Youth aged 8 years and older will this week have an opportunity to explore the world of comic art and comic book character designs as the Guyana Animation Network (GAN) hosts its third annual Digital Painting Summer Camp.
GAN, as it is commonly referred, is a local animation company that is striving to prepare more Guyanese for jobs and opportunities in the Global Animation and Digital Media industries, through the promotion of networking, creative and relationship-building activities between the youth, the Government, the public, private, public-private sectors, and civil society.
President of GAN Francine Leitch, in an interview with Sunday Stabroek, explained that this year’s Summer Camp intends to explore the world of comic book character designs through training on comic book drawing and literacy.
Dubbed ‘Comic Art Summer Camp 2K18,’ the camp is a week-long activity which aims to equip each participant with the comic art techniques, knowledge and skills to create original characters using the tools taught and explored, Leitch said. These tools will be imparted to the participants by feature guest trainer, Shawn Alleyne, she added.
The Summer Camp will run from August 6th to August 11th, from 10 am to 2 pm, at the Centre for Information Technology (CIT) at the University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus.
According Leitch, after last year’s Summer Camp, the members of GAN began to plan the theme for this year’s camp, and luckily for them, their search came to an end while participating in CARIFESTA XIII, where they met Alleyne.
“We connected with Mr. Shawn Alleyne, Barbadian-born American, living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with over 15 years of teaching comic book drawing and literacy in schools. It was, therefore, our honour to invite him to Guyana to train members of the Guyanese population,” the President said.
Commenting on the response to this year’s camp as compared to the previous years, Leitch said, “The response to this year’s Summer Camp has been tremendous thanks to the support of comic enthusiasts, creatives and our sponsors. The launch had a greater turn out [compared] to last year, especially by our Guyanese youth population. However, we are sure delivery of the content this year will be just as educational and impactful this year as we have a full schedule planned. We look forward to a successful Comic Art Summer Camp 2K18.”
Meanwhile, at the official launch party for the camp, inclusive of an auction, which was hosted on Friday at the University of Guyana’s Education Lecture Theatre (ELT) Building, there was a large turnout, featuring persons costumed as various fictional characters.
The official sponsors for this year’s Summer Camp include Metro Office and Computer Supplies, Bad Monkey of Giftland Mall and the University of Guyana Philanthropy, Alumni and Civic Engagement (PACE).
