MoCCA Comic and Cartooning Classes Start October 18!

NEW YORK (September 24, 2010) - The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art – MoCCA – is proud to announce the fall offerings from its Adult Education Department, organized and headed by Senior Vice-President of Education, DANNY FINGEROTH!

ANATOMY FOR CARTOONISTS WORKSHOP
with R. SIKORYAK and KRIOTA WILLBERG | October 18 & 25, Nov. 1 & 8

HAND ANATOMY FOR CARTOONISTS
with R. SIKORYAK and KRIOTA WILLBERG | November 15

HOW TO WRITE FUNNY COMICS AND GAG CARTOONS
with ARIE KAPLAN | October 19, 26; November 2 & 9


About the classes:

ANATOMY FOR CARTOONISTS WORKSHOP
Instructors: R. SIKORYAK and KRIOTA WILLBERG
4 sessions, Mondays October 18 & 25, Nov. 1 & 8
6:30-9:00 pm
$275 tuition | $250 for MoCCA members

How many times have you said to yourself, “I’d love to make my drawing more realistic—but anatomy is hard!”?

Well, this is your chance to take the most exciting, informative drawing course you’ll ever find, taught by the accomplished teaching team of R. SIKORYAK (RAW magazine, The Daily Show) and KRIOTA WILLBERG (The Swedish Institute). Here’s what the duo says about their workshop:

“A lot can be communicated about a person or animal through their physical appearance. Understanding the way the body looks and works helps illustrators draw their characters so that the artwork conveys personality. This course will teach students how to create real or imaginary characters—in any style—that are consistent and believable.”

Through PowerPoint presentations, in-class exercises, and at-home assignments, students will learn to see and draw the structures and tissues that give the body shape and character. Willberg will—literally!—draw on live models to trace muscle groups and bony landmarks. Sikoryak will demonstrate the application of anatomical understanding to any cartooning style. Students will practice drawing from live models in class and learn to apply the lessons to their own characters.

NOTES:
(1) Students will need to bring drawing materials—charcoal, pencils (colored or not), erasers, paper [11x14 (recommended) or 18 x 24, but not bigger]. No markers, please. Students should work with inexpensive materials they are most comfortable with. The class isn't about creating finished drawings as much as it is about sketching.

(2) As this is a life-drawing class, nude models will be employed.

R. SIKORYAK is the author of the recently released Masterpiece Comics. His cartoons and parodies have appeared in RAW, Drawn and Quarterly, Nickelodeon Magazine, the New Yorker, and MAD, among many other publications; on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and in The Daily Show Presents America (The Book); and in Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet Earth. He's drawn for Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse. Sikoryak is in the speakers program of the New York Council of the Humanities and teaches in the illustration department at Parsons School of Design. Since 1997, he has presented his cartoon slide show series, Carousel, around the United States and Canada.

KRIOTA WILLBERG teaches anatomy for cartoonists and illustrators at The Center For Cartoon Studies, anatomy in the dance department of Marymount Manhattan College, pathology and massage therapy at the Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences, and has taught at Bard College, NYU, and The School of Visual Arts. She has studied personal training and exercise. Willberg is an interdisciplinary artist, a lecturer and blogger about film and medicine (thecinematologist.blogspot.com), and a filmmaker. Her films include the dance mockumentary, The Bentfootes (2007).


HAND ANATOMY FOR CARTOONISTS
INSTRUCTORS: R. SIKORYAK and KRIOTA WILLBERG
1 session: MONDAY, November 15
6:30-9:00 PM
$70 tuition | $60 for MoCCA members
[Plus: 25% DISCOUNT for students who have taken the ANATOMY FOR CARTOONISTS WORKSHOP either this semester or in spring 2010: $52.50|$45]

An introduction to one of the trickiest parts of the body to draw, from the teachers of MoCCA’s popular ANATOMY FOR CARTOONISTS WORKSHOP.

Hands are incredibly complex, articulated structures, containing more than twenty-seven bones and innumerable joints. No wonder they’re so hard to draw!

Learn about hands in a way that will let you adapt that knowledge to drawing hands on your characters in your own cartooning style.

This class introduces a series of anatomical principles and aesthetic concepts to help you design “hands” that fit naturally onto the body of a cartoon character and also convey believable hand functionality. We’ll also draw in class from model skeletons and live hand models.

[See bios of Sikoryak and Willberg in ANATOMY FOR CARTOONISTS WORKSHOP listing above.]


HOW TO WRITE FUNNY COMICS AND GAG CARTOONS
Instructor: ARIE KAPLAN
4 Sessions, TUESDAYS October 19, 26; November 2 & 9
6:30-9:00 pm
$245 tuition | $225 for MoCCA members

Writing humor of any sort is like wrestling a tornado. Writing humor comics is no exception. Comic book writer, humorist, and author ARIE KAPLAN will teach you how to wrestle that tornado, ride bareback on the tornado, and even make the tornado do a few tricks like “roll over” and “play dead”!

LEARN how to write humorous comic book stories, illustrated articles for humor magazines, and one-panel gag cartoons. ABSORB the arcane ability to write funny comics, brainstorm and “punch up” jokes, pitch ideas, sketch out gag cartoons, and write topical comedic material. DISCOVER how to turn funny concepts into full-fledged short comic book stories, articles, and cartoons. ASCERTAIN uh…other stuff that’s really, really valuable.

ARIE KAPLAN is a MAD Magazine writer, a stand-up comedian, and author of the comic book miniseries Speed Racer: Chronicles of the Racer (IDW Publishing). His other comic book writing credits include the DC Holiday Special 2009, the Bongo Comics anthology Simpsons Winter Wingding, and the Archie Comics title Archie & Friends. Arie lectures all over the world about comic book history, film history, and other pop culture-related subjects. He’s the author of the critically acclaimed book, From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books (JPS), which was a 2008 National Jewish Book Award finalist. Arie wrote the story and dialogue for the upcoming House M.D. videogame (based on the TV drama) for Legacy Interactive. He has also written for MTV, Cartoon Network, and PBS Kids. His website is: www.ariekaplan.com.


Upcoming Classes at MoCCA

November 16, 23, 30; December 7
HOW TO WRITE COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS with DANNY FINGEROTH

November 22, 29; December 13
HOW TO DO STORYBOARDS FOR ANIMATION with STEPHEN DESTEFANO

MoCCA MASTER CLASS SERIES:
November 10
CARTOON COLLABORATION: ANIMATION WRITING AS TEAM SPORT (OR: HOW TO GET A STORYBOARD ARTIST TO SAY, "HEY, GOOD SCRIPT!") with DAVID STEVEN COHEN

December 6
THE CRAFT OF COMICS WRITING: THE LONG AND SHORT OF PLOTTING with PAUL LEVITZ

All classes held at MoCCA unless otherwise indicated
594 Broadway, suite 401 (between Houston and Prince)
New York, NY 10012

For more information and to register, call 212-254-3511 or go to http://www.moccany.org/content/education


Upcoming at MoCCA
Is this The Al Jaffee Art Exhibit?
October 5th, 2010 through January 30, 2011

Decades of Donnelly: The Art of New Yorker Cartoonist Liza Donnelly
October 5th, 2010 through January 30, 2011

Denis Kitchen: An Oddly Compelling Mini-Retrospective
October 5th, 2010 through January 30, 2011

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art - MoCCA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts education organization dedicated to the preservation, study and display of all forms of comic and cartoon art. The museum promotes greater understanding and appreciation of the artistic, cultural and historical significance of comic and cartoon art through a variety of events, exhibitions, and educational programs.

For more information about MoCCA, please visit www.moccany.org
The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art is located at:
594 Broadway, suite 401 (between Houston and Prince), New York, NY 10012

MoCCA is open to the public Tuesdays through Sundays from 12:00-5:00 pm. Suggested donation to the museum is $5 but free for MoCCA Members as well as for children 12 and under (when accompanied by a paying adult).