What is this?
It is a school with a space for workshops, gallery shows and performances. Plus ideally a space for working artists to come get away for a couple of weeks to work in a peaceful environment. Also a promotional/publishing arm. See the mission statement.
Isn't this just like CCS?
Yes, a little, and maybe no. James Sturm, who founded Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) has done a great thing in White River Junction, VT and we are in constant awe of his gumption and smarts. James has been friendly with us and he has helped us enormously by offering advice in the forming of this school. We too offer an intensive program in comic art, and will require students to publish their own work at the end of the program. Our school is new and we don't know how it will evolve. Right now, our program is one year, is not an MFA program and is much more low-fi. Our focus is on you, the artist. We work to train you to discover your best practices and habits, pushing you to develop your voice and your talents and turning you into a thriving cartoonist.
Why Gainesville?
In Gainesville students can find movies, bookstores, theaters, rock shows, cheap food and housing, sunny days, bike paths, egrets, lizards, free yoga at the library, free lunches on the University of Florida campus, midnight soccer, organizations and ad hoc sub communities within communities. It's a welcoming DIY place that rewards initiative and engagement. The University (UF) has a long-standing academic comics convention/symposium which has flown in such luminaries as Eddie Campbell, Dan Clowes and Kim Deitch. There are also a large number of academic scholars at the University dedicated to study of sequential art and these people, who have done historical research and investigated the mechanisms of comics in unique ways. The town is vibrant with a lot of culture, including an art museum, a museum of natural history, an arthouse movie theater, good bookstores, great libraries, a renegade video store, an alternative avant garde film festival, and great punk-pizza place/junk and toy shop and much much more. Plus, we like sun. And sunshowers. And waterfowl and Spanish moss and sinkholes and skateboarders and artists and swimming and coffee and pizza and lizards, etc.
"Sequential Art"? What are you talking about?
Sequential art, comics, comix, graphic novels, manga, bandes dessinees, fumetti, cartooning, strips, funny papers- whatever you want to call it, yes it's the same thing: words and still pictures in combination to form narrative. Following Will Eisner's lead, we like Sequential Art, which loses the humorous connotation of "comics" and the movement connotation of "cartoon" (and yes, we know the origin of the word "cartoon") and ultimately it sounds to us more like what it is.
What about manga?
Manga is such a pervasive force that we see a lot of students who have spent most of their time mastering the tics and behaviors of the most popular Japanese comics. In our teen programs, we will encourage the students to see these mannerisms more clearly, and to allow them more control and more options. In our single-year program, we will go further by emphasizing a breaking down of learned mannerisms (this is true of any over-stylized system of creating) towards finding their own personal mode of storytelling. From there, most students report a sort of breakthrough where they begin to understand their own ideas and tendencies better, and as such begin to settle on deeper and more personal methods, techniques and styles. An attentive student can now go back to a popular manga style if they see fit, though most expand on their new found inventiveness and independence.
Who is this for?
You could be: 1) College-age and wanting to focus on art before springboarding into a full-fledged BFA. 2) An aritstic adult who has dabbled in comics and wants to study and practice the form more. 3) Frustrated with your current schooling and want to study comics in a more intensive, inspiring and free environment. 4) Post-college adult looking to continue their education or pick up study they missed. 5) An established creator stuck and needing to push their work to the next level. 6) Any combination or variation on the above. SAW is a school for differing personalities and artists temperaments. We strive to find the stories and art inside you that are trying to come out. We have taught comics to art students, english teachers, truck drivers, museum guards, fine arts students, scriptwriters, graphic designers (lots of those), etc. In short, if you have passion and dedication to learning sequential art, then the SAW single-year intensive is for you.
Who Are You People? We are cartoonists and artists with decades of experience, grants, awards and award nominations, thousands of published pages and years of teaching experience. Tom Hart taught at School of Visual Arts, "The Harvard of Cartooning" for 10 years and was a favorite teacher among his students. Leela Corman has had an extensive illustration career and her major graphic novel, Unterzkahn, was published to rave reviews from Shocken/Pantheon in 2012. Just about every one of our teachers also teaches at the University of Florida. Read about other teachers on the About Us page.
Is this an accredited program? Our short term goals do not involve seeking accreditation, a process that can take up to 7 years. An unaccredited MFA may be in the future, but we are still investigating this. Another option we will be investigating is a partnership with the a local college in some manner, perhaps offering BFA credits, but right now our MFA-quality program is a program without accreditation. For more on this, see the Executive Director's statement.
Are my donations tax-deductible?
Yes. The Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW) is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the purposes of The Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW) must be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Tom created a teaching environment that fostered open discussion, unbiased attitudes and a love for understanding how comics work and the kind of work we wanted to make.
-Jess Fink
You make comic stories, story telling so exciting and fun. I know I came to you with a crazy idea of writing a story. I don't think I'd have embarked on such an ambitious journey without your enthusiasm, boundless optimism, and most importantly, a belief in the story.
-Anna Kim
The way Tom teaches just electrifies my passion for making comics to an extent that I don't often experience.
-Hillary Allison
Tom’s approach to education and guidance offers sensitivity and candor in equal measure. He offers technical insight across genre boundaries, adapting his criteria to each student’s goals and aesthetic preferences.
- Dan Strauss
Tom picked me up from my rut, showed me what potential I had as an illustrator, and kicked my self-doubt’s ass six ways till sunday.
- Carlos Abdu
If you’re having a problem with your art or story, rather than spouting out answers at you, he’ll try to talk you through it and eventually draw a solution from you. This teaching style helped boost my artistic confidence and problem solving.
- Jon Mosley
Tom is a magical teacher and all-around great guy. He did not just help my brain understand how to create a good comic, but also opened my eyes to tons of great cartoonists, provided advice outside of class time, helped me find a thesis advisor, lent me fantastic books, etc. (the list goes on).
-Jess Worby
SAW is looking for serious students of comic book and sequential art. Whether your interest is personal stories, graphic novels, or genre comics or whether your concern is for entertainment, literary depth, or personal expression, then our program is for you.
We have taught comics to illustration students, writers and english teachers, fine arts students, truck drivers, museum guards, scriptwriters, graphic designers, etc. In short, if you have passion and a dedication to learning sequential art, then the SAW single-year intensive is for you.
Our single-year program is designed to challenge students both technically and intellectually.
First year students will learn the basics of cartooning and narrative art. As they gain skills and craft from our faculty, we will also challenge and guide them into new ideas and solutions that will turn them into artists.
A second, optional (and at this point, tentative) year is more project-oriented, and students will be required to complete and publish a graphic novella, collection of stories or tabloid newspaper of their work.
Studio classes will run roughly from 11:00-1:30 pm M-F at The Sequential Artists Workshop. Non-studio classes will run roughly 11:00-1:00. Our current schedule, in slight flux:
First Year Classes
Class
Instructor
Mondays, Full-year: Basic and Advanced Narrative Exercises Studio
Tom Hart
Exploration of sequential art through concentrated practice including constraint-driven exercises as well as literary exercises of voice, point-of-view, shifting viewpoints, disruptive page layouts, etc. Students will self-publish at least once by the end of this class.
Tuesdays, Full-year: History and Comix Overview
John Ronan
History of the medium from Töpffer to Hogarth to Opper to Kelly to Crane to Searle to EC to manga to Moebius and more.
Wednesdays, Full-Year: Drawing for Comics Studio
Leela Corman + Justine Mara Andersen
Intensive, year-long study of drawing the human figure for storytelling, including clothed and nude models, moving and stationary poses, and basic anatomy for the artist. Justine Mara Andersen will tackles inking techniques, perspective, creative drawing with the panel.
Thursdays, Semester One: Narrative Exploration
Carrie Guss
In-depth look at prose storytelling in various cultures. From myths to oral tales to Milton to Cervantes to Flaubert to modern realists like Raymond Carver, Flannery O'Connor, to modernists like Joyce, Faulkner, Borges, Calvino, etc. A look at adaptations in comics form and other media.
How pictures tell stories. How the placement and staging of an image effects the story and the reader. The history of narrative images from across multiple cultures.History of Illustration
Fridays, Full-year: Reading the Graphic Novel and Media Techniques
Various, Travis Fristoe
An introduction to inking for comics, watercolor, gouache, collage and other techniques for reproduction. This class will be taught by a variety of artists for a few weeks at a time. Visiting artists will also lecture at this time. We believe that art students need to try a variety of media to find the ones that they are most excited and comfortable with. Finalizing artwork digitally via scanning and Adobe Photoshop, etc. will be covered. Visual perspective for narratives will be covered. The general public is invited to drop into friday classes for $25 per class. In alternating sessions, we will be reading and discussing top-tier graphic novels, in a class being led by UF instructor Travis Fristoe.
Longer, intensive media classes will ideally follow ultimately in the second year.
Our Single-Year Program is being modeled on the programs developed in the finest institutions for cartooning in the country.
Our second year is currently tentative and will involve an intensive single-project workshop, in-depth graphic novel reading/interpretations, intensive media class and more. Stay tuned.
How Much Does it Cost?
Our tution for students who sign up for the fall 2103 program before December 2012 the price is $3550 per year or $1800 per single semester. Stay tuned for a la carte class enrollment options.
Why Are You So Cheap?
You are getting a first-rate arts education for a third of the price of CCS, and one eighth of the price of SCAD or SVA. Why? Our program at present is unaccredited. We have low overhead (almost all of tuition goes to rent and teacher salaries.) We currently have one computer. This is our beta year and we expect prices to go up almost instantly if this beta year is a success, (or maybe even early in 2012) so get on board now.
Why Are You So Expensive?
We're not! See above.
Can I Take Just a Few Classes?
Yes. You can sign up for just the classes you want. Info about pricing and a la carte enrollment coming soon. A la carte classes for the 2012 full-year program are roughly $350 per semester, with some restrictions. Please contact us for more specifcs.
Who is this School For?
You could be: 1) College-age and wanting to focus on art before springboarding into a full-fledged BFA. 2) An aritstic adult who has dabbled in comics and wants to study and practice the form more. 3) Frustrated with your current schooling and want to study comics in a more intensive, inspiring and free environment. 4) Post-college adult looking to continue their education or pick up study they missed. 5) An established creator stuck and needing to push their work to the next level. 6) Any combination or variation on the above. SAW is a school for differing personalities and artists temperaments. We strive to find the stories and art inside you that are trying to come out. We have taught comics to art students, english teachers, truck drivers, museum guards, fine arts students, scriptwriters, graphic designers (lots of those), etc. In short, if you have passion and dedication to learning sequential art, then the SAW single-year intensive is for you.
What Kind of Work Comes out of your School?
The work we try to enable you to create is the work that you were most meant to make, and the stories you were most meant to tell. We seek to help you find your voice as a cartoonist by challenging you to push your own boundaries and discover more of your stories and your abilities while helping you see and control what you are already strong at. You can see some student work in our student sampler, here.
How Big are the Classes?
We are aiming for a class size between 8-13 people.
Where Will I Stay?
Gainesville is a major university town and as such, very friendly to students. You should have no trouble finding suitable housing in Gainesville. Almost any house or apartment you find will be within biking distance of SAW which is a few blocks from the main intersection of University and Main. Try this Craigslist link: http://gainesville.craigslist.org/apa/ or other services to find roomates or an apartment.
Note: The UF schedule means that houses and apartments rent from August to July. Look before then. Prospective students will have access to the school Wiki page where students can discuss and collaborate on finding housing.
What Payment Options are There?
At the moment we're agile and flexible. Contact us.
Do I Need a Portfolio?
Yes, a portfolio review is required to enter the school. It is recommended this be online or in digital form. In addition, an essay and a new comic strip are required. See specifics on the application form.
Our spring 2013 semester will begin in January and end in May. Details to follow.
To see our individual classes and workshops, click here
See our online page for online tutoring and courses
Help spread the word about our year-long program!
Things are developing nicely as we begin to add faculty and additional resources. Though the final schedule and plan is still in flux (you can always see the latest iteration on our site at the PROGRAM link above), I can say with certainty that the program will rival any program of similar length in the country. This is our first year and as such is offered at an extremely affordable price.
Many of you are already familiar with SAW, have already taken classes here, etc. You know that the space is good, the teaching excellent and the Gainesville artistic community vibrant. We are actively seeking talented applicants. Please let people know that they can contact us formally or informally about attending.
The school admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school and the school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship, and loan programs and athletic and other school administered programs.
Apply Apply here. Questions? Write us at thesaw (...) sequentialartistsworkshop.org
Our Faculty
Tom Hart
Founder and Executive Director
Tom Hart is the creator of the Hutch Owen series of graphic novels and books, and has been a core instructor at New York City's School of Visual Arts for 10 years, teaching cartooning to undergraduates,working adults and teens alike. Among his students were Dash Shaw, Sarah GliddenBox Brown and other published cartoonists like Leslie Stein, Jessica Fink, Nicole Virella, Tintin Pantoja, Yali Lin, Josh Bayer, Brendan Leach and many others. His own work has been nominated for all the major industry awards; his The Collected Hutch Owen was nominated for best graphic novel in 2000. He was an early recipient of a Xeric Grant for self-publishing cartoonists, and has been on many best-of lists in the Comics Journal and other comix publications. He has been called "One of the great underrated cartoonists of our time" by Eddie Campbell and "One of my favorite cartoonists of the decade" by Scott McCloud. His daily Hutch Owen comic strip ran for 2 years in newspapers in New York and Boston, and his "Ali's House", co-created with Margo Dabaie was picked up by King Features Syndicate. He has taught comix and sequential art at schools and institutions all around New York City for 10 years, and has conducted week-long workshops from Maine to Hawaii. In addition to constant comix practice and work, he has studied drama, acting and improvisation in New York and sees creating the Sequential Artists Workshop as the next step of his teaching and learning career. His next book will be Daddy Lightning, in March 2012 from Retrofit, and Let's Get Furious, a 380-page new Hutch Owen collection, also in March 2012, from Top Shelf.
Justine Mara Andersen was mentored by and learned from top names in the industry, including such luminaries as P. Craig Russell (Elric, Sandman), Val Mayerik (Punisher, Conan), Frank Thorne (Red Sonja), John Workman, Jim Steranko and Jeffrey Catherine Jones, but struck out on her own to create her long-running series Mara, Celtic Shamaness for Fantagraphics as well as working as an inker and illustrator for DC Comics, Image Comics, Wizards of the Coast (D&D, etc.), Lucasfilms and other clients.
Leela Corman studied painting, printmaking and illustration at Massachuesettes College of Art and is the author of three graphic novels. Her newest book t Unterzakhn, published by Schocken/Pantheon, has garnerd rave reviews in The New York Times, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and other places. Her first, Queen's Day earned her a Xeric Award in 1999 and was called "Music to my eyes" by Scott McCloud. In her successful illustration career, she has illustrated books for major publishers on crafts, fashion, gardening, dating and other topics. She is also an accomplished bellydancer and bellydance instructor. Her website is
www.leelacorman.com
Carrie Guss
Writing teacher Carrie Guss currently teaches undergraduate creative writing at the University of Florida, and is finishing up her MFA in Fiction. She has a degree in Politics and Media Studies from Pomona College, where she studied creative nonfiction under David Foster Wallace. She is working on a collection of short stories.
She also has an IMDB page for her role as "Zombie Queen" in 2009's The Hell Patrol.
Daniel Stepp received his M.F.A. in painting from the New York Academy of Art.
He has exhibited in Florida, New York, Canada, and around the U.S. His paintings have been described as American genre. Subjects that his paintings explore are: tools and technology, gender roles in labor, corporate branding, and the transference of myth and archetype onto genre activities.
His comic-book series, Humungous Man, humorously playing with myth and archetype, was published by Alternative Comics from 1995-1997.
