Telling a story one panel at a time
Words by: Anessa Ayaton
Edited by: Jazz Digao
When I first heard Tagalikha was hosting a comic workshop, I thought it would be about strokes, techniques, drawing shapes, and the like. As a doodler myself, I was excited to see how Tish Valenzuela would teach us about her art style. Hosting the event in the park felt like such a typical New York experience, and I counted down the days before the workshop.
I went to Bryant Park on the day of the event and it was a particularly hot day. Having the event be held in a public space combined with the sunny weather really made it feel friendly and inviting. Tish made the class introduce ourselves through doodles, and from there I was already amused at how different each one’s process was.
I’m not sure what I expected, but I enjoyed that people from different backgrounds came together with the common interest of learning how to draw comics. Some of the people I met were: a professional photographer of 25 years; two women of multiple trades; and a man who was in NYC because of his summer internship.
Each person in the circle had such different backgrounds, but happened to find a way to connect together in this event through putting their pencils on paper.
At one point, the workshop felt like group therapy but through drawing. Tish gave us prompts, and then she gave the other attendees and me a moment to tell stories about what we had drawn. Hearing what others had shared made me feel less alone as I can relate to some of the experiences they shared.
Tish made us look around the park, observe details people don’t normally see, doodle, and talk. I enjoyed her style of teaching and her own insights behind her art work. She taught us a couple of ways to start a comic, such as using wordplay, or using cause & effect in our comic panel. She also shared how she uses those methods in socializing, which amazed me because it never occurred to me before to use or follow artistic methods to make effective conversations.
Not only did I learn methodical ways of doodling, I also learned about the people I was with and heard their interesting stories. At one glance, we would have looked like such a diverse group of students learning how to draw. From the way we looked, our personalities, and even what we do. Yet despite all those differences, we were able to relate to something that each one of us shared.
The event was described as a workshop to learn the art of storytelling and culling insights from everyday life. The most impactful thing I learned was Tish’s advice on the art of the insight - on this day I learned that it wasn’t just about how I draw my lines and put pencil on paper, it was also about how I viewed my subjects and to see the world in a different light. I learned a lot in just sitting in a park, and I look forward to more workshops like this.
