Drop In + Draw Report

I think we can call it a success!  To celebrate 'Free Comic Book Day' on the 7th of May me, Tom Hunt and Fumio Obata organised a free comics drop in workshop for Newington Library in Edinburgh.  The idea was to get people together to draw comics, share ideas and learn from each other, with the three of us on-hand to offer advice and encouragement to budding comic creators.

Bolstered by some amazing coverage in the local press, tweets from comics folk and Scottish creatives, and mentions on the Forbidden Planet blog, we had people streaming through the doors from the start.  All told there were about 50 people who attended.

Just a taste of how busy it became.

And what was great is that we had such a mix in ages and interests, from wee kids just happy to conjure up fantastic worlds in comic-book form, through to older kids and teenagers showing a heck of a lot of promise and skill, and on to adults interested in pursuing their passion for comics further, or keen to get back into a medium they'd left behind years ago.

Fumio talks about his work and his European and Manga influences.

Tom and Fumio set up an impromptu lecture area and gave talks about webcomics and Manga respectively.  A number of keen people took time out of drawing to listen, taking away some great encouragement and knowledge from the two.

All in all it was a great afternoon, and people were I think very pleased with the event.  I got to chat with some interesting people of all ages, who share a real passion for comics.  All most people need is some encouragement, to see that it's actually quite easy to get starting making and distributing comics, and to see that they are not alone in thinking comics are a great thing to do.  I hope we provided that.

(You can read Tom Hunt's look back at the event at the Edinburgh League of Comics blog.)