Paint & Pixel presents the Children’s Comics Workshop, a free month long series of hands on comics-making parties held at 4pm every Thursday in April at Modern Myths in Northampton. The workshop will be conducted by comic artist and Paint & Pixel Education Coordinator Colin Panetta, and designer and WanderMonster co-conspirator Rob Kimmel.

By participating in this program, children will both express themselves and have fun by learning the language of comics. You don’t need to be good at drawing, and all materials will be provided. Attendance to all four workshops is not required- come to just one or all four. This program is aimed at young children, but anyone from ages 5 to 100 can walk in the door and walk back out holding an eight page minicomic they created! For more information, contact Colin at education@paintandpixelfestival.com.

Big thanks to the comics artists, schools, parents, and especially the students who celebrated self-expression with us this year. We were thrilled with the amount of interest and enthusiasm for comics from our community, and we’re looking forward to expanding our efforts in bringing comics to Western Massachusetts in 2013.

EDUCATION GUIDE AND STUDENT TICKETS

This year we provided education guides and free student tickets to education providers as diverse as The Third Place and Frontier Regional, from Turners Falls to Northampton. Additional guides and tickets were provided directly to students and parents.

COMIC BOOK ARTISTS VISIT AREA SCHOOLS

“The students learned a great deal and enjoyed the presentation.  We held a Student Council meeting immediately after the class and one member volunteered to make posters for an upcoming event.  ”I could use what I learned during the cartooning talk!” she exclaimed.  You know you have hit the mark when a student responds like that!”
-Heather Evans
Coordinator/ Teacher, Math and Science Academy

We were lucky enough to have two fantastic comic book artists on deck for this program, and some wonderful institutions that hosted them. DC Comics inker, and Paint & Pixel Featured Guest, Jack Purcell visited two schools, the Graphic Communication students at Smith Vocational and the Animation and Media/Motion Graphics students at UMass Amherst. Both schools’ enthusiasm to talk to Jack was palpable as Jack shared with them his advice for establishing and maintaining a career in the arts.

Bryant Paul Johnson visited Northampton grade school Jackson Street and the Greenfield middle school Math and Science Academy. At Jackson Street, Bryant and I ran a comics workshop similar to our sessions at Modern Myths, and exposed students to a selection of diverse comics. We were both taken aback by the creative energy and level of comics knowlege already present at this wonderful school! At the Math and Science Academy, Bryant held an interactive presentation that covered both the history and formal aspects of comics, and the students’ high level of engagement was evident from their astute questions and comments!

CHILDREN’S COMICS WORKSHOP

“It can be tough for the parent of a kid who thinks in stories and draws all the time to find classes that excite him. Whether a class works or not comes from the energy and engagement of the teachers. The Paint and Pixel Comics Workshop with Colin Panetta and Peggy Twardowski was rich with both. They drenched the kids with enthusiasm and encouragement.”
-Rob Kimmel
Awesome dad

Every Thursday in October, we held an hour long Children’s Comics Workshop at Northampton comic book store Modern Myths. We were overwhelmed with the response to this program, from both the enthusiasm of the participants and the high attendance numbers. Comics are a natural, intuitive language for people of any age, but especially for children. We found that by providing a space and time for children to create comics, they take to it instantly. Participants were provided with materials and guidance to create a complete eight page minicomic in each section. Anyone who was initially hesitant about their art or creativity skills left the session with work they were proud of, and we heard many reports from parents of kids continuing their comics stories outside of the workshop.

We’re currently planning another month of workshops for early 2013.

“My kids and I had a wonderful afternoon – thank you for creating such a special event!”"

We are deeply thankful to sponsors, featured guests, exhibiting artists, panelists, participating schools and students, and volunteers for their support!

Show attendance increased over last year’s and we even doubled the kids attendance!

Even though this year was the show’s second year, it felt like we hit our stride:

• We had nearly 10 artists debut books at the festival! And nearly another ten exhibiting artists who gave portfolio reviews to aspiring artists.
• We expanded our outreach to include a half-dozen classroom visits by professional illustrators Bryant P. Johnson and Jack Purcell
• Offered five hours of programming at the festival with topical panels covering artists’ tools, art demonstration, career tips, and developing/writing content
• Hosted comic-related movie nights at the fabulous private movie club Popcorn Noir in Easthampton, MA
• Partnered with local comic chain Modern Myths for Thursday children’s comic workshops through October; each one full!

“such a wonderful show, and after doing three in a row during Oct, was by huge margins the best. The crowd was art-oreinted, and really there to see the creators and their works- a total opposite to the NYCC…. it’s so important to have a show like this in our area and you are nothing short of heroes for doing it.”

“In all ways its was just a delight- you guys just nailed it and I see this thing growing with each passing year. The panel with Rebecca was super fun and I’ve been getting emails about ever since. Kudos, thanks and congratulations all around.”

“Just wanted to say thanks for a wonderful show this past weekend. Camaraderie and sales were good and all the people at my table seemed to be enjoying themselves. Thanks again and I’ll see you next year!!”

“I had a great time again this year. Another fantastic job by the organizers! Thank You!”

“We had a great time, looking forward to the next one!”

We will be updating our wrap-up on the school outreach when the last classroom visit concludes in early November!

Sarah Adam – Number Buddies

This book is based on the author’s own experiences with learning how to write the numbers as a kid. With as many counting books available, this coloring book gives life to the numbers themselves and properly introduces the numbers before the adventures (or terrors) of arithmetic.  

Lisa Cavalear – Society’s Ills

Marshall Couture aka PlexHop – GLYF and the Monster Munch Mystery

Mark Masztal & John Rovnak – Panel to Panel: Exploring Words & Pictures

Other contributors include: Mort Todd, Jean Depelley, Reed Man, Fr. Chris Kulig, and Mark Masztal. Cover Art by Mark Martin.  

Gregery Miller – Vimshaw

Mary Nadeau – The Giant and The Fly

Ben Prager – Ash Storm: Episodes One through Five

Kevin Slattery – A Place I Don’t Belong

Gary Smith – Doe-Nild and Tales of J’lleen

Betsey Swardlink – FAILWOLVES #7: “Shoot The Room”

Paige “Rampaige” Halsey Warren – Busty Girl Comics Volume 2

11:00 AM – “Ink with a Brush and Paint a Pixel”

There are a lot of tools available to make your comics. Some of these tools might seem intimidating, but they’re actually really easy to learn, and could help take your comics to the next level. The Center for Cartoon Studies students Sophie Goldstein, Laurel Leake, and Sasha Steinberg will show you how to use lettering tools, ink with a brush, and digitally draw comics. Arm your cartoonist toolbox, learn a few more tricks!

1:00 PM – “Juggling Tastes, Pushing Boundaries”

Art can amuse and entertain, but also shock and offend. One person’s trenchant social commentary or moving tale of human drama is another person’s obscenity or insult. We’ll look at some of the issues with pioneering gay cartoonist Howard Cruse, Air Pirates creator Gary Hallgren, editorial cartoonist E.J. Barnes, and former director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Susan Alston.

2:00 PM -  Art demo by Scholastics and mecha-extraordinaire artist David White

3:00 PM -  “Making A Career Making Art”

It’s not easy to make living as an artist, but it is possible. Our panelists will talk about some of the different ways to do it, and some advice on making your own way. With Jack Purcell (teacher and inker for DC Comics), Rafael Anzovin (computer animator, owner of Anzovin Studios), Sarah Platanitis (journalist), and Colin Tedford (Trees & Hills Comics Group).

4:00 PM – “Stories For Everyone”

Who is the story for and how do you tell it to them? Horror or humor, kid friendly or adults only, daily strip or original graphic novel? A story is more than just a series of events strung together in a narrative; it’s a matter of tone and emphasis, and the way you present it and the audience you have in mind shapes it as much as the plot. Featuring Greg Ruth (Conan Born on the  Battlefield, Freaks of the Heartland) and Rebecca Guay (Last Dragon, Flight Of Angels, Black Orchid) in aesthetic “gladiatorial battle”.

• George Amaru
• E.J. Barnes
• Susan Houldin
• Gregery Miller
• Greg Ruth
• Gary Smith
• Brett Swanson
• Paige “Rampaige” Halsey Warren
• David White

All portfolio reviews are conducted at the discretion of the exhibitor at their table and will be highlighted on the exhibitor floorplan.

Visit our Facebook event page.

Paint & Pixel presents the Children’s Comics Workshop, a free month long series of hands on comics-making parties held at 4pm every Thursday in October at Modern Myths in Northampton and conducted by comic artist and Paint & Pixel Education Coordinator, Colin Panetta.

By participating in this program, children will learn to both express themselves and have fun by learning the language of comics. You don’t need to be good at drawing, and all materials will be provided. Attendance to all four workshops is not required- come to just one or all four. This program is aimed at young children, but anyone from ages 5 to 100 can walk in the door and walk back out holding an eight page minicomic they created! For more information, contact Colin at education@paintandpixelfestival.com.

Paint & Pixel Festival is hosting  its second comic book movie at the fabulous Popcorn Noir movie club in Easthampton, MA! Due to licensing agreement, Popcorn Noir cannot market the title of the movie to the public, only to its movie club members, but here’s a clue to what you’ll see:

“why are there so many songs about rainbows”
“bear left!  right frog”
a used car that cost $11.95

Local comic shop Modern Myths will be giving out a free comic issue from the current comic series to each movie attendee!

LIMITED SEATING

- Paint & Pixel has 8 reserved seats, let us know if you want to be one of them! (You must arrive no later than 10 minutes before start time to claim your seat).
- All other attendees must be members of Popcorn Noir or accompanied by a member. Membership is only $10/year to attend all movies, free!
- Only Popcorn VIP members ($25/yr.) can make additional reservations beyond our 8. Otherwise, if you become a regular member without a reservation, there are always some seats up fro grabs first-come, first-served. Check-in/seating begins 45 minutes in advance in the Lobby.

Popcorn Noir
32 Cottage Street
Easthampton, MA 01027
[Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/KGydB]

More information on our FB Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/479193488778572/.