The Comic Tree Workshop:
This series of classes is taught at schools, libraries, and community centers. Here, students can learn drawings and storytelling concepts with the assistance of a certified instructor. |
The Comic Tree Collection: This series of books introduces concepts such as shading, shapes & forms, speech, thought, facial expressions, perspective, the basic anatomy of a comic strip, and useful storytelling techniques.
|
Behind The Comic Tree
The Comic Tree series of books is aimed at students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade who have an interest in creating comic strips. Comics, which have been historically overlooked as a real art form and teaching tool, are now being legitimized by educators and researchers worldwide. In a comic, the pieces of information (text and graphics) are presented to the reader at the same time. Comics teach children to predict, with both words and images, what will happen next in a story. The comic strip itself can be a tool for self-exploration, helping students understand their own thoughts and feelings. Emotions are explored as as students learn about characters' expressions. Imagination is easily sparked by comic strips, in which anything is possible.
|
About the Creator
Author and Illustrator Phil Lohmeyer is an educator from Greenwich, CT who has created comic strips professionally for over 10 years. Phil has sold his comic art to collectors, schools, sports teams, non-profit organizations, other authors, and international comic strip syndicates. He has also taught comic strip clinics to thousands of Connecticut students since 2003, and published dozens of cartooning newsletters.
The plot of The Comic Tree is loosely based on Phil's own life, and teaches his student's that the events of one's life can become great subject matter for a comic. Usually a funny, memorable, or embarrassing moment can be exaggerated and turned into a humorous comic strip. |
In The Artroom |
In All Classrooms |
Art teachers can greatly benefit from using The Comic Tree in their classroom. The curriculum reviews many of the traditional elements of art and principles of design, such as shape, form, value, texture, perspective, and balance. Students will learn how to dissect comic strips and add important features such as lettering, staging, speech, thought, and emotion.
|
Interdisciplinary lessons can be created using The Comic Tree. Using the tools learned in this curriculum, students can create comics based on a variety of subjects such as science, history, and math. In foreign language classes, comics help children understand dialogue by providing background information and other clues. Creating illustrated stories can benefit foreign students as well as struggling readers, encouraging them to practice communication skills in a new way. Comics give children the building blocks they need to strengthen reading comprehension, allowing younger students to stick with a story that can extend over multiple volumes. The Comic Tree allows kids to "level-up" as a video game might, in order to get to the next chapter and challenge in the book.
|
