"Draw Two Panels" spinoff: The Deckless Wonder

 Here's an experiment that's been languishing in my files. I've written already of my work with Isaac Cates on his Draw Two Panels game. It inspired me to test an idea for this spinoff:

I drew two cards that pose a simple question: is our heroine dressing or undressing? Where the cards are placed in the four-panel sequence would direct the answer.

After completing the first strip, I toss a coin twice, choosing one of the original cards and one of the new cards. Then I make a new strip, placing the cards wherever they can be made to make sense. 

I'm struggling to recall the exact rules. In each new round, I toss a coin to choose one old and one new card. There should always be four cards available for each new round, from which two are chosen.

Here's an alternate game, placing the first two cards in a different order:

This procedure can go on indefinitely, though I wonder whether the story can ever go anywhere,... 

...small wonder that I stopped after three rounds. On the other hand, a story stuck in time is interesting in its own way.

This general idea of drawing comic panels on index cards and moving them around is something we'll explore in my upcoming online course, Comics Inventions, enrolling now.

Demonstration Drawings

I asked a second grader to name the character for me.

Some of my most expressive work seems to happen when I'm lecturing and demonstrating techniques (as I've shown before).

a demo for kids at PS 372

Lessons I give in my Cartooning Basics course are usually, ahem, tested on children first. If kids can master an art concept, adults probably can too.

Whiteboard sketch done at Parsons Pre-College Academy

A similar lesson at SVA

This was to demonstrate ink wash.

This too.

 As you see below, many of the lectures veer well beyond the basics and into fairly esoteric territory.

a demo on the Lexicon of Comicana

Comic strip structure and cartooning from display letters

#8 in a series of Daredoodle warmup exercises 

Adult classes start next week at SVA. Sign up asap.

I'll also be teaching kids grades 5-8 at Hootenanny Art Annex in July and grades 3-5 at Parsons in August, and I'm available for lessons and such:

of course you would.

Demonstration Drawings

Drawing while talking can be a challenge. Often I make an ass of myself, but sometimes my demonstrations turn out okay.

 

These big head/little body drawings are what I tend to favor for demonstrating figure basics and marker inking on day 1 of Cartooning Basics.

 

When I demonstrate inking with nibs, brushes, and wash in the Figure Drawing for Cartoonists and Inking Comics courses, I tend to try for a pretty girl, mostly to see if I can pull it off. 

(Sometimes yes, sometimes no.)

For ink wash, I often just apply black watercolor to a doodle.

When I demonstrate to kids, I try to keep it light and simple.

 

Spring classes start next week. Will my demos succeed or will I look foolish, yet again? Come find out. Tell your friends, too. Thx!