Artist teaches techniques to students

Creativity is something that has been missing in society, according to cartoonist Jim Gill of the Center for Arts Inspired Learning.

That’s what Gill was trying to teach fifth-grade students Feb. 15 during a workshop at Walter G. Nord Middle School.

The workshop is an annual initiative hosted by the Gifted Department at the Educational Service Center of Lorain County for the Young Authors program.

Young Authors is a county-wide, year-long reading, writing and illustrating program for students in third through sixth grades in which students create their own books.

Before working for the Center for Arts Inspired Learning, Gill spent 23 years as an artist at American Greetings

Fifth-grade teacher Julia Homolya said that Gill’s presentations are always fun and interesting for students.

“He is pretty funny and keeps the students entertained while teaching them,” Homolya said.

Gill began the workshop by telling students a story about a girl who received a new puppy, but when she took the puppy for a walk, Godzilla smashed her new dog, which brought on emotions of sadness and anger.

Students were then able to create four-panel illustrations that portrayed happiness, surprise, anger, and sadness. Gill showed the students how to use eyes, eyebrows, and the mouth to show emotion in drawings.

“Eyebrows might be the most important part of the face when drawing a facial expression with emotion,” said Gill. “Eyebrows can take an otherwise identical expression from devious to happy, sad, scared, or a combination. Always ask yourself if your eyebrows are adding to or taking away from the emotion you’re trying to illustrate.”

Gill enjoys the program because students are learning while being taught subjects such as math, language-arts and science.

“We help with arts-integrated lesson planning and these workshops,” he said. “My particular forte is language arts, but there’s also math and science connections. I work with kids all the way from kindergarten to high school. Many of these kids today are working on young author projects, and my job here today is to assist them in that.”

The workshop is important because it teaches students creativity, something schools lack today, Gill said.

“We’re teaching our students to do what they’re told, but many aren’t becoming problem-solvers,” he said. “Creativity is a huge part of that equation. A great imagination goes a long way toward resolving all types of problems.

“Creativity is literally being pushed out of schools.”