Art Heroes

April workshops and appearances

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:42:39 +0100

We’ve got some exciting workshops going on this month…

Friday 5th April - Creating Characters, Whitley Bay Library, 2:30pm - 3:30pm

Today’s fully-booked session will celebrate the opening of Whitley Bay’s new library. We’ll lead the participants through the creation of their own comic book characters, giving great tips on arriving at a great design and compelling backstory.

Tuesday 9th, Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th April - Comic Book and Cartooning Explorers, The Cave, South Shields, 1pm - 3pm

Next week, Daniel will be running a short course on comic books and cartooning at The Cave in South Shields. Every participant will receive a free comic book and work towards the Arts Award Explore qualification. Three sessions for £10. For more info, click the link.

Wednesday 17th April - Greek Myths Comic Book sessions, Great North Museum: Hancock, private booking

Local school children will create comic strips based on a variety of Greek Myths as part of the celebration of Professor Brian Shefton’s life.

Wednesday 17th April - Comic Book and Cartooning Club, The Cave, 5pm - 7pm

Daniel will be piloting a weekly comic book after schools club at The Cave in South Shields for young people aged 8 to 16 years. Each session costs £3.50, with the fee going towards Arts Award moderations and the creation of a comic book library. For more info, click the link.

Monday 22nd April - Comic Book Workshop Full-Day Session, private booking

Wednesday 24th April - Comic Book and Cartooning Club, The Cave, 5pm - 7pm

For more information on all of these sessions email ArtHeroesUK@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter or Like our Facebook page.

Consumerism, Gods, Politics and Zombies exhibition opening at Baltic

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:38:00 +0000

Last Friday we went along to the opening of Consumerism, Gods, Politics and Zombies, the first exhibition Art Heroes has had a hand in creating.

Art Heroes was commissioned by Baltic to work with a class from every secondary school in the Gateshead area. The project used comic books to look at art, literacy and creativity, with each student producing a comic strip in response to The Rinse Cycle by Jim Shaw.

Well over 200 young people were involved in the project, and we’re really proud of all the work they completed. The students involved had a huge task on their hands - responding to Jim Shaw’s dense and varied work, learning how to tell stories using comic books, and then complete a comic book page using the themes presented in The Rinse Cycle. It was fantastic to see just how good the finished comic book pages are. But why take our word for it? Get yourself along to Baltic to see for yourself!

Each comic strip is entitled, Billy Goes to Baltic, followed Jim Shaw’s character/alter ego Billy on a trip to Baltic, where he/she/it comes into contact with living artwork, monsters, super villains, animals and Jim Shaw himself!

Don’t worry if you’re not based in the North East and can’t make it along to the exhibition, as we have copies of all the students’ great comic strips, and will be showcasing a selection of them on the website in the next few weeks.

Consumerism, Gods, Politics and Zombies is showing now, and for the next two months, at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, NE8 3BA, in the Quay Space on Level 2.

Stay Back, Foul Beast! by Art Heroes We made this strip for some...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:00:42 +0000

Stay Back, Foul Beast! by Art Heroes

We made this strip for some workshops at Seven Stories late last year, but we’re only posting this now that all the Halcyon & Tenderfoot work is done.

Feel free to download and enjoy on your device of choice.

If you enjoy this, you might enjoy these.

The Art Heroes Thought Bubble 2012 Character Competition winner...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 21:26:00 +0000

The Art Heroes Thought Bubble 2012 Character Competition winner is…

As revealed in the letter’s page of Halcyon & Tenderfoot #4, the winner of our latest character competition, held at Thought Bubble way back in November, is:

The Grey Mullet by Jack Grace!

Jack’s character was picked due to his smooth design and the clear story-arc he came up with. Quite simply, They Grey Mullet does all the things we ask our workshop students to do.

That doesn’t mean that the other designs and stories weren’t great, mind. It took a long time and a lot of thought to arrive at a decision, as all of the entries had great elements.

Jack’s prize is above - Lee’s drawing of The Grey Mullet and the comic strip adapted from Jack’s story.

***We’re well aware that the comic strip is difficult to read here on the site, so please feel free to download it and read on your device of choice.

Nominate your favourites at British Comic Awards

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:20:00 +0000

Nominations are now open for the British Comic Awards, which is in its second year. The awards are split into 5 categories: Best Comic, Best Book, Young People’s Comic Awards, Emerging Talent and Hall of Fame and is open to comics published between September 2012 and August 2013, and created (and owned) in Britain.

You can nominate your favourite comics now. And, remember, every issue of Halcyon & Tenderfoot are eligible for the Young People’s Comic Awards. Issues 3, 4 and the remastered version of issue 1 are all available for Best Comic. But even if you don’t think our series is worthy of a nomination, make sure you vote for whatever comics you think are worth it.

Halcyon & Tenderfoot issue 4 updates

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:20:00 +0000

Lots has gone on over the last few days, with newspapers and websites posting about Halcyon & Tenderfoot. Lots of positive feedback so far. Let’s hope that keeps up.

Remember that we have a sale on postage and packaging - so you can pick up the series at convention prices from the comfort of your computer screen.

ComicsBeat has posted an amazing review of Halcyon & Tenderfoot issues 1 to 4. This review sums up pretty much every conscious and subconscious intention of the series. Lovely to read: “a rather powerful, moving piece of work”

Omnicomic has posted a great review of Halcyon & Tenderfoot issue 4. Omnicomic has followed the whole series and we really appreciate the constant support: “Clifford and Robinson do a great job finishing things up”

The Shields Gazette has posted a nice piece on the finale to the series and our work in schools.

FPI posted a 5 page preview of Halcyon & Tenderfoot issue 4, with a review coming soon.

Photo

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 10:54:32 +0000

Halcyon & Tenderfoot issue 4 now available! And to...

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:09:30 +0000

Halcyon & Tenderfoot issue 4 now available!

And to celebrate, we’re having a 7-day free postage and packaging sale in the Art Heroes shop. Check out the great reviews for all the issues of Halcyon & Tenderfoot in the shop while you’re there.

Subscribers will be receiving their comics on Monday or Tuesday, with new orders arriving later in the week.

Appearances and workshops in March

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 22:32:54 +0000

March is a pretty busy month for Art Heroes with workshops in libraries and schools, an exhibition opening and a convention:

Saturday 2nd March - World Book Day workshop, Sunderland City Library, 11:30am - 1:30pm

To celebrate March 7’s World Book Day, Art Heroes will be running a special two hour version of our Creating Characters session. Perfect for youngsters with a passion for comics, cartoons and any kind of drawing.

Friday 8th March - Art and literacy workshops, Houghton Kepier Sports College, PRIVATE BOOKING

Friday 15th March - Art and literacy workshops, Northumberland Church of England Academy, PRIVATE BOOKING

Thursday 21st March - Jim Shaw Workshop Exhibition Launch, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art

The culmination of months of hard work from the Art Heroes team and Year 9 students from every secondary school in Gateshead.

Saturday 30th March - Dundee Comic Expo, Dundee University, 11am - 4pm

Daniel will be in Dundee selling issues 1 to 4 of Halcyon & Tenderfoot, and chatting to anyone who wants to pop along to his table and have their ear chewed off.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR NEW READERS! Page 1 from Halcyon &...

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:33:46 +0000

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR NEW READERS!

Page 1 from Halcyon & Tenderfoot issue 4 (which should be finished this week, actually).

Halcyon & Tenderfoot issue 4 cover by Lee Robinson and...

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:34:38 +0000

Halcyon & Tenderfoot issue 4 cover

by Lee Robinson and FiverArts

It’s coming…

Half-term holiday sessions in Gateshead

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:30:23 +0000

Art Heroes will be running 3 Creating Characters sessions at Gateshead Libraries next week and you can book tickets now!

Get tips from Daniel and Lee - the writer and artist of Halcyon & Tenderfoot - on how to come up with a great design and interesting characteristics. Whether you’re interested in superheroes, comedy or Manga - these workshops will help you with one of the most important aspects of any comic: getting the characters right.

Monday 18th February, 10:30am - Blaydon Library

Monday 18th February, 2:00pm - Birtley Library

Friday 22nd February, 2:00pm - Gateshead Library

LIKE us on Facebook... or we'll be lonely over there.

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:02:08 +0000

LIKE us on Facebook... or we'll be lonely over there.

We're a little late on 'December'...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:17:14 +0000

So we’re a little bit late on ‘December’. It’s January now, after all. But Halcyon & Tenderfoot issue 4 is being worked on right now and will be released this month. And it’s going to be good.

We’re really sorry about the delay in getting issue 4 to you all, but we’ve been very busy teaching young people to tell their own stories in a project with Baltic in all of Gateshead’s secondary schools.

We’ll post the cover and some more previews soon - but we want to make sure that our fantastic subscribers get a look at them first.

Deadly Dragons return to Seven Stories

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:19:36 +0000

We’ll be running our very successful Deadly Dragons workshop at Seven Stories again this weekend.

To coincide with Seven Stories fantastic How to Train Your Dragon exhibition, we’ll be teaching you how to draw a Viking version of yourself, design a dragon and create a cool comic strip about your adventures.

To find out more or to buy tickets, see the Seven Stories website.

Here are another 10 of our favourite Character Competition...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:11:00 +0000

Here are another 10 of our favourite Character Competition entries from talented Thought Bubble 2012 attendees.

We’ll be picking a winner soon and making the announcement in the letters page of Halcyon & Tenderfoot issue 4, which will finally go on sale soon from our shop.

Art Heroes hosted a Character Competition at Thought Bubble,...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:03:17 +0000

Art Heroes hosted a Character Competition at Thought Bubble, Leeds November 2012.

We received almost 50 entries over the weekend, but here are 10 of our favourites. Come back later for another 10 of our favourite entries.

Sketches at Thought Bubble

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Lee will be sketching at Thought Bubble.

He’ll draw you anything from Halcyon & Tenderfoot, the world of comics and cartoons or your own creations for quite a small price.

A5 sketches are £3.

A4 sketches are £5.

Comic Book Heroes Character Competition

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Come to the Art Heroes table at any point during the Thought Bubble comic convention and you’ll be able to take part in our Comic Book Heroes Character Competition.

Design your own hero with help from Lee, whether you’re interested in secret agents, knights or ninjas. And write a story for your character with help from Daniel, even if you’ve never written a word in your life.

Everyone who takes part will receive a free gift, with spot prizes throughout the weekend for great designs and stories - and a grand prize on offer, which will be decided once the convention is over. This main prize will be a full-colour drawing of your character by Halcyon & Tenderfoot artist, Lee.

Halcyon & Tenderfoot issue 1 will be released at Thought...

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 13:00:28 +0000

Halcyon & Tenderfoot issue 1 will be released at Thought Bubble on Saturday. This re-release features re-drawn, re-inked and re-lettered pages. That’s a lot of REs!

Come to Royal Armouries Hall tables 62 and 63 to pick up issues of Halcyon & Tenderfoot and get involved in all the other great things we’ve got going on at the show.