It’s all about visuals with kids today, said writing instructor Becky Gill as 10 middle-school-age youngsters created cartoon characters with accentuating commentary Friday morning at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center.
The five-session event, “Comics Crash Course,” was one of several for local youngsters scheduled this summer at the Bowlus.
Gill and noted children’s book illustrator and former Iolan Stephen Gilpin spent mornings this week tutoring the youths in developing characters visually and through dialogue, then set them to telling stories in cartoon panels.
Friday morning was dedicated to final productions; the kids’ creative juices were flowing.
Gill said she was delighted with how well students seized the techniques funneled their way and hoped better written communication skills would surface in conventional classrooms this fall as a result.
“Cartoons are sequential, just like other forms of written communication,” she said.
The sessions emphasised characters: first appearance, then speech, behavior and reactions with other characters.
Students were encouraged to inject their own thoughts and feelings into their creations and show a story through graphics supported by writing, using “a nice, colorful voice to convey thoughts to the reader,” Gill said.
After a week of instruction, students were given a final assignment Friday morning: use a school setting — classroom, hallway, lunchroom or recess area — to develop a plot, with problem and solution.
Gill was particularly pleased that students not only put together their illustrated stories individually but also bounced ideas off one another.
“We didn’t have to spoon-feed them; they were good about sharing with each other what they were doing,” she said.
“That’s a real sign of maturity.”
OTHER youth-oriented programs at the Bowlus include Beginning Band Workshop, under direction of Larry Lillard, which started Monday and will run through next Friday, with students meeting from 8 to 9:30 a.m. each day.
A Summer Youth Art Program starts Monday. The first session runs five days, 8 to 10:30 a.m., for first- through third-grade students; the second session starts July 19 for a week for fourth through eighth graders. The students’ art will be exhibited in the Mary L. Martin Gallery for a week starting July 26.
Summer Drumming Circle starts Monday and will run from 10 a.m. to noon for a week. Students will also perform at 10 a.m. July 17 in the Creitz Recital Hall.
Parents who want to enroll their children in any of the remaining programs may call the Bowlus office at 365-4765 between 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., including Monday morning.
