Showing posts with label The Story Museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Story Museum. Show all posts
Wednesday, 16 August 2017
Fantastic comic creating fun with The Etherington Brothers - The Story Museum, Oxford
We got to know their work through The Phoenix and we've steadily collected their own published stuff too (but have loads and loads to catch up on).
We heard they were coming to Oxford, to the fantastic Story Museum for a couple of brilliant comic workshops, letting us into some of their secrets.
Some of you will already know that Robin and Lorenzo host a brilliant interactive show, teaching us would-be comic noobs how to perfect our plots, carve out our characters and mix genres like we're putting 'em in a blender and hitting the 'frappe' button.
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| "The Greatest Comic Making Show on Earth" - Really can't argue with that (oops, took this pic before we were told not to take any pics!) |
- Mixing genres is hilarious fun. Ever seen a romantic comedy with a Zombie in it?
- World building is awesome. Make the world your characters live in as interesting as possible and the stories will practically build themselves.
- Props turn an ordinary everyday character into something a bit more groovy. Think of how cool Harry Potter is, but how doubly cool he is when he's carrying his wand.
- Robin is flipping hilarious, as is Lorenzo. Give those guys their own TV show and it'd be even better than Art Attack (and that's definitely not faint praise!)
We finally got to meet the guys, a real honour and could've spent all day chatting (but figured the rest of the people queueing up for autographs and fantastic drawings might've got a bit peeved!). The guys kindly signed some of our graphic novels and Lorenzo even managed to do an uber-quick sketch of Charlotte's comic crush, Von Doogan. Totally brilliant!
If you're lucky enough to get the chance to see Lorenzo and Robin in action, we'd heartily recommend you do so - in fact if you're doubly lucky and they come to your school, you're in for a heck of a fantastic comic-creatin' time.
Huge, huge thanks guys, you really made our days, so great to meet you both at last!
You can keep up with The Etherington Brothers' comic adventures over on their excellent blog, packed with tutorials, comic tips, awesome art and tons of news about Robin and Lorenzo's publications and events. Go get some! http://theetheringtonbrothers.blogspot.co.uk
Monday, 4 August 2014
Kids making awesome comics - A great launch week and event for Neill Cameron's upcoming "How to make Awesome Comics" (David Fickling Books)
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| A graduate from the awesome comics workshop week receives his certificate from none other than David Fickling himself! |
Just in case you've been living under a meteor for the past few years, Neill has put together some truly stunning stories, both for the DFC (Mo-Bot High) and The Phoenix Comic (Pirates of Pangaea). Who better to host a comic-creation workshop at such a fantastic venue.
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| A truly talented bunch of boys and girls, the genius author-artists and their awesome comic creation |
Once the kids had busied themselves coming up with their strips (special mention to Alistair, who had come up with a brilliant story called Charlie and the Cheese-Hunting Clam - and who talked at length about his brill strips and his love of Bunny vs Monkey), the comic was printed and each child was presented with a copy and a certificate.
David Fickling, publisher of The Phoenix and many fantastic books, made an impassioned (and very loud) rousing speech about the importance of creativity and comics. Along with Neill, children (and their proud parents!) were encouraged to spread the word about The Phoenix Comic, and one rather ace little girl suggested "why stop at earth! Why not make it the best comic in the universe?"
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| Encouraging creativity and fostering a love of comics. David Fickling and Neill Cameron at the launch of "How to Make Awesome Comics" |
I managed to snag a sneaky chat with Neill's lovely mum, who told me that he'd been drawing comics since he was 3 years old - and always had a focused approach to his artistic creations.
It was also great to meet folk from the story museum too, including Alex who let me have a sneaky look around the venue (which is stunning btw) and the 26 Stories Character Exhibition (which is also stunning, and something I really have to take Charlotte along to at some point - she will absolutely LOVE the Narnia wardrobe bit!) As their first workshop, I think it was a roaring success so definitely check out their upcoming programme of events (we are SO going to have to go to the Halloween Corpse talk events with Adam Murphy!)
A great time was had by all, many cupcakes and glasses of squash were consumed, and as I slipped away quietly those kids were still smiling, laughing and chatting animatedly, planning their next comic creations. A fine job well done Mr C and Mr F!
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