6 weeks at The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles Headquarters located at 5119 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles. (see below for payment link)

The language of comics is all its own. It has rules and grammar and syntax that are unlike any other language or narrative medium. Though it has similarity to film, animation and illustration, comics use sequential storytelling, time and graphic design in very specific and different ways. For this class, you’ll be using a series of interesting visual exercises that explore this idea. These drawing assignment are both brain teasers and visual challenges that teach specific visual storytelling techniques.

Subjects covered in the class include page design, composition, and the logic of panel-to-panel sequential art. Modern and classic comic art are analyzed to see what is effective in various circumstances and to see what’s not. We’ll look at artists from the Golden Age like Will Eisner / classic comic strip artists like Noel Sickles / EC Comics masters like Wally Wood / comics king Jack Kirby / and contemporary stars such as Bryan Hitch, Jaime Hernandez, and Gabrielle Bell.

There will be work done in class and homework along the way. There will be some assignments that will require you to make copies for everyone in the class.

Covered are an Introduction to Visual Storytelling Techniques / layout, design, composition, and concept execution / The Four-Panel Strip where students learn about telling a story using the comic strip form / The Fantastical Character where elements of character design are discussed including shape and size of figures, props, weapons, etc., and settings / The Cut-Up Panels Exercise / production and printing / lettering, inking, and ink drawing / marketing and selling a book or self-published comic.

Jim Higgins has been a writer and editor in the comics business for 20 years. He has done rewrites on screenplays and been a comics consultant for films. He was an editor and assistant editor at DC Comics in the Paradox Press division (The Big Book of Grimm, Hoaxes, and the ’70s, plus the graphic novels A History of Violence, Road to Perdition,and Stuck Rubber Baby), and is the editor and publisher of New Thing, an international anthology of short comics stories. He taught comic book storytelling for eight years at The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and cinema studies at The City University of New York for four and a half. He has taught classes on writing and drawing comics at The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), UCLA Extension Program, at Otis College of Art and Design, and is the Program Director of the comics classes at Meltdown University at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood.

Materials List: One graphic novel, about $20, title TBA. Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner. Supplies: Bristol board pad, 11 x 14, 20 sheets. Ink pens (waterproof, archival), pencils, sketch paper.

SILA Members: Remember to choose the Members Category for your 10% discount and Board Members be sure to use your Board Discount.

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