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Picture Book Workshop @ CCA
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Hey this past week I had a chance to do a workshop introduction to picture books at CCA (California College of the Arts) for a group of MFA Comics students. I don’t know if they enjoyed it but I had hella fun. I brought a gang of picture books in English, Spanish, different mediums, newer ones, older ones, and different types of people. I talked about my most recent book “Fresh Juice/ Jugo Fresco” and many others by some of my favorite authors and illustrators. Photos by Thi Bui.
In this workshop we discussed:
- Establishing a character design
- Brainstorming and writing a story tagline
- Synopsis of story
- Storyboarding/ Thumbnailing a book
- Rough sketches
- Picture book layout, mechanics
- Breaking into the industry
- Building community
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I have been consulting with individuals and organizations for years about how to make picture books and after doing this workshop I realized how much I really enjoyed talking about what it takes to make one live and in person. If you’re interested in getting some basic info from me about it, check out this PDF I made for newbies.
If you’d like to schedule a consultation or invite me to speak at your college please email me at info@robdontstop.com
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BIG shout out to my homie and big sis Thi Bui (The Best We Could Do) who is a phenomenal cartoonist, illustrator, and professor. Big shout out to the homie Justin Hall, another fabulous cartoonist and professor who invited me to lead a workshop alongside some greats such as Ajuan Mance, Fred Noland, and Tyler Cohen.
Dig this? Check out the presentation I did for Modesto Jr College and my visit to the Austin Book Festival