Katamari Jams

We hit the ground running with the children of Cartoon and Comics age 7 to 12 today. I actually did not think anyone would come because of spring break but I got 5 motivated attendees. I recently discovered the Katamari from a game made by Konami the creators of Pac Man. I love the character design, it reminds me of my days in a Waldorf school but with a Sci Fi twist. The were an absolute hit. My group kept asking for more time to draw these beautiful creatures. I also quite like the concept of the snowball effect at the core of the game mechanics and how Prince Katamari is innocently destroying the world as bigger and bigger objects get sucked into the ball. I learned about the franchise from a recent app called Amazing Katamari and then I went to a lets play on YouTube to see what the console versions had to offer. At the end entire cities are absorbed, then continents and when the planet is nothing but ocean, the Katamari launches into space to plug a giant black hole. That’s when you pray that you have attained the right diameter. Very dramatic!

This one is my own. Done in class as it is tradition to multitask between teaching and making art.

Here is Kaitlyn’s drawing. I love it, the body language is everything.

For the second part of the class, we did a comic jam. This is the one I started. They picked up on the stars hanging from the ceiling alright. I love that they don’t spell their words correctly it’s so endearing!

I introduced the green lady sporting a Final Fantasy 7 type sword. It’s a really cool combat page. I love how the jams seem to stimulate artistic expression. It’s all in the way you solve problems and adapt to the situation.

This one is really sad. I drew Zoey in front of me as the daughter of the astronaut and the last one as well because I did not want him to die. Wow!

This one is the most inane story I have read in a long time. I am so lucky to work with these kids because they help me retain some ingenuity.

I like jamming a lot because it’s pure play. If you are uptight about your work, it’s the occasion to loosen up. We are also putting our heads together making truly unpredictable story.

A very nice day indeed.