Instructor: Anatola Howard

Max: 20 Students

April 25th, 2026 / 1:30-5:30pm (including a 15 min. break)

(Please arrive 20 minutes early. Parking is ample and easy.)

Join illustrator/animator Anatola Howard in a guided comic creation exercise aimed at expanding and freeing up your story telling abilities. This workshop is excellent for anyone who wants to refresh their approach to narrative or has trouble getting started with stories at all.

No experience necessary. All levels welcome!

Anatola is a broadly experienced animator, having worked for Jibjab, Cartoon Network, and Netflix Feature Animation.

His comic work has been published by Boom!, Shortbox, Frontier, and Best American Comics (2019).

THE WORKSHOP WILL INCLUDE:

INTRODUCTION (20 min)

Anatola will introduce his and others’ work as he highlights the role of the imagination in creating comic panel sequences.

WORKSHEET (10 min)

Students will fill out a worksheet where their answers are collected and placed into different boxes. Some box label examples: “Emotion” / “Character” / “Object”.

INSTRUCTOR DEMO (30 min)

Anatola will pull words from the boxes and creates a story outline and character designs based off of the keywords while discussing their thought process and asking for student feedback (Ex: “What is your impression of this character I’m drawing?”).

STUDENT SKETCHING (45 min)

Students pull their own words from the boxes and then create a general outline and sketch character designs based on their words.

—- BREAK —- (15 min)

Q & A (15 min)

Students have the chance to ask the teacher and the entire class questions regarding their own comics.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT DEMO (30 min)

Instructor sketches a composition of panels and draws lineart on a single panel that features an expression to demonstrate character acting.

COMIC & CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT (50 min)

Students will continue to develop their characters, paying close attention to the development of individual characters and their relationships.

OPTIONAL SHOW & TELL (20 min)

Students will be able to participate in an optional show and tell to garner additional feedback and ideas.

RECOMMENDED MATERIALS

Any drawing materials will do but pencil, pen, and paper are highly recommended.

CANCELLATION POLICY:

If you need to cancel, please do so at least 3 days before the workshop. No refunds shorter than 3 days before class. If you cancel within a week, you are entitled to a full refund minus $25.