Category: Masterclasses

Do you want to write funny? Create laughable characters and unleash them on each other and the world in ridiculous situations? Irish cartoonist, comedian and tv writer Luke Healy knows how, and he’ll share tips, tricks, and techniques in the VAF Masterclass “Writing Funny”.

Healy’s masterclass is divided into two sections. In the morning, from 10 to 12, he will discuss his work as an artist and writer and the techniques “Point of View” and “Game”, both derived from improv theater. They are his personal go-tos when writing comedy for tv and comics.

In the afternoon, 13 – 16, Healy will invite masterclass participants to make their own strip comics using the techniques he described before lunch – and offer advice, encouragement and feedback along the way.

Luke Healy
Cartoonist, comedian and tv writer based in Dublin, Ireland. He has written and drawn four graphic novels and a number of short stories. His books have been translated into five languages and singled out among the “best of the year” by The Guardian, Publishers Weekly and The Washington Post among others. He is currently busy making more comics and developing animated tv shows.

We are surrounded by popular culture weighed down by heavy baggage. Outmoded, sometimes harmful depictions of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, class and more have hardened into stereotypes that are thoughtlessly reproduced. Narrative structures driven by conflict and conquest dominate our storytelling. And even when the patterns are broken – by dark-skinned mermaids or queer side characters – the giant media corporations doing the messaging rarely seem to have any real interest in defying the status quo.

US cartoonist, illustrator and character designer Ronald Wimberly has made it his mission to critically examine the entertainment industry’s depiction of especially black American culture. He’ll share his thoughts and insights in the first part of his masterclass, 10-12, where he is interviewed by Weekendavisen comics critic Erik Barkman.

The second part of the masterclass is all about exploring alternative narrative forms – specifically “kishoutenketsu”, Japanese four act structure. Wimberly has studied and used this ancient form of storytelling in his own work, and from 13-16 he will challenge masterclass participants to do the same.

Ronald Wimberly

Artist and writer of a series of graphic novels – Sentences, Prince of Cats, and most recently Now Let Me Fly – as well as the political comics newspaper LAAB. He has also created a number of shorter pieces for The New Yorker, DC/Vertigo, Nike, Marvel, and Dark Horse Comics among others. Wimberly was a 2008 recipient of the Glyph Comics Award and has been nominated for two Eisner Awards. He has also worked as a character designer on the animated tv series Black Dynamite.

Internationally acclaimed Danish cartoonist Halfdan Pisket is best known for his Dansker-trilogy, the story of his Turkish/Armenian father who fled to Denmark and lived a precarious life here. His follow-up, Døden, was equally showered in praise. Both projects were conceived and drawn in solitude, but lately, Pisket has become part of an artistic duo: Last year, he and painter/film maker Masar Sohail created the multimedia exhibition and book The Mullah together, and during VAF, they will continue the story in Viborg Kunsthal.

In the first part of Piskets masterclass, running from 10 to 12, he will discuss his own work and career as a cartoonist and illustrator: The exhibition at VAF, collaborating instead of going solo, letting your passion fuel your work, and drawing your way through life.

The second part is a workshop focused on the importance of working with limitations and how you can challenge your own process through rules and regulations. Pisket will talk about how he’s set strict guidelines for himself in his work, and then ask masterclass participants to do the same.

Halfdan Pisket

Illustrator and cartoonist. His breakthrough work was the trilogy Dansker – consisting of the volumes Desertør, Kakerlak, and Dansker – detailing his father’s early life on the border between Turkey and Armenia, his flight to Danmark and his subsequent life in Scandinavia. The series was highly praised by critics and won several awards, most notably a Fauve d’Or at the Angoulême Festival, the comics equivalent of the Cannes Film Festival. He followed Dansker up with Døden, while also creating a number of illustrations, artist prints, VJ performances and collaborative projects.