Zine-making was the goal in Jillian Tamaki’s Kids Ink workshop, which felt more like a casual, art-filled hangout than a teaching session thanks to Tamaki’s cool charm and helpful enthusiasm.
Tamaki lent her skills to a group of eager comic artists in the upper level of the Moose Jaw Public Library, coaxing them through some exercises to stoke the imagination.
She began the construction of their zines — mini magazines or comics, usually produced in small quantities — by having each kid in the group do some self-portraits with a twist. One was themselves as a superhero, another as a fruit, as an animal, and finally as an alien, which became the main characters for their zine, which everyone took home with them.
There was no limit to what could be put on the paper, and Tamaki shared the enthusiasm, offering suggestions like, “what if you were a dog?” and “what kind of alien would you be?”
Tamaki encouraged everyone to draw in the style they’re comfortable with, whether that features stick men or big detailed portraits. What’s important is using style and body language to help tell the story. The smallest lines can convey tons of emotion, said Tamaki.
Then, she said, tell a story — something ridiculous, something funny, something serious, whatever joke you have in you.
Tamaki admitted that making a graphic novel can take a really long time — sometimes years — because the drawing and the writing can be complicated. But she encourages aspiring artists to start small if that task seems scary.
“I would say break it down from graphic novel to comic. It could be a four-panel strip, or like a little zine,” said Tamaki. “Just remember that comics can be really small and they can be single jokes.”
It’s a great time to be making comics, said Tamaki, referencing the popularity of the Internet, and it’s a genre that is broad and encompassing of every kind of individual.
“It really depends on what your personal interest is,” said Tamaki. “That’s the beautiful thing, it's such a blank-slate, open medium. A comic doesn’t have to look one way, even though there may be popular styles or formats, it can really be anything as long as it connects with the reader.”
Tamaki's final advice to those worried about their idea being too unusual: "It's better to be weird than bored."
It's safe to say that Tamaki's influence may have just created some up-and-coming illustrators during her workshop here at the Festival of Words, opening the festival up to a new genre that is becoming more and more popular each day.
