At the end of the day, I take off my glasses. They're filthy; full of little specks. Must be the pollen. No, it's not pollen. Pollen season has come and (hopefully) gone. Besides, these little mystery specks are white, not that pollen yellowish green.
It's chalk. Flecks of chalk, from teaching cartooning classes for the New Hampshire National Guard kids this week! I did a lot of drawing on the board for the 80+ kids enrolled the the annual week-long summer camp. Above is a photo of me (looking a little tired) and the last class of the day.
We learned how to draw a lot of things, like: a word balloon (write the words FIRST, then draw the balloon -- something that took ma year to figure out when I first started cartooning!) and how to draw a happy face, sad face, mad face -- and a UFO and a dragon and a big cartoon fight (BIFF! BOOM!) -- and lots, lots more. The time flew by.
The NHNG kids are the greatest. Eager to draw, bright and inquisitive. My thanks to all who were part of this. I'll be teaching in New York later this month. I hope I have half as much fun!
Mike,
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a good group of aspiring cartoonists!
I would have loved to have had a class like that when I was a kid. Sounds like a rewarding experience for you too.
Daryll
Great! Oh, this sounds fabulous and like a lot of fun. And I agree with Daryll - wish I was in such a class when I was little!
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! Yes, there's nothing more satisfying than doing some cartooning with kids – they're so eager to learn and listen, and best of all, they think the cartoonist is a superstar!
ReplyDeleteKeep passin' it on! Bless you.
ReplyDeleteMike was amazing with the kids, and though many of them didn't necessarily "get" that they were in the room with someone who's name they will see for years to come, it was awesome just the same! Thank you from the NHNG!
ReplyDeleteMike --
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that class worked out so well! Looks like you were more popular than Santa Claus there. Those kids will remember that class for years to come.
-- Marek
Good on you Mike. I've done something similar here in the UK and it is exhausting.
ReplyDeletePiers
I'm so glad to see you doing stuff like this!
ReplyDeleteMargie and I agree that you must be a wonderful teacher, because the kids just seem to love you everywhere you go. (That, and you look like a fuzzy teddy bear.)
I wish I could come observe one some time...
Thanks for your kind words. I'm bowled over by the reception I got while teaching, as well as the wonderful words of praise here.
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you!