In preparation for a visit from a comic artist as part of the Right Brain Initiate
program (RBI), Welches sixth grader Garrison Carpenter broke out his dad’s
collections of comics to study up. After three hours of investigation, he came
away a big fan of the Flash.

After five sessions with artist Lisa Eisenberg, Carpenter created his own comic
strip and came away a fan of the experience.

“I’m really happy she came and helped us with it,” said Carpenter, 12. “It was
just a great time overall.”

Eisenberg starts with art lessons on figure and anatomy and helps students
learn to draw characters that work for them, with a focus on developing their
comic’s main character. Students then develop the backstory of the characters
and a “story map,” an outline of how their comic will play out.

After that, students “thumbnail” the page, making a rough sketch and
investigating different choices of panel size, what’s inside each panel, speech
bubbles and creating a point of view to help direct the reader on where to
look.

Then students get feedback and begin the process of drawing their comic in
pencil before going over in ink and adding color.

Eisenberg, who has been creating comics for 10 years, noted comics blend the
worlds of writing and visual arts together.

“It creates something beyond those things and how they function separately,”
she said.

Her program at Welches focused on personal narratives, but Eisenberg has
also used it to teach social studies, language arts and more.

Eighth grader Taryn Criss, a fan of “Calvin and Hobbes” and “Garfield,”
learned a bit about herself through making her own comic.

“It was fun and it kind of helps you think about what happened in your life,”
said Criss, 14. “You look inside yourself and see what great stories you have
to write about.”

Fellow eighth grader Sophia Herman was intimidated at first because she
doubted her drawing skills, but she based her comic on a walk through the
woods back home from her friend’s house, adding a monster and gaining a
newfound appreciation for the work needed to make a comic.

“The comic book creators, we don’t give them enough credit,” said Herman,
14. “It is so stressful to draw something and mess up and it doesn’t look like
what you want it to look like.”

Sixth grader Inanna Vognild was already familiar with comics and graphic
novels, including Japanese comics called “manga.” She based her comic on
attending her friend’s birthday party, where a girl was asked to become a
model, and learned what it takes to get an idea put on the page.

“It was fun because there were a lot of things I didn’t know about the process
on how to make them,” said Vognild, 12.

Eisenberg, who has taught comics for four years, found her experience in
Welches to be rewarding as well, noting she was impressed by the differing
views of the students, how they engaged in the work and the support of the
staff.

“I really appreciated the students there,” she said. “It was definitely a really
positive experience overall.”

Welches Principal Kendra Payne notes she’d like to keep the RBI program
going “in perpetuity.” It began last year in just two classes before being
expanded to the entire school this year, featuring comics for grades fourth
through eighth and drumming for kindergarten through third grade.

“It’s just a great program,” Payne said, adding that she is developing a map
to provide different arts experiences for each grade level, including music,
performance and visual arts. “I think it makes arts feel more accessible for
teachers. It just really blends with what’s already happening.”