COD professor shares inspiration and creativity with KidArt Comics
Chicago-based comic book artist and College of DuPage Assistant Professor of Humanities Adam Fotos shared his talent and techniques for creating comics with underserved and underrepresented students in Chicago during the first session of KidArt Comics, an exploration of writing and illustrating comics and graphic novels.
Hosted by Chicago Public Library's Little Italy Branch, the virtual five-week series covers a variety of topics, including writing, penciling and inking. At the end of the series, students will have completed a four-page comic.
Fotos said he was thrilled to be involved with the series and pleased with the outcome.
"This was my first live virtual art workshop and it went really well," he said. "The students were engaged and had fun coming up with wild and creative ideas. As a group, they were able to come up with much more interesting ideas together than I could do on my own."
KidArt culminates Saturday, Dec. 5, with Pocket Con 2020, a free convention presented in partnership with the Chicago Public Library, Free Write Arts and Literacy, and LOKari Productions.
The event highlights artists and fans of color who are not always well represented in mainstream comic book culture and also covers additional forms such as animation, small-budget filmmaking, video game design, webcomics and zines.
Fotos said KidArt and Pocket Con provide an important resource for underrepresented students in Chicago.
"These free programs ensure that kids, regardless of their financial resources, can get involved," he said. "I want kids to be able to hack into their own creative spaces and entertain themselves. They can hold the reins of their own creativity without having to buy everything the children's entertainment industries want to sell. They can make their own worlds to play in."
Inspired in part by his artist father, Fotos has had an interest in drawing, writing and comic books since childhood. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art Painting at University of Tennessee-Knoxville and his Master of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art Painting and Sculpture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Starting as an adjunct professor teaching studio art and graphic design in 2010 at COD, Fotos later shifted to teaching Humanities. Incorporating comics into his curriculum, he said the medium fits the humanities disciplines perfectly.
"We're seeing comics become more popular in academia because people are realizing how great it is to experience topics such as history not only with words, but also with pictures," he said. "Some students are more comfortable with pictures; some are more comfortable with words. Comics help to bracket those two things and serve to bring the creative and practical sides of thinking together."
He said comics provide a great opportunity to express ideas no matter what the skill level of the student.
"With all the beautiful art in mainstream comics out there, people don't always realize that even a clunky drawing and scribbled text can still communicate a powerful message without the fancy stuff."
At the outset of the COVID-19 lockdown, Fotos offered a free coloring and activity book based on his nine-volume comic series, "Dragon and Goat," called the "Quarantinuum Quoloring Book." In an effort to provide entertainment and ease some of the tension of life during lockdown, he provided a new coloring page each morning. He continues to provide creativity-inspiring content via his YouTube page at FotoDojo.
Fotos said it is particularly important to encourage creativity and play as well as equity and access during the pandemic.
"It is crucial to realize and address the fact that some people have access to things that others don't," he said. "I want to make sure that people, especially underrepresented populations, have access to the comics making process. Making it more accessible lets them tap into their own experience of the pandemic and where we're at in the world right now. It grows the medium for everyone."