up Comic books are effective tools for the development of drawing skills because of their action-filled themes, movement, use of figures and emotional expression. The comic-book format sets the stage for developing humor and imagination, social awareness and expanding students' knowledge of narrative art. The comic book is a concise and portable container for student imagination, humor and personal drama. I believe comic books will continue to play an important role in our culture because of their mass appeal to children and adults, their diversity and complexity, their humor and their world-wide circulation. From rockets to rainbows, comic-book images and narratives can hold up a mirror to our society and our children's lives--to be read and re-read for new meanings. Sheri Klein is a doctoral student and Associate Instructor in Art Education at Indiana University, Bloomington. |
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