Influencing Children with the Power of Art

“…it is important for kids to try a lot of different things to find what they are interested in.” – Joe Swanson

The Purple Paintbrush, a Children’s art studio here in Madison, held a special workshop on comic and cartoon art with guest artist, Trojans Times’ very own comic writer, Joe Swanson.

This was Swanson’s first time presenting his passion for cartoon creation to young artists. Swanson believed that “exposing kids to expressive comic and cartoon art and helping them to draw characters of their own can inspire them for years to come.” He says, “It was cool to see them so excited to learn about what I do and see them inspired to make their own comics. ”

The purple Paintbrush owner, Christina Blessinger had this to say about the workshop: “Joe was able to offer advice and teach them specific techniques to help them improve their work. I was impressed with the way Joe taught the kids how to draw expressions for their characters.  They had a lot of questions about this area. Joe asked the students to make expressions with their own faces to show a variety of emotions, and then he drew faces using their examples.  It was a great practice for the kids to realize how their faces change when they are expressing happy, sad, confused, etc.  The kids learned a lot from Joe, and I noticed them using many of his techniques when we returned to the studio!”

Blessinger believes that teaching younger students allows their imagination and creativity to influence their artwork and that they are always eager to learn something new.