24 Hour Comic Book Challenge

The Supplies

Here is the supplies to keep the cartoon and comic arts students ticking over for 24 hours. Coffee, Tea sugar and Milk in Abundance as well as 6 litres of Energy drinks 4.5 Litres of Coke. 100 Jaffa Cakes 2 boxes of Celebrations chocolates as well as the health stuff to keep all parents happy, Bananas and Grapes. There are 10 students completing the full 24 Hours but there also seems to be an awful lot who want to come in and draw and keep the teams spirits up! The event starts tomorrow at 10am Saturday 20th October. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I'll be posting or trying to post every hour with stories about the cartoonists and their potential ideas, some examples of their artwork and at the same time I'll also be trying to do my comic book as well. (I'm making my excuses up in case I fail!) But the event is now becoming more real as the hours tick by to the deadline. Stay posted and Join in the Fun...Which is Staffordshire Universitys 1st 24 Hour Comic Book Challenge. 

24 hours

24 Pages! 



24 Hour Comic Challenge

24 Hour Comic Challenge up and running at Staffordshire University

Ok , we've got the names together for the 24 Hour Comic Challenge. Staffordshire Universitys first of, hopefully many. We've tried to keep the numbers manageable and included some 1st Year students to allow they to have the experience of creating their first comic. I believe that we have got quiet a diverse range of talents doing the project and I'm hoping to take part and also blog every hour with what the participants are doing. We've also some supporters or runners helping out, who will go and fetch us food etc from the shops and out lining facilities around the university.

Here are some of the participants.

Verity Hall

Claire Smith

Millie Harrop

Dominiqua Roberts

Thomas Stephens

Jack Baker

Emma Buxton

Michaela Betts

Constance Skerrett

William Keilloh

So stay in touch with the blog and follow the event on Saturday.



24 Hour Comic Day Comes to Staffordshire University

It is official, the management has given it the ok, the students have been sharpening their pencils ready for the first ever launch of the 24  Hour Comic  here at Staffordshire University. The demand from the first time it was quietly whispered in the darkest reams of the Cartoon Studio have all been positive and we are currently inundated with enquirers. 

Starting on Saturday 20th October at 10am all the way through to Sunday 21st October the event will involve the participants drawing from start to finish a 24 page comic. It is hope that we will get these printed and sold at our local International Forbidden Planet shop in Hanley Stoke-on-Trent (Still to be confirmed!)

I'll be posting regularly once we get closer to the event with some of the people taking part in the event. 

Annual Review of the Year

Cartoon & Comic Arts

Annual Monitoring

Comic Book Version

I was recently asked to write the appraisal of the first year of the Cartoon and Comic Arts award. It is quite a long a tedious process without much joy, a lot of long words and a constant effort to justify the academic rigour of such a wonderful course.
I thought afterwards that there must be an easier and more fulfilling way in which to present this information which was condensed and more fun, and also everyone would read, so here is my take on what is without doubt a tireless exercise for award leaders (But a necessary one in case executive or management read this!)

 

New Times and big Moves 

ahead for

Cartoon and Comic Arts

Cartoon and Comic Arts in about to enter its 2nd Year at Staffordshire University and great times are ahead.

Not only is there a new rebranding of the award, with a new improved Captain Staffs or Stanley as the students have named him to a new larger studio and new equipment.

Currently the room is under going work and the equipment has been moved in, Unfortunately everything is getting covered in dust, but we will survive. All this has come about because of the work to build a new entrance to the College Road site to link us up with the Leek Road Campus.

New equipment include Drawing Boards, Guillotine, plan chests, angle poise lamps.The room will also boast 4 Apple Macs and 3 PCs and the course will have access to some Cintq tablets available in a range of computer labs.
SO things are deffinately looking up, so roll on Year 2 of Cartoon & Comic Arts!!



Comic Pop Up Shop

Staffordshire Fringe 2012 Festival

As part of the Fringe Festival I opened a Pop Up Comic Art shop where students could sell their work to the public. The shop opened up on the same day as the 3rd Year Art & Design Show and we had a huge interest from the public and other students coming into the shop to browse, look at student work which decorated the area and also buy their comics.

Above is a view of some of the comic books on sale in the shop. The most expensive being £2.50. Below is some of the best sellers.

As well as the shop we had some visiting Alumni who left the university and where making their way in the world.

Above, Jamie Bakewell reads an article about himself and his recent contribution to the animation awards, when he did a guest lecture having completed working for Aardman on their feature film "Pirates" and also doing the Pre-Viz for "The Fast & The Furious"

In the comic Shop we allowed budding Artist to show off their skills. They had to draw a picture of a film they had recently seen or in Jamie's case, worked on. Having just finished working on the New James Bond Film "SkyFall" he opted for this picture. He is a talented artist in his own right....honest!

Another visiting Alumni was Liam Wardle who works for the National Space Centre in Leicester.

Just to show that Comics and cartoons transcend a whole host of people here are a few who entered the their work in the Cartoon Shop.

Becky is a soon to be new intake for the Cartoon and Comic Arts Award At Staffordshire University

A current Cartoon and Comic Arts Student Dom shows off her skills!

Emily Peacock and illustration student who has a keen love for comics and films.

Dom's mum has a go too!

Matt Garbutt local artist and recently graduated 2D Artist shows off his work. Matt already does his own Comics on website, a true talent and a name to look out for in the future.

Finally Local Artist and 3D expert Chris Horne, use to be an illustrator but took up 3D with great success shows off his Alien Skills.

Degree Show at Staffordshire University

Well the degree show finally opened last Friday and the animation award has may excellent short films on offer. If you get a chance pop in and see the show reel in the Henerion building along College Road Stoke.

The standard of work is excellent this year and it ranges from Stop Motion to CGI to traditional drawn animations.

To mark the event and signal the end of the animation room on the ground floor the students under the wing of Woody Woodmass got together to paint this mural on the wall. It will be torn down next week starting on Tuesday 26th June as the university builds a new entrance into the building. So you only have a short time to see it in all it's glory.