Day 2. Ready, set, go.

Today Bernard started the kids off with a 4draw activity. In 4 boxes, draw 4 cats. But the trick is the timing.

Cat #1 you get a minute, Cat #2, 30seconds, Cat #3, 15 seconds. And of course, Cat #4, 5 seconds flat.

Bernard made the point that a cartoon is less about an image, as it is an icon.

And icons have the same power as words. We read, more than merely look at them, and when you bring both together, something powerful can happen.

Lets have a go.

To start, the students were given 3 separate sticky notes and 3 separate cards to draw on.

On the sticky notes, write:

1. A favourite line from a film, book, or TV show.

2. Something that you'd yell out at someone if you were angry at them.

3. A sentence that you have heard today.

I'll let you work out which ones are what. Next, grab a pencil and draw the following as fast as you can.

1. The funniest thing you can think of.

2. The saddest thing you can think of.

3. A cartoon (comic book, animated, or manga) character doing something very everyday.

(no animals were harmed in the making of this class)

Now it is time to assemble the images. Bernard's instructions: Put the text and images together in any combination you want until something happens.

Something like this:

After the students perused each others' work, their cartoons were stuck into their folios.

But making cartoons is only step 1, we are here to make comics.

What is the difference, you ask? Well, take a look at this image.

You might have noticed that this ink on paper drawing,  'Hunting Emu' (1880), by artist Tommy McCrae (1823 - 1901) has something more than mere iconography. There is a distinct separation of images that are none-the-less linked in a relationship.  Lets get Bernard to help us a little more.

The following example from Garry Larson is not a comic. It is comedic, but alas, only a cartoon.

But this one is different.

See--what we need is more than one image, more than an icon or text. We need sequence, we need the space between panels. What we really need, is time.

But that can wait for next week.

Until then,

Travis.