“Cartooning with Lin Workman”
Saturday, February 27 from 10-12, I will be teaching basic cartooning tips for kids of all ages at the DeSoto Arts Council in Hernando, MS. Cost is $8 for non-members and $5 for DAC members.
Have gotten to do a class similar to this at the DAC a few fears ago and am super excited about getting to do it again.
I’ll be covering different types of cartooning, terminolog, perspective, foreshortening, character design, using shapes and colors, and anything else I can in 4hrs.
I really didn’t have any art teachers growing up (last year or two of high school), or friends who liked to draw so I’m going to try and gear it towards what I would have liked to know starting out, as well as things that have helped me over and over drawing cartoons. The Franks on the left are the oldest of my drawings that I have- done around age 4 or 5. The Frank on the right is from my “Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Abnormal Monsterpieces‘” art show at Theatre Memphis. A slight improvement..! 😉
This Frank was the promo art I did for their production of Young Frankenstein. It was used for postcards, programs, posters, and other promo items and ads.
My “Frankie Goes To Hollywood” show featured about 10 or so of my airbrushed Monsterpieces and was inconjunction with the run of their Young Frankenstein show. As a kid I loved drawing, and still do. Many adults I talk to these days loved drawing as kids, but just kind of gave it up for some reason or another. The fact that I’ve been able to make a living off of drawing and airbrushing is because I stuck to it and continued to want to learn.
And speaking of airbrushing and wanting to learn, I’ll also be teaching an “Intro To Airbrushing” class at the DeSoto Arts Council on March 12 as well. Not sure of the cost yet, should be the same time on a Saturday from 10-2.
It will be more of a hands on workshop for people interested in getting into airbrushing, or have an airbrush that they just can’t seem to get to work right.
When I worked at an art store one summer I sometimes had customers who were a bit intimidated by picking up an airbrush, overwhelmed by trying to choose an airbrush, or were frustrated because they immediately couldn’t master it and brought it back within a week. It wasn’t a “magic wand” that would do all the work for them. I actually had one guy tell me he wanted to buy one so he could “make some quick money“. When I asked him if he had ever airbrushed before he said, “No, but how hard can it be?”
I’ve been airbrushing for 30 years now and still have not mastered the thing yet. Sometimes it can be a love/hate relationship, but I keep trying and love to share what I’ve learned so far with anyone who’s willing to ask.
At the DAC workshop I’ll show people how to do dagger strokes, shading, depth of field, stencils, how take apart and clean an airbrush, and answer any questions they may have.
No prior airbrushing experience is necessary- or airbrush or supplies for that matter.
Attendees can bring their own airbrushes and compressors or use mine.
I’ll have my Paasche VL-3 airbrush on hand, and small portable pancake compressor with quick connects there, too. (I guess I need to clean it up a bit before the class..!)
Back in ’86 after high school I had a friend’s dad give me a single action Binks Wren airbrush and a small compressor. I really was unsure of what to do with it. Starting out I had a lot of questions and no internet, magazines, or videos. I took a continuing education class at Memphis State (now the University of Memphis) for one night a week for 6 weeks, along with another continuing ed cartooning class that spring. I also met a few artists at the local malls and fair who were willing to help me out. My mom encouraged me to go up and talk to them. Glad she did, because not only did I gain some great knowledge from the ones willing to share any, but I also gained some new friends- and a job working in a shirt shop. I first began painting on t-shirts, then doing murals (like the one above), and finally moved onto other surfaces including canvases (first big canvas airbrushed Monsterpieces in 2002).
On the left is the first tee I did for myself back before I started working at t-shirt shops in the malls. I was painting with that single action Binks Wren airbrush and a slightly bigger portable tankless compressor. I was quickly advised to buy a double action brush and look into getting a compressor with a holding tank. The other is a tee I did with a double action VL-3 gun for a Batman Returns movie premier giveaway in ’92 just after I had co-opened a t-shirt shop in Memphis. Some folks tend to shy away from painting on black tees, but I always enjoyed it. They can be very forgiving. 😉
I’ll be explaining the differences of painting on different surfaces, picking out an airbrush and compressor to suit their needs, setting up a space, paint options, working in color or black and white, and troubleshooting any problems they may have encountered.
If there is interest I may do more airbrushing classes/workshops, including a more advanced techniques for painting on canvases. I hope to one day run my own studio/gallery where I could do this more.
For more info on these upcoming classes contact-
Margaret Yates
DeSoto Arts Council
564 West Commerce Street (One Block West of the Square)
Hernando, MS 38632
662-404-3361
dac.desotoarts@gmail.com
Oh, and if you’d like to attend the next Mid-South Cartoonists Association dinner meeting, it’s next Thursday at Dixie Cafe in Memphis on Poplar from 6:30 to 9PM. We will eat and meet in their back meeting room. It’s free to attend and open to the public. Feel free to bring toons to show or art questions to ask- and a few bucks to order off the menu. The server can handle separate checks. We’ve got a few MSCA events to plan out and upcoming conventions to talk about. Hope you can make it.
Lin