By Katelyn Coyne
Ignite Studio is excited to partner once again with Nickel Plate Arts to present Comic Book in a Day. This year the event is entirely virtual with a variety of opportunities to participate.
Comic Book in a Day
Saturday, August 29 All Day
Sign up to be a challenge artist and participate in the eight-hour competition to create a comic book from scratch. Showcase your drawing skills, on pen and paper or digitally, and compete to win prizes, including art supplies, comic books and even CASH! Gain exposure as an artist by engaging with local community members and fellow comic book enthusiasts. Plus, you’ll be surrounded by both professional and amateur comic book artists, so you’ll build a network of peers who can help cheer you along in your artistic efforts!
Sign up here!
FREE Virtual Workshops
Can’t commit to a full day event? Or just want to warm up your skills before diving into the challenge? Then join us for three FREE workshops in the days leading up to the big event. These workshops with expert comic book artists provide access to some top names in comic books as you build your storytelling and drawing skills. Each professional artist will also be mentoring challenge artists during the competition. Don’t miss a chance to meet them and learn new skills!
What are Comics?
(Comic Book in a Day Virtual Workshop)
Monday, August 24 at 7 pm
From strips to web-comics, from panels to word balloons, professional comic book artist Victor Dandridge, gives a broad view of comics! By understanding the styles of comic stories and the features that make them, he hopes to boost your creative confidence for telling stories in a sequential narrative structure. Recommended for beginners comic book artists. Ages 10 and up. Registration required.
Victor Dandridge is a self-publishing creator from Columbus, OH. In 2011, he launched his own creator-owned imprint, Vantage:Inhouse Productions, where he has successfully published hit series including The Samaritan, Origins Unknown, and The Trouble w/Love. Currently, Dandridge is redesigning his innovative, interactive publication UCre-8 Comics Write Book, which provides an instructional guide for beginner comic book artists.
His advice to aspiring artists: “Don’t wait for permission—Cre-8 something NOW!”
Comic Hacks: Solving Problems and Working Faster
(Comic Book in a Day Virtual Workshop)
Tuesday, August 25 at 7 pm
According to professional comic book artist Yuri Duncan, there is no right or wrong way to make a comic. But there are some tools available that can help anyone make a comic book tell their stories. Explore various “comic hacks” as you learn how to work smarter, not harder. Recommended for all levels of comic book artists. Ages 10 and up. Registration required.
Yuri Duncan spent the first 30 years of his career helping a Fortune 500 company develop and grow their business while nurturing his career as an artist, animator, and designer. Now he runs his own video production company. His work has appeared in Billboard Magazine, Mann’s Chinese Theater, NUVO and InTake magazines. He recently completed a 15-month effort to complete the self-produced award winning animated short “The Outcast.”
His advice to aspiring artists: “If you don’t enjoy the process of creating a comic, it will show in your final product; so find a way to enjoy every part of it. Also, use every trick in the book—there are no rules in the ‘how’ you do it. If the story is good, and your heart is poured into every page, people will love it!”
Dynamic Depth of Field
(Comic Book in a Day Virtual Workshop)
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Join professional comic book artist Stuart Sayger for a how-to about inking your comic book creations. Learn how to manipulate lights, darks, highlights, silhouettes and textures to create a high contrast drawing that focuses the viewer’s eye. Recommended for intermediate to advanced level comic book artists. Ages 13 and up. Registration required.
Stuart Sayger is a professional illustrator, who works primarily in the comic book industry. Known for his moody atmospheric art, Sayger first broke into the industry as the creator of SHIVER IN THE DARK. Other credits include covers from some of comic’s all-time greats including The Joker, The Walking Dead, and The Man of Steel Superman Movie. He has also drawn 21 comic book covers for Kiss (the rock and roll band), and is currently drawing covers for Transformers.
His advice to aspiring artists: “Make sure that creating art stays fun AND challenging. If it’s not fun, you won’t do it. And if it’s not challenging, you won’t get better!”
Join us for all of the great events and workshops leading up to Comic Book in a Day 2020!
