Cartoon Festival offers something for everyone
People of all ages and abilities will be able to have a go at cartoon activities this weekend (14 to 16 April 2011) when Shrewsbury’s Cartoon Festival offers a host of free opportunities for budding cartoonists.
The Festival activity starts with a drop-in family workshop for all ages at Bear Steps Gallery, St. Alkmund’s Place on Thursday (14 April 2011) from 4.30pm – 6pm. Workshop leader and Shropshire based cartoonist Angela Martin promises plenty of creative ideas and fun.
There‘s more fun for all ages on offer at Shropshire Wildlife Trust on Saturday morning (16 April 2011) with another free drop-in workshop using cartoons to create three dimensional fantastical fountains!
The very youngest are invited to draw favourite animals and funny faces in Andy Gilbert’s workshops at Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Shrewsbury Library, on Saturday, an event ideal for 6- to 11-year-olds.
Older children and adults can participate in a free hands-on workshop with a focus on developing characters and drawing the expressions that contribute so much to the humour and appeal of cartoons. ‘Express Yourself’ is led by cartoonist Paul Hardman at Shrewsbury Library.
The Cartoon Festival always offers opportunities for professional, amateur and aspiring cartoon artists to get input on developing their work from successful cartoonists and advice on getting their work published. This year is no exception and the Festival is delighted that Reader’s Digest, one of the main magazine publishers of cartoon art is offering a free presentation about getting into print, followed by one-to-one advice sessions at Theatre Severn.
Advice is also available from Cath Tate, a leading publisher of greetings cards and supporter of the Festival, and from professional cartoonists Jacky Fleming and Ian Ellery at Bear Steps Gallery.
For those who feel their talents lie in words rather than drawing, Reader’s Digest will be running their ‘Beat the Cartoonist’ caption competition in The Square on Friday (15 April 2011) and Saturday (16 April 2011). There are three great prizes of £100 plus framed cartoon and subscription to the magazine for the funniest captions.
The full Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival programme is at www.shrewsburycartoonfestival.com and in a leaflet available from the Visitor Information Centre, Shrewsbury Museum Tel: 01743 281200
Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival is organised by Shropshire Council, Shrewsbury Civic Society, The Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation, Cath Tate Cards and Agate Design, with support from Readers Digest and many volunteers and private sector sponsors.
