Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a hero in a comic book? We have plenty of examples in movies, television, and comics. But what about creating your own hero? Sounds like fun, right?

We are excited to offer a two-week workshop for young artists age 10 and up to create their very own comic book! Sheila Rae Neal, area comic book artist and faculty member at SUNY Polytechnic & Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute/Pratt will help you do just that! No previous hero creation skills or supplies are required. Come in and have some fun!

Learn how to create and draw a character, develop sequential art, and design individual pages. We will be drawing, inking, and making art that looks like real professional comic book pages. Learn illustration techniques to create one page or multiple pages.

Guidelines for printing, methods for coloring, and how to transform artwork into a real printed comic book will be presented. (Actual coloring, printing, and publishing are not part of the class.)

1. November 13 – developing a character, storylines, sketching, sequential frames, and layouts

2. November 20 – inking, digital media, and production

Because we each work at different levels and speeds, results will not be the same for everyone, and a completed comic book is not guaranteed for each participant.

Sheila Rae Neal, M.A., M.F.A., has worked as an artist since 1988, an educator since 2009, and is currently faculty at SUNY Polytechnic, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute/Pratt in Utica (and formerly, Cazenovia College, SUNY Cobleskill, and The Art School). She has earned an MA from Syracuse University, MFA from the University of Hartford, and is working on her Ph.D. Her art has been published all over, including The Press & Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton, New York.

RSVP for this workshop by emailing Curator of Education & Public Engagement Jenna Peterson Riley at jriley@arkellmuseum.org.