In this four week course students will create comics about nature. We will cover science comics, memoir and fictional works with themes about nature. We would focus on how to use comic techniques like mark making, textures, symbolism and anthropomorphizing plants (for example) in our nature comics! By the end of the course students will have a collection of finished comics that they can share or continue as longer form works. 

See SAW Comics updates from Feb 1 to Feb 11, 2024

The Pain of Who We Aren't

"Take a look at yourself in the mirror.

Do you look like you? Do you look like you want to? Hopefully you do, but most of us don't. Most of us feel STUCK with the person in the mirror. But I also know that if you feel you want to be someone else, or somewhere else, THAT PAIN is exactly what you should be writing and drawing about...

In fact, I will go to the mat about this: any story worth a damn is about someone who is somewhere they don't want to be.

I'm going to say that again: Every good story is about someone who is not who they want to be, but who pushes on anyway…

Donna Druchunas Returns For Another SAW Student Interview.

SAW STUDENT INTERVIEW: Susan Marks 

usan lives in near Sacramento, California with her husband and two rambunctious cats, and “no snow.” A native midwesterner who has lived in snow for enough in her life, she enjoys the dry heat of northern central California. She retired from a 40+ year career in nursing and making comics is her passion and main retirement activity.

SAW Friday Night Comics Workshop: Mindful Diary Comics with J.D. Lunt

Friday August 12th, 2022 @ 7PM EST

Don't forget to share your work after the workshop below in the comments, as a post using the "Friday Night Comics" topic, on social media using #fridaynightcomics #sawcomics @comicsworkshop, or all of the above!

This quote also highlights the non-work part of a life and how important it is to the whole (self-care, caretaking, health, car stuff, etc. can demand attention as soon as you commit to a weekly goal for your long-form, gorgeous creative pursuits.

SAW Friday Night Comics Workshop - Recovering Memory through Comics with Jett Allen!

We all have different set-ups, different positions we like to be in when we draw, different places we like to work. Whatever your way of working, if you’re having BACK-PAINS, WRIST PAIN, NECK PAIN, or more, check out this great read!

I'm in Tom's Inner Critic course and tried my hand (and mind) at my Inner Critic interviewing me.

Have any of you tried it yet?

It was strange, but also very relieving. My inner critic is actually very easy to talk to!

I feel like thinking about these questions as if someone was actually asking me them and then answering them instead of just going straight into anxious mode helped me feel lighter. It was almost like self-therapy and it helped me detach myself from my inner critic.

The Critic Asks:

“...Who do you think you are to try that, to do that, to attempt that, to show that...?

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?” But the critic has no idea who you are. The critic only knows who you're not.

What is your artist like? What is your WRITER like? How else are the two separate for you and what metaphors work for you?

Are you looking to sink your teeth into something new? Have you been missing dedicating a whole weekend to community and new knowledge? We’ve got just the thing for you!

Announcing our first ever live, online weekend workshops. For four weekends in July, SAW alumni will lead you through a weekend of new skills and new ideas.

Wise words by Mentor, Elise Dietrich, in our Year-Long Intensive Program about the importance of making your work physical!

Check out what we’ve all been up to the last few weeks with the SAW gang, SAW courses, and the Mighty Network groups! Snakes, Comic Finals, Expanding Ideas, and more!

Check out what we’ve all been up to the last few weeks with the SAW gang, SAW courses, and the Mighty Network groups! Instructor News, February Guest Artist, Final Assignments, Draw Jam info, and more!

Fortnightly Wrap-up post of what’s been going on at SAW! We MOVED, Year-Long Students are now in their 3rd session, new course, virtual draw jams, and more!

A recap of the last week from the Might Network including highlight from the Graphic Memoir and FLOW groups, links to free resources and an update for upcoming events.

This week on the SAW Mighty Network we have recommendations for everything from Simon Hanselmann, to PBS episodes and MPR features, as well as works in progress.

You probably heard we’ve recently made a big move over to the Mighty Network, a group sharing platform where the SAW community can share, workshop and develop ideas.