Sam Sharpe

Investigate visual storytelling strategies through the contemporary art forms of alternative comics and graphic novels. This course introduces various illustrative approaches, such as writing, storyboarding, penciling, inking/coloring, and prepress preparations, with a diverse exploration of materials including pencil, pen, ink, and collage. Building on this foundation, students learn research methods to develop ideas and produce conceptually-driven, portfolio-quality works through projects that examine narrative structures, material choices, and the integration of text and image. Students are introduced to contemporary artists, illustrators, and designers who transcend the traditional approaches of comics and graphic novels to generate their own audiences. Regular critiques and field trips to the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, and/or local galleries and comic shops supplement the studio experience.

NOTE: Previous drawing experience required. Students are encouraged to bring a digital camera, tablet, and/or laptop for homework and after-studio hours projects.

Investigate visual storytelling strategies through the contemporary art forms of alternative comics and graphic novels. This course introduces various illustrative approaches, such as writing, storyboarding, penciling, inking/coloring, and prepress preparations, with a diverse exploration of materials including pencil, pen, ink, and collage. Building on this foundation, students learn research methods to develop ideas and produce conceptually-driven, portfolio-quality works through projects that examine narrative structures, material choices, and the integration of text and image. Students are introduced to contemporary artists, illustrators, and designers who transcend the traditional approaches of comics and graphic novels to generate their own audiences. Regular critiques and field trips to the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, and/or local galleries and comic shops supplement the studio experience.

NOTE: Previous drawing experience required. Students are encouraged to bring a digital camera, tablet, and/or laptop for homework and after-studio hours projects.

Investigate visual storytelling strategies through the contemporary art forms of alternative comics and graphic novels. This course introduces various illustrative approaches, such as writing, storyboarding, penciling, inking/coloring, and prepress preparations, with a diverse exploration of materials including pencil, pen, ink, and collage. Building on this foundation, students learn research methods to develop ideas and produce conceptually-driven, portfolio-quality works through projects that examine narrative structures, material choices, and the integration of text and image. Students are introduced to contemporary artists, illustrators, and designers who transcend the traditional approaches of comics and graphic novels to generate their own audiences. Regular critiques and field trips to the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, and/or local galleries and comic shops supplement the studio experience.

NOTE: Previous drawing experience required. Students are encouraged to bring a digital camera, tablet, and/or laptop for homework and after-studio hours projects.

The Department of Painting and Drawing offers a wide variety of comics courses, ranging from traditional to experimental methods and techniques. Each course is designed to focus on a specific area of comics production. To learn more about the topic of a specific comics course in which you are interested, please review the course description for that particular class.

The Department of Painting and Drawing offers a wide variety of comics courses, ranging from traditional to experimental methods and techniques. Each course is designed to focus on a specific area of comics production. To learn more about the topic of a specific comics course in which you are interested, please review the course description for that particular class.

Comics are a unique form of storytelling that draw on many different art forms: the line art of the calligrapher, the eye flow of the graphic designer, the three-dimensional thinking of the architect, the attention to movement of the dancer, the emotional introspection of the actor, the composing eye of the cinematographer, and the color theory of the painter¿all layered on top of the dialogue and character creation of the playwright. You don¿t need to be a master of all these disciplines to make engaging comics¿no cartoonist has ever mastered them all¿but you do need to understand these elements and how they work together to tell a story. This is what this class is designed to do.