My Summer Vacation...

I was back at the Worcester Art Museum this year for their Summer program. It's kind of split differently for me this year since I'm teaching the first two weeks and I'm not back again until the first week of the second session in August.

However, I got the change to teach a Comic Book Anthology class I had taught a few times in the past called WAM Comics. Occassionally in the past it has been called Comic Book Anthology or something along this line. But the last couple of times I think it's just gone under the moniker of WAM Comics.

It was something actually started by Mark Lynch, who taught cartooning classes as the Worcester Art Museum when I was there. Mark also hosts a Sunday night show on WICN called INQUIRY. Where he talks to an impressive multitude of guests. I've even been on Mark's show on a number of occassions. It's great fun!!

He produced the book very much the old fashioned way of physical cut and paste. Which I did for the first couple of issues.

When I did the class this year, I decided to take advantage of the technology we have nowadays and go the digital route and actually publish the book online.

There have been a number of WAM Comics before this one. But I don't know where this one would fall numerically. So I decided since I'm going a different route for this book, this would be Volume One of the digitally published series.

I also decided to set up a goal and deadline for the students. It was quite simple. They had seven days to finish their pages up in. The minimum amount of pages I would allow would be between five to ten pages. The last two days would be filled with me doing a demonstration how they would digitally cut and paste their work together and the steps to uploading their book online to have it published.

If they met both the deadline and the minimum requirement their comic would be published in the anthology and they would receive a free copy of it.

It was a small class but most took the challenge admirably. And for those who chose to goof off the seven days, they missed out.

The main statement I wanted to convey over that week was that they're never too young to get their work out there. All it takes is dedication and time. And what I had hoped by giving them a physical copy of their work was that they will leave my class and have a desire to publish their own work.

Proceeds made from the sales of the book will go to the Metrowest Humane Society. A place where my wife Syd adopted our cat Ruben. Click on the link below to order your copy today:

WAM Comics: Volume One

Have a talented kiddo? Sign them up for my Cartooning Class!!

Some very good instructors and very good friends seen in the image above.

The class is about a couple weeks away. But there is still time to sign them up for my sign them up for my  Saturday Cartooning Class for 8 to 10 year olds.

What you can expect from this class is ALL things cartoon. Funny animal, superheroes, pop art, character design, comic book art and comic strip art. I even throw in lessons on how to create drawn animation just for good measure.

Although I do incorporate lessons that teach students how to draw established cartoon characters, I try and encourage them to create their own original characters. Or if they DO have a character they created outside the class, I encourage them to work with that character on projects.

I'm even known to create characters on the spot for them to do a cartoon style story with. Some of the results I've found highly entertaining and even more inventive than I could have possibly imaged.

You can either stop by the Worcester Art Museum when an archaeological team finally unearth the roads from all the snow we got last night and today or you can sign them up by clicking on the link below:

Drawing For Cartoons 8-10 years

Classes can fill up quck so don't delay!!

Sign up for my December Workshops and Winter/Spring Classes

My December Workshops as well as my Winter and Spring Classes are now available for sign-up at the Worcester Art Museum. Click on the link below to check out and sign up today:

Bret's Classes at WAM

Take a Cartooning Class This Summer!!

Nothing to do? Why not take a Cartooning Class this Summer!!

Annie's Book Stop of Worcester has invited me to teach cartooning classes on fridays from July 20th till August 31st at their store at 65 James Street in Worcester, MA.

You have a choice between taking either a morning or afternoon session for $87.50 each or you can take both the morning and afternoon class together for $175.00 total.

In Session One, I will be teaching Cartooning in the morning from 10 AM till 12 NOON and in the afternoon I will be teaching Comic Art.

In Session Two, I will be teaching Create Your Own Super Hero in the morning and Drawn Animation in the afternoons. These classes are scheduled for the same time periods as the first session.

If you wish to sign up for two classes, you can either sign up for consecutive classes in the same session or sign up for one class in the first session and another in the second session.

If you're interested you can either stop by Annie's Book Stop of Worcester during normal business hours to pick up a sign up sheet or e-mail me to find out more about the classes.

Winter Classes at WAM

My classes for the Winter Session are officially up and running on the Worcester Art Museum website. Both classes are going to be taking place on Saturdays. I will be teaching The Art of the Cartoon for 8 - 10 Years in the morning and Heroes, Villains and Creatures for 5 - 7 Years in the afternoon.

There is also time to sign up for my December Workshops as well. Spaces tend to fill up quickly so click on the link below sign up today:

April Art and Summer Classes are up and running on the WAM website!!

The Worcester Art Museum has just posted my classes for April Art Week as well as my Summer Classes. Scroll down to Classes at the Worcester Art Museum being taught by Bret M. Herholz on the right hand toolbar of my blog and click on the link to the class you wish to sign your child or teen up for.

I will be teaching classes in Cartooning and Pop Art for 8 to 10 and 11 to 13 year old students this Summer.

Classes fill up fast so sign up today!!

Classes at WAM start NEXT WEEK!!!

My Fall classes as well as my December Workshops are up and running on the Worcester Art Museum website!! There is still plenty of time to sign up so if you have a talented kiddo that loves to draw cartoons or wants to create their own comic book, sign up today by clicking the link below:

Youth Art Classes at WAM!!

Please feel free to print this off and pass it along to anyone who has a talented kiddo or teeno who wants to take an art class!!

Traditional Animation on Saturdays at WAM!!

There's still time to sign up for my Saturday Traditional Animation Class at the Worcester Art Museum. If you have a talented kiddo who loves cartoons and animation or know someone with a talented kiddo who loves cartoons and animation please feel free to pass this along to them!!

Traditional Animation 14 - 17 Years
Combine traditional drawn animation with technology. Design and illustrate your own story from panel to panel. Using computer programs, watch your story come to life.

Click on the link below to sign up:

Last day of classes

This session has been pretty good. I've had good students in my Thursday class and both of my Saturday class even though I found by the eighth week I was pretty burned out when it concerned all things Samurai. I was probably luck to be able to squeak out as many projects as I did with that subject matter.

But for the most part this session went really well. Especially my Saturday afternoon Comics on Computer Class. I was really impressed with the quality of work that came out of that class and how adventurous the students were with what the created.

This was actually my first class I taught for the computer at the Art Museum. I had kind of held back from teaching a class over the past couple of years because I wasn't terribly sure if I knew what I was doing as far as doing graphic design sort of stuff. But since I have been able to do quite a bit more work on the Photoshop, I've become a bit more comfortable with the idea of teaching a computer class.

And I'm really looking forward to the Fall Session since I will be teaching a Drawn Animation class. As I have stated in a few past blog posts, it's been a pet project that I've wanted to get off the ground for a few years now. And seeing the success of the Claymation classes on the computer, I think it was time to start a traditional drawn animation class at WAM.

Well, I've got an hour or so to go before class ends. And then it's onto the Summer session. If you've got a talented kid who loves art, log onto www.worcesterart.org and sign them up online or stop by the Art Museum and pick up a brochure there.

Summer classes at WAM

My list of summer classes is available:

July Workshops

The Art of the Cartoon 8 - 10 Years 07/06/2009 07/17/2009 M, Tu, W, Th, F from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, 10 Sessions 18

Comic Art 8 - 10 Years 07/20/2009 07/31/2009 M, Tu, W, Th, F from 10:00 AM to 12 N, 10 Sessions 18

August Workshop

Drawing For Animation 11 - 13 Years 08/03/2009 08/07/2009 M, Tu, W, Th, F from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, 5 Sessions 18

Pop Art Painting 11 - 13 Years 08/03/2009 08/07/2009 M, Tu, W, Th, F from 10:00 AM to 12 N, 5 Sessions 18

To register, click on the link below:

Aw phooey!!

Well, due to some scheduling screw up today didn't end up being my very first computer class. So, I'm going to have to wait till the Spring Sessions for my very first class.

I was disappointed because I was really looking forward to teaching my first computer class.

It's fine because today ended up being probably my best day of February Fun Week. 11 to 13 year olds for the most part are great. I've had a few exceptions but for the most part the 11 to 13 year olds and the 14 to 16 year olds are the easiest to work with. 8 to 10 can be a mixed bag. I've had some really fantastic 8 to 10 year old classes much like my current Thursday session.

And then I've had ones that was like Romper Room. That is if Romper Room was hosted by Satan.

But it was really nice to close out the week on a really positive note. It's also made me consider starting to do the Animation Classes along with Andy, Jamie and Brian who are currently teaching the classes. What I want to do is drawn animation with the web cams they have set up at the Museum. I'm going to start talking with the Museum about doing some drawn animation classes in the Fall.

So, stay tuned!!

Upcoming WAM Classes

Have a child who loves art? Why not sign them up for an art class at the Worcester Art Museum either the Winter, Spring or if you would like to sample a taste of what the Museum has to offer, try a Feb Fun Week class. To check out my latest offering and enroll log onto:

https://educationreg.worcesterart.org/ShowSchedule.awp?&Search=INSTRUCTOR&Target=Njk2OTY=%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&Title=Courses%20Taught%20by%20Bret%20Herholz

And here's a list of current classes:

Create Your Own Superhero 8 - 10 Years 01/08/2009 03/05/2009 Thursday from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM, 8 Sessions 10

Drawing Fun 8 - 10 Years 01/10/2009 03/07/2009 Saturday from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, 8 Sessions 5

Poster Power 8 - 10 02/18/2009 02/18/2009 Wednesday from 10:00 AM to 12 N, 1 Session 16

Poster Power 5 - 7 02/19/2009 02/19/2009 Thursday from 10:00 AM to 12 N, 1 Session 18

Poster Power! 14 - 16 02/19/2009 02/19/2009 Thursday from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, 1 Session 17

Poster Power 11- 13 02/20/2009 02/20/2009 Friday from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, 1 Session 18

Creative Cartooning 11 - 13 Years 03/19/2009 05/14/2009 Thursday from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM, 8 Sessions 16

Art of the Samuri 8 - 10 Years 03/21/2009 05/16/2009 Saturday from 10:00 AM to 12 N, 8 Sessions 16

Comics on the Computer 14 - 17 Years 03/21/2009 05/16/2009 Saturday from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, 8 Sessions 14