Tag Archives: activity

Misako Rocks!

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misako rocks Manga fans, sharpen your pencils! We were delighted to host Misako Takashima (popularly known as Misako Rocks!) at an intensive drawing workshop for 10-14 year-olds. Check out our interview with Misako at the end of the post!

misako's workThe workshop primarily focused on character development, as well as a little history on Japanese culture and manga. After a hilarious PowerPoint presentation about growing up in Japan and coming to America, Misako jumped right in to the art. Wielding a variety of markers, she demonstrated how to structure faces and make mouths, eyes, and even hair expressive.

easelsThe kids were loaded up with paper and pencils so they could sketch along with Misako.

kids working 2My favorite part, however, was when Misako would circulate among the young artists, commenting on their work, making suggestions, and giving mini-lessons to help improve their drawings.

kids working 3Another fabulous thing about the workshop? The kids’ art! In addition to some spur-of-the-moment sketches, many of them brought their portfolios with them. Here are just a few…

manga twinsblonde braidwolvescharactersyellow houseposterguitarred girl

In addition to publishing her own work, Misako has been featured in magazines and newspapers, including Elle Girl and the New York Times. The BBC and TV Asahi featured her in a documentary about her comic book life, and her Instagram flows with photos, sketches, and artistic exuberance.

misakoWhen did you first start drawing manga, and why did it intrigue you?

I started drawing when I was 8 or 9 just like any girls copied their favorite characters. But professionally I started drawing in 2004. It was my first dream that I wanted to become a puppeteer in Broadway (to work for Lion King musical!), but I gave up on myself.
Then I noticed that Japanese pop culture (anime and manga) was getting pretty popular around that time. I thought that I had to switch my career when this was pretty trendy! That’s how I started making my story and drawing.

Describe the steps you take to draw a single page in one of your books.

First I roughly draw panels and add lines to the characters. At this time I don’t draw backgrounds. Then I start polishing each page: 1 draw with blue pencil. 2 draw with calligraphy brush. I draw background separately. Scan everything and color with Photoshop.

What’s more difficult for you…writing the story, or drawing the art?

Writing the story is more difficult for me, because English is my second language. I am still learning! My study will never stop! But I do have so many ideas, so I don’t have any problems to come up with a theme!

Name some other artists you love!
Yukari Ichijo is my favorite manga artist, Klimt, and Charles Burns, the graphic novel artist of Black Hole. Art Spiegleman, the graphic novel artist of Maus might be my No1!

What’s one of the most unusual things you’ve received from a fan?

A photo of her tattoo…she used my illustration!!! I was blown away by it.

What’s your advice for young artists who want to draw manga?

In order to make stories, I always advise them to go outside and have fun! Because those days really help them to create interesting and exciting stories. Also give yourself 1 min sketch practice. I sat on a bench in a park to draw people sit in front of me for one minute! I kept doing a lot to develop my drawing skill.

What are you working on now?

I am working on my weekly web comic: BOUNCE BACK. The theme is a school bully, racism, friendship, finding identity etc, etc. But it has a fantasy character, so it’s still entertaining! I bet readers will feel related to my characters Lilico and Paige.

Also I am working on Japanese manga comic too. I go to Japan often to be on TV and radio show to talk about my projects. Sometimes I visit schools to give a motivational speech. This is very exciting!

Artist photo courtesy of Misako Takashima. 

Walk on the Wild Side

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walk on the wild sideDare to be different! Stroll down the street with your skunk. What could possibly go wrong?

We read Don’t Take Your Snake for a Stroll, written by Karin Ireland, and illustrated by David Catrow (Harcourt, 2003). What happens when you take a pig shopping, an elephant to the beach, a duck to a wedding, or a rhinoceros to a swing party? Trust me, it’s not good. This hilarious book had our story time kids in stitches. Not only are the rhymes fun and fantastic, the stupendous illustrations show you exactly what happens when you take a coyote out for a night on the town!

You’ll need:

  • 1 box (mine was 4 ½” X 4 ½” x 9” – a large tissue box works!)
  • Construction paper
  • 1 rubber band
  • 1 paper cup
  • 1 pair of wiggle eyes (optional)
  • 4 wheels (optional – more on this below)
  • A 36″ piece of yarn or string
  • Markers for decorating
  • Scissors, tape, glue for construction
  • Hot glue

Wrap a box with your choice of construction paper, then slide a rubber band “collar” onto the box. Add legs, tail, ears, mouth, eyes, and a nose. A paper cup makes a terrific snout, should you need one (I recommend attaching it to the box with hot glue). We had pieces of self-adhesive foam on hand for noses and mouths, as well as Twizteez wire for whiskers. We made a few example critters to get the creative juices flowing…

skunkmonkeymouseoctopusBecause we intended to take our animals out on the sidewalk, we put the boxes on wheels. I used these plastic wheels from Kelvin Educational.

wheelsThread the wheels on pieces of bamboo skewer, and then thread the skewers through drinking straws taped to the bottom of the box like so:

axles and wheelsYou could also use wooden spools instead of plastic wheels. Or, if you’re planning to stay indoors, skip the wheels and just drag the box on the floor (like the dog from this post). No matter yours means of locomotion, just make sure your animal’s arms and/or legs don’t drag on the ground. Ditto for the tail. Tie a piece of yarn to the collar, and hit the sidewalks!

skunk on the street 1Sure, you might get a few curious stares…

skunk on the street 2Well, let them stare! Walk with poise and confidence. And as you’re walking, say to yourself “Me and my skunk look great. And darn it, we feel great too!”

skunk on the street 3Er. Just make sure you say it, don’t spray it.

skunk on the street 4Did you spot the mouse on a walk too? Look by the newspaper boxes!

Will The Real Sasquatch Please Stand Up?

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the real sasquatchIt’s tall, furry, reclusive, and tree-hugging. Long considered to be a myth, we’re going to prove that the elusive sasquatch does, in fact, exist.

We read Larf by Ashley Spires (Kids Can Press, 2012). Larf is a sasquatch. The only sasquatch in the world. He likes his quiet life in the woods with his bunny, Eric. But one day, while reading the newspaper, Larf learns that a sasquatch is scheduled to make an appearance at a nearby city. Another sasquatch? Despite his love for solitude, Larf decides to brave the trip to see if there is someone like him. Navigating the city (with Eric in a baby bjorn), Larf is scared, anxious, self-conscious, and full of doubts. But he sticks it out, and discovers that the sasquatch is…a fake. Disappointed, Larf is waiting for the bus to take him home, when someone compliments him on his bunny. Lo and behold! It’s another sasquatch! Shurl (with her companion bird, Patricia) came to the city thinking she was the only sasquatch. It looks like the two loners, are not longer lonely!

You’ll need:

  • 1 large oatmeal container
  • 1 sasquatch parts template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ paper
  • 2 paper towel tubes (make sure they’re the same height)
  • Some tagboard or brown poster board
  • Dark brown, light brown, and white construction paper
  • 1 piece of crepe paper streamer (mine was approximately 27″)
  • Several large plastic buttons for counterweights, if needed
  • Scissors, glue, and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating
  • Hot glue

The trickiest part of the this project is getting the sasquatch to balance on its paper towel tube legs. Other than that, it’s very simple, and the templates for all the project parts can be found on the sasquatch parts template. You’ll need lots of construction paper fringes too.

We’ll build from the bottom up! Trace two feet from the template onto tagboard, card board, or heavy-duty poster board. Hot glue the feet to the bottom of a pair of paper towel tubes, then wrap the tubes with several rows of brown construction paper fringe. Use markers to add toenails if you’d like.

sasquatch legsSet the legs aside for a moment. Wrap an oatmeal container with brown construction paper. Add a fringe of brown construction paper around the bottom of the container like a skirt. Trace the face and ears from the template onto light brown construction paper, then tape or glue them to the container. Add eyes, eyebrows, and draw a nose and mouth. Add brown construction paper fringes around the face and head.

faceLarf wears a scarf in the book, so we added a scarf (and a t-shirt) to our sasquatches. The t-shirt was a 5″ x 18″ piece of white construction paper. Kids used markers to draw a design on the t-shirt, then wrapped it around the middle of the oatmeal container. The scarf was a 27″ piece of crepe paper streamer (fringed on the ends of course). Some kids made hair bows out of crepe paper streamers as well. Very cute!

To make the arms, trace the arm template onto 2 pieces of tagboard, add some hair fringes, and hot glue the arms to the sides of the oatmeal container (you can’t see them in the below photo, but I added white short-sleeved t-shirt sleeves to the arms too). Cut some thumbs into the hands, then curl the arms around the chest and hot glue the hands together. Your sasquatch’s arms will now form a circle in front of his/her chest like so:

attached armsNow for the trickiest step. Hot gluing the legs to the bottom of the oatmeal container. Stand the legs up on a level surface and lower the body on top of them. You’ll know right away if the body needs to be adjusted left, right, forward, or backward. When you think you’ve struck the right balance, remove the body, squeeze some hot glue around the rims of the leg tubes, and gently lower the body on top of the hot glue.

If your sasquatch is still a little wobbly, use large plastic buttons as counterweights. Hot glue them to the underside of the body – front or back – as needed. Here’s a shot of the underside of my sasquatch, with a couple button counterweights attached.

counterbalance buttonsThe sasquatch is finished, but we’re not quite done with the project! You’ll notice a tree and bunny shape on the template. We made trees (with brown paper trunks) and bunnies (with white pom-pom tails) as prizes for a sasquatch finding game.

tree and bunnyOutside, we collected the sasquatches and hid them all over the library’s plaza. Then we shouted “1-2-3-Go!” and the kids dashed off to locate their furry friends.

taking offthe searchsasquatch foundThe reward for discovery was a bunny and a tree, tucked safely into the sasquatch’s arms. Awwwww!

the real sasquatchBelieve it or not, this isn’t the first sasquatch activity I’ve posted on this blog. Here’s another project for older kids that also involves a slightly different sort of search!