StokeConTrent 8 and other things

StokeConTrent 8 and other Things!

Its been a few months since I last posted and that is just because how hectic it had become in the Cartoon and Comic Arts studio. straight off the back of a couple of guest lecturers Matt Garvey and Hannah Chapman we were into Easter and the organisation of the 8th StokeConTrent event to be held at the university.  
StokeConTrent went off without much hassle or stress, though the comic arts were put in the Science Building which sort of feels a little way from the main action. The Comic artist once again enjoyed the event and it also provided an opportunity for 3rd Years students to sell their work at the convention and also allow the 2nd years to almost dress rehearse the MCM event they are attending in May.

At the end of the event, we asked Ben Krefta to stay over and talk to the students how he got into Manga and got his first break in the business. This was done because the students had asked for a Manga Artist to attend the event and he replied. 

StokeConTrent Guests from top left Ben Krefta Managa Artist. Above Lee Sullivan Thunderbirds and Transformers Comic Artist. Right - Titan Editor David Leech. Bottom Left - Beano and Dandy Artist Lew Stringer. and Finally Bottom Right Doctor Who artist Mike Collins

Some 3rd Year Comics

3rd Years produce a range of different Comics 

With the course ever expanding, we are always trying to produce different type of art work and getting the student to think more independently. We actively encourage them to develop their own signature art styles so they are able to stand out from the crowd. 
here are some of the work produced in the first semester. 

Akka Moons "Infested" is a horror story about a virus that is running wild in the forest. They style is created digitally after  the initial drawn thumbnails and layout sketches. I particularly like this page as it looks a bit more in-depth with the concept of paneling and what you can use to divide the story up, rather then going to the default method of boxing everything up!  

Ben Bloss's work is also mainly digital once the thumbnails and layout are complete. He has drawn inspiration from Manga and in his Comic Book "The Lonely Siren" he tells the story of a shipwrecked sailor and the unwanted advances of a Siren. Ben uses the page well, preparing the reader for the drop into the abyss. He's recently gone back and reworked his pages, adding shading and shadow to the work which give the whole project a bit more weight.  

Ollie Wharton's comic "Roller Disco" tells the story of 2 young girls who find and lose love at the venue. What is particularly great about this work is the backgrounds where he has tried to incorporate his more painted style to the overall concept. this give the work a more staged and worn feel. Everything doesn't look band new. The texture in the background starts to become a character in its own right as it tries to describe the story and the environment where the action takes place. 

Cartoon and Comic Arts Motto DRAW DRAW DRAW!

Cartoon and Comic Arts Motto

DRAW!DRAW! DRAW!

Well its been a world wind couple of weeks and sometimes it is hard to believe how fast it has gone. Once again the 1st Year have been indoctrinated into the course motto DRAW!DRAW!DRAW!
We try to emphasis on the award that, in the same way as being a professional footballer, you have to have the same mentality. SO you don just go out one day a week to play a game of football, but you also have to do exercises to build your skills and sometimes it might not be what you expected. Even Footballers have to go the gym, where they don't get to kick a ball all the time!! 
It is this way that we try and explain what we are trying to do when we take them into the life drawing room or around the museum. What are we actually expecting the student to produce and why?
A lot of the students don't understand why, they do the things they do and in doing so have trouble correcting their mistakes. 
So we try and get them observe what they are drawing. We use the example of getting them to draw their bedrooms, a place where a lot say they spend a lot of time. But it's fascinating to notice that they can draw every DVD Blu Ray, but fail to notice the light switch or the skirting board.

 Above, cartoon and comic arts students head into town to draw around the Stoke Minster. With the help of the local ground staff they found quite a comfortable place to sit down and draw the surrounding area and the Gothic Minster itself.  

 Drawing parts of the Minster itself helps the student to observe what is going on and understand how buildings are made. 



 

 THE TOP OF FLAXMAN 

 From the top of the Flaxman building along College Road you can see the back of the Stafford Hotel and the train station. This is one of the 1st years piece of drawing of the architecture and also looking at the perspective. 

DRAWING THE TOWN HALL 

 Drawing around Stoke Town hall, produced some interesting results. Here the students are drawing the main building... until students from Leicester turn up and park their coaches in-front of the building.  It must be Stoke as a cultural city that brings everyone to it!!

THE TRAIN STATION 

The train station is always a popular destination when learning about perspective. Here is a particular good example of the drawings that can be produced 

Boxes of Books

Boxes Of Books

Big thanks to Stephen Marchant for donating his comic book collection.

What an exciting start to the academic year as we received an email from Stephen Marchant, Curator and teacher of the Cartoon Museum in London.   Steve was moving house and as a result he had to get rid of his extensive library of comic reference books. Hi comics he donated to GOSH comics in London, but where better to send such an excellent supply of literature, than the only Cartoon and Comic Arts course in the UK.

The books included those of Harvey Kurtzman, Robert Crumb, Jack Kirby, Eric Stanton, Will Eisner, Posy Simmonds, Andrew Loomis, Steve Ditko and Ronald Searle to name a few.  

To Infinity and Beyond!

To Infinity and Beyond!

The other day we had the results from the NSS (National Student Survey). I'm happy to write we received 100% course satisfaction from the students. Lets just say we've got the Champagne on ice ready for when all the staff return at the end of the month.  

But that doesn't mean we can rest on our Laurels. We've still got a long way to go at maintaining this and improving what we do. It is safe to say a lot of it is driven by the students, whose input into the design of the course often goes unnoticed. I think it is safe to say that every year we have added some thing and changed something to try and accommodate the students requirements, without undermining the integrity of what we teach. 

   

This year we are hoping to expand the course, not just with the number of students, but also with space and staff. Overall this will be the largest the course has been with 100 students all studying Cartoon and Comic Arts at the Stoke Campus. 

Welcoming a new 1st year (Level 4) allows us to have a revamp of the teaching space and give them an opportunity to add their mark in a similar vein that last years cohort did. So we're hoping for some really interesting things... again!

The one area that we would all like to see expanded is the Technology side of the award. The Cadman area where we are based seemed to have been left behind when technology  was introduced to the civilised world. But we are hoping little by little that the Connected University will make its way over to us.

Having said that, the main aim as ever is to instil the Cartoon and Comic Arts Mantra into the new students "DRAW...DRAW...DRAW!" We are also committed to make the CCA family as inclusive as ever and try to break down walls and have 2nd and 3rd year students working and mentoring the 1st years in more constructive ways .

At the same time we try and make the course as fun as every and encourage everyone to be a little part of something bigger. Hopefully the while on the course you make friends that will stay with you for the rest of your life!

It's fair to say that some of the ideas we developed last year, were great successes and we're hoping to build on them more than ever. The Film comic that we introduced was a great success and allowed 1st Year students to sell their work at the StokeconTrent event. The money it raised was consumed mainly by the 2 people in the top image (Sarah and Josh!) It was fed back into the course for the 1st year to take advantage of and have a great end of year party. 

Same for the drawing in the Ember Lounge, a chance for lucky diners to have a portrait drawn of them while they waited and ate their lunch. This seemed particularly popular.

So this year we have a lot to live up to, so there isn't a chance to rest and sit back and enjoy the success of last year, its all about making this year bigger and better!

 

StokeConTrent Guest Comic Artist

StokeConTrent #6 

The best draw there is 

this year saw the 6th StokeConTrent Convention. It had stiff competition from other conventions in the area that were running on the same day with the shift of the Easter Holidays. Still the weather was good and there was a great attendance at the event and they were able to see some of the best UK artist in the Industry.

It was great to see AccentUK back with Colin Mathieson and Gary Cruthley showing off their work.

Kevin Gunstone made an apperance with his Planet of the Daemons comic which is up to comic 3. But what i treally enjoyed from Kevin was his back issues of The Agents. He was selling all 6 issues for £15, and this introdiced me to kevs writing for a slightly different format and audience 

 As a newbie to StokeConTrent it was great to have the creator of the Hulk Buster and War Machine Kevin Hopgood to the convention. He was selling some seriously good sketched out comic pages for a very reasonable price.

 Mike Collins is a regular now at the convention, and as ever it was great to see him bringing his Doctor Who and (in this case) his Star Wars work with him. It is also with great thanks that Staffordshire University must thank him for his kind donation of Graphic Novels. 

Finally another favourite of the punters in Simon Donald, who is absolutely brilliant as ever. Here he gives the Staffordshire University Comic Arts Mascot the Viz treatment.

There were other wonderful artist as well including Lew Stringer, who brought his Brickman Begins book with an introduction from Alan Moore. 

There was also Newbie Laura Howell,  whose excellent "The Bizarre Adventures of Gilbert & Sullivan" Comes highly recommended  

Also a big Thanks to Marc Jackson and all our best for his MaccPow Saturday 1st July 

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