Ty’s Comic Boot Camp
Ty Templeton is a very talented comic book artist, who also does quite a bit of writing for the Toronto Star, as well as writing and inking most of the Simpsons comic books you may have come across. I’ve heard of him, I’m pretty sure I met him at a TAIS function over the years, but I was really happy to have earned a seat at his Animator’s Boot Camp at Max the Mutt’s Open House this weekend.
It was basically a two hour introduction to a full year’s course, so he went through things very quickly. Still, I found him to be the enigmatic and personable speaker I have heard so highly of. He took the audience ranging from about 10 years old to well into their 40’s through story development, genre writing, genre mixing, and very very quickly through comic panel flow and layout.
The scan above demonstrates a quick exercise I really enjoyed working through. First we drew a moment in history: somehow the first historical moment I came up with (if it’s not clear in my sketch) was the Hindenberg crash. Second, using the concept of framing, I zoomed out to reveal a different perspetive OF THE SAME MOMENT IN TIME. In this case, some godly entity has a magnifying glass and is burning a miniature dirigible. Finally, I drew the scene at a different moment in time. In this case, the five year old wreckage became a children’s jungle gym with swings and teeter totters. I think Ty dug my sense of humour, he looked over my shoulder and laughed. It was a tiny moment that meant a lot; I was having fun.
I have to admit I’m not a huge comic book fan, but I enjoyed being in the presence of an industry leader. The fact that he was such a great public speaker really helped add tremendous value to the day (for the record, it was another beautiful weekend day), so being inside was a tough sell.
And the school really put its best face forward. I have to admit I wish I was looking for a three or four year program. If I was, it seemed very comprehensive. The staff was very friendly and wanted to help. I’m not looking for that, but found their summer workshop and other scheduled Boot Camps of great interest. I’m sure this will not be the last I’ll see of the folks at Max.