Art Workshop Structure

Hi you! (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ)♡

Today is 0° outside, we have no snow or wind and the sky is blue ❅*°⋆❆.ೃ࿔*:

I’m at work, the local pools. Yes! I quit my job to pursue freelancing, but my last day is only on the 31st of December.

So today I’ll write to you from here 🖳🖱

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I’m hosting a workshop at FRAME Comic Arts Festival

At the end of this month I will be flying to Prague! I’m hosting a workshop at Frame Festival and I’m going alone. First time in the city of Prague so all is new and exhilarating.

Public speaking and showing ways of doing things is something I love and have been doing for a while. Maybe it’s something you want to try too. Or maybe you already do, and you’re curious to read someone else’s perspective…

Today I want to share how I structure a class. Lets call it class even though I’m not teaching anyone anything ☺︎ people already know, I’m just there to show

⛾

An art workshop is the perfect excuse to share your obsessions

with people who have the same interests ٩(^ᗜ^ )و ´-

If you don’t know what kind of workshop you should host, look at your work.
You’ll find something you obsess over.
And if you can’t find it… Then you have the perfect excuse to start obsessing about something.

There are solutions, doors and ways we only discover after hours of practicing ✿
Those are the things you will share on a workshop.
What makes a good workshop is a host that opens doors for participants to keep creating and having fun ⭑.ᐟ

What is it about you that people compliment? What makes you stand out in your art?
I think the answer to those is the the answer to ‘‘what will my workshop be about?’’

I though I might give you an update of my view ᨒ↟ 𖠰𖥧˚

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Structure of my workshops

My obsession is storytelling!
So I structure workshops the same way I structure a story: in 3 acts.

Act 1 - Everything you need to know to understand Act 2

I start by presenting myself and explaining what we will be doing.
I’ll give you an example:

Hi, I’m Madalena and I’ll be your guide on today’s storytelling adventure!
You have several papers in front of you, the biggest one is for the final art and the others are for trying things out (⸝⸝> ᴗ•⸝⸝)
I then hold the big paper next to me like this:

The paper is still blank at this point

We read panels from left to right and read speech bubbles top to bottom.
Your story doesn’t need panels or bubbles but keep in mind how the eye travels.
We tell the whole narrative in this single page, you can use any medium you like.

We will start like stories usually begin:
’’Once upon a time there was a…’’
I pause and look around…I love this part!
I’m about to tell them that they have to come up with a main character

Act 2 - Where everything happens

Whatever character you come up with, remember that you’ll have to draw it ☆⌒(ゝ。∂)
This character needs an emotion
Write it Down
Once upon a time the was a _________

Time flies, let’s make some tea ⛾

This character can be anything! An autumn leaf, a squirl, a cup of tea, an elf… anything.

Everyday they___________
What is it that your character does everyday? Write it down

And I go on until I finish telling them the entire skeleton for telling a story.
I then go around while they are creating that little universe and drawing their character and read their skeleton.

In this phase I open some doors, give my opinion, help shorten some sentences, etc.
I leave room for silence too.

After a while, they already have a lot done and I help them stay on track, for example ‘‘Didn’t you say it was a sad autumn leaf? Why is she smiling?’’
More than expressions convey sadness, colours, compositions… My obsession with comics and storytelling helps so much here (´｡• ◡ •｡`) ♡

I’m also very uplifting, excited about their ideas and encouraging.
I think that helps, people want to have a good time and let go…
Heavy criticism doesn’t help in a 1 hour workshop.

Act 3 - Back at the shire sharing our adventures
After an hour of work it’s time to pour some tea and talk about our adventure!
I pick up their final work and show it to the class, like this:

‘‘Cinema Box’’ Workshop at the Summer Festival of my town

This is when speaking in public comes in handy, I love it! ᕙ( •̀ ᗜ •́ )ᕗ

I gather everyone and create a spotlight for each final work, one by one.
I tell what I see in a jolly and engaging way.
This part is precious ⋆˚✿˖°

Participants often are so into their creations they never take a step back (with kind eyes) to see what they’ve created. Everyone is usually very excited to see what you’ve done and it’s wonderful to get recognition from other participants and not only from the host of the workshop.

How wonderful would it be if the sky was full of northern lights!

I’ll go now,
Thank you for reading (*ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)ꕤ*.ﾟ