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Drawing Exercise 

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Once again the new 1st year were introduced to life drawing at Staffordshire University with a difference. We challenge the student to attempt to make a film noir style of comic using a basic script and a model in a room with props and lights. 

    

The idea is to get the students to physically move their bodies around the model, rather than, as what usually happens, where the students get an easel and they stay in the same location. Even if the students have a really bad view of the model they will rather draw a bad pose than to physically move themselves around the model. 

Film Noir is something that many of the students today have not really encountered and even though we spend a lot of time talking about shadow and the power of that and what it can add to a drawing, students still tend to stay away from it. 

Above the lighting and aim of the lesson is to explore how we can tell the story. In each shot the student had to make a decision of whether to drawn from above, at the same level or from the floor in a sitting position. 

The final scene where the model packs her bag to leave, gives the student to leave a really interesting climax to the story.

Below are some of the attempts that the first year did during the 3 hours session. What the story is, is completely up to the student.  We encourage them to make decisions about the character on the page, is she the victim, who has managed to get away from an attacker and needs to leave as soon as possible.  Or is she the evil person, a potential murder who has committed the crime and now has to get out as soon as possible.  

 

 

London trip 2015

Cartoon & Comic Arts in London 2015 

Day One and Cartoon & Comic Arts headed down to London for their annual trip to visit the big smoke and to explore the world of comics. 

This year we booked into the Generator just a short walk from The British Museum.

After lunch we headed to the British Museum to see a Manga Exhibition and also how sequential art has been used throughout the history of mankind.

 

After that we headed off to various Comic Shops which held displays of ex students work – Forbidden Planet, Orbital Comics and Gosh Comics before hitting China Town for a bite to eat.

Day 2

Cartoon Museum – Association of Illustrators Exhibition – Drawing along the Thames 

At the Cartoon Museum, Steve Marchant, former Beano Comic Artist and Curator of the National Lottery funding which the university is part of gives a talk about the artwork that is on show and also about the Young Cartoonist of the year which some of the students entered while there. 

After lunch we made our way to Somerset House where the students viewed the Association of Illustrators exhibition of up and coming artist. We have created close ties with the Association of Illustrators and Fig Taylor the their portfolio reviewer comes in and gives talks to both Cartoon and Comic Arts and Illustration students.

 

Holly shows off what she brought at the shops yesterday and Lewis finds his true calling as a Egyptian Pharaoh surrounded by his slaves.   

 

Taking almost 30 students around London is a lot of hard work. But we think they enjoyed it with the drawing task and we headed to the National Portrait Gallery where there was a class the students could join in with. 

This was suppose be a drawing exercise along the Thames.

The students ponder the bigger meaning of what the London Eye is… Or isn’t!

DAY 3

MCM the UK’s largest Comic Con and Expo event. Last year the 2^nd years went to the May event to sell their work at the convention and it was a success with all students selling something and quite a few selling out of their work. The first years went to be a part of it and absorb the atmosphere and also catch up with some of the previous years Alumni.