By Jed Lanyon
Healesville Library celebrated Book Week early with a visit from award winning cartoonist and author Adam Wallace on Wednesday 14 August.
About 170 students from Healesville, Chum Creek and Yarralinda Primary School’s attended to receive a cartooning workshop and grab a signed copy of one of Mr Wallace’s books.
Mr Wallace is a New York Times bestselling author with over one million book copies sold.
He led the way by teaching kids how to draw basic stick figures, facial expressions and then cartoon pigs
It was a fun filled cartooning experiment as Mr Wallace encouraged students to sketch with their opposite hand and with their eyes closed.
Some students dressed in costume and received a free copy of ‘Rhyming with Cartoons’, while Chum Creek Primary School teacher Kate Bilton dressed as a leprechaun from ‘How to Catch a Leprechaun’.
Since 2005, Mr Wallace has visited over 300 schools across Australia.
It was a great turnout and it was so nice that they all came out. The guys at Eastern Regional Libraries have been supporting me since I was nobody, so I really love coming out and doing this sort of stuff.
“I get a massive buzz, especially when the kids are excited… Every group has a different energy but everyone loves drawing.
“You don’t have to be the greatest artist in the world in order to be a good drawer.
“A lot of kids say ‘I can’t draw’, but it’s just because they can’t draw what they see as a really good picture. Whereas if you can do some cool stuff with a stick figure or a character and break it down, you can do some simple things that are really effective.”
Students were curious as to why Mr Wallace’s jeans featured drawings and cartoons before allowing them to sign their own names across his clothing.
“About five years ago I was at a festival and all the authors there had jeans on and we were all just kind of the same… I was at the stage of wanting to stand out a bit and be different.
“So I went home and just drew pictures all over my pants… It’s just a cool icebreaker for the kids.”
For more information about Adam Wallace and his work, visit: http://www.adam-wallace-books.com/
