Creative course launched for budding comic artists in Birmingham

Kicking off right here in the Midlands is an exciting new course aimed at would-be comic book artists in the area, tutored by the artists behind Spider-Man and Watchmen.

With the tutorial skills of comic book professionals including John McCrea (Hitman, Judge Dredd, Spider-Man), Laura Howell (The Beano, The Regular Show) and Dave Gibbons who drew a little comic you may have heard of called Watchmen, the course isn’t one to be missed by avid graphic novel enthusiasts.

Create the Break is a professional development course for emerging comic artists from the West Midlands.

The Arts Council England supported course aims to equip artists with the skills, discipline and contacts required to develop a professional career in the comic industry. Over the course of 6 months, participants will take part in group workshops with one to one support from industry professionals, develop a critical dialogue with peers and receive ongoing mentoring support.

Workshops will take place once fortnightly and cover the following areas:

• Design Process (layout, formatting, character development)
• Skills Development (inking, drawing, colouring, painting)
• Professional Engagement
• Career management

The programme will conclude with students self-publishing a book of works and exhibiting this at the Birmingham Central Library.

That’s some pedigree and definitely worth a look if you’re interest and there’s an Open Day this coming Saturday (April 14) right here in Brum, at the Birmingham Central Library from 12pm to 4pm.

Comic Creative Catalyst (CCC) was founded by John McCrea, Laura Howell and Clare Downes in 2017 in response to a lack of professional development opportunities for emerging comic artists, evolving from Hi8tus, an organisation that ran the Strip Search Programme which supported and promoted emerging talent in the West Midlands from 2003 – 2009.

Notable graduates include Laura Howell, Asia Alfasi, Lee Bradley, Keith Burns, Rachael Stott, Mikey Ball, Michiru Murakowa and Jane McGuiness.

Almost a decade later CCC are running Create the Break to help launch the careers of promising artists working today. This could be you!

This is a fabulous opportunity and applications are now open, and until 3rd May 2018 via their website, www.comiccreativecatalyst.co.uk too. I imagine it’s going to be rather popular and there are only 25 spaces and it’s FREE! My favourite price.

So, what are you waiting for? Start sharpening those pencils, or plugging in that Wacom tablet and join in. You’ll never know if you can make the cut unless you have a go. And, if you do want to read up some more ahead of Saturday, or an application, then read through their online brochure here.