The Comic Art Europe project created a tailor-made pedagogical programme tested during the two editions of the Comics Summer Camp.
In total, the programme beneficiated to 40 students from 22 countries around Europe.
The first edition took place in July 2021 in Barcelona, organized by the Escola de Comic JOSO, were the students spent one week improving their skills as future professional comics artists. They were given the opportunity to meet numerous professionals from the industry such as Pepe Larraz (author at Marvel Comics), Jordi Lafebvre (Les beaux étés, Always Never), but also artistic director Fernando Güell and so many other great people.
In July 2022, 20 students of 12 nationalities took part in the second edition of the Comics Summer Camp helds in the heart of Europe, at the Belgian Comics Strip Center in Brussels. During one week, they were introduced to comics professionnal such as Steven Dhondt, Veerle Hildebrandt, Joris Mertens and Mattias Ysebaert as well as getting inspired by the richness of the comic strip heritage in Brussels.
Eager to discover and use our method ? You can find our reports here in French and English!
Some feedback from the students :
“Before this Summer Camp I didn’t have enough information about the industry and didn’t know what steps to take in order to become a more skilled artist that other people could work with. Now I’m better equipped to make decisions for myself and set achievable goals.” (first edition 2021)
“It gave me so many things to work on! I have to re-work my porfolio, with my new pitch I presented during the summer camp, I have to make a business card and I have more motivation to work on new and different projects.” (first edition 2021)
“The camp was amazing! Really helpful feedback and advice from all the teachers and hosts, and the shared dinners gave us lots of opportunities to get to know each other.” (second edition 2022)
“I felt trully motivated and supported there. I used all the feedback of my friends and teachers on my new project and got tones of inspiration from the museum and all the things that I’ve learnt.” (second edition 2022)
“I learned so many useful things and now I’m more open with my style and more confident with my work.” (second edition 2022)
“It’s given me the courage to seek out publishers, and show more of my work. Life is only so long, so I might as well make the most of it. At the end of the day, we’re all just hardworking people trying our best to do what feels meaningful, and seeing how other artists make a living has helped me affirm and evaluate my own goals and plans for the future.” (second edition 2022)
Conditions and selection process :
The application process was open to any young artist, between 18 and 27 years old and resident in one of the 27 EU Members States (+ United Kingdom, Albania, Bosnia and Herzogovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Tunisia, Armenia, Kosovo, Lebanon and Liechtensein).
40 students were selected by a pool of european comics expert upon presentation of a digital portfolio of between 10 to 20 pages including specific contents as work using analogue techniques (figure study, movement, composition, illumination, lay outs, etc.), work using digital techniques (drawings and color) and storytelling sequential works (comic pages, story board, etc.).
