Over the last couple of summers Cathal has done some classes for kids at local college. The classes are aimed at children who are interested in things like Science and Maths, but there is a broad range. The catalog arrived this year and Cathal decided that he did not want to go to the college to do any of the classes. I thought that I could get some fun activities from these for us to do together.

I took a photo of one of the short course descriptions:

And asked chat gpt to put together an outline of a a course that I could go through with Cathal. I used th o3 model with is pretty powerful. It did almost a minute's thinking before producing the answer. It was quite long, but contains some interesting stuff.

Here is a table that it produced which contains suggestions for each week.

Week	Big Idea	Hands‑On Activities	What to Look For
1	Shapes = Characters	‑ Turn circles, squares & triangles into heroes and villains. ‑ Play “silhouette guess‑who” – black out a shape and guess the character type.	Clear, readable silhouettes; variety of shapes.
2	Personality & Back‑story	‑ Fill out a one‑page “character passport” (likes, fears, motto). ‑ Act out the character’s walk and pose.	Choices that feel consistent (e.g., shy pose vs. bold stance).
3	Proportions & Body Language	‑ Draw three body‑type extremes (chibi, average, tall/heroic). ‑ Use sticky notes to alter posture and mood.	Exaggeration that still feels balanced.
4	Faces & Expressions	‑ Emotions wheel: draw 6‑8 faces of same character. ‑ Mirror game – mimic then draw each other’s faces.	Eyes & brows doing most of the “acting.”
5	Genre Remix	‑ Redesign the Week‑2 hero for sci‑fi, fantasy, mystery, etc. ‑ Watch a favorite movie clip muted and sketch costumes.	How genre affects silhouette, props, palette.
6	Costume, Color & Symbol	‑ Create two color schemes: harmony vs. contrast. ‑ Design an emblem or prop that hints at powers.	Colors that support personality (e.g., warm = friendly).
7	Turnaround & Model Sheet	‑ Draw front, ¾, side, back views on grid paper. ‑ Trace over to check height consistency.	Alignment marks (eyes, elbows, knees) match.
8	Poses & Action	‑ 5‑panel mini‑comic featuring a signature move. ‑ Use action verbs cards (“leap,” “sneak,” “blast”) for quick sketches.	Dynamic lines of action; overlap for depth.
9	Inking & Digital Touch‑Ups	‑ Try brush pens or import sketches into free Krita or Autodesk Sketchbook for line‑art and flats. ‑ Compare pen vs. digital layers.	Clean, confident lines; limited color bleeding.
10	Portfolio & Sharing	‑ Select 5–8 best pieces, add title & one‑sentence pitch. ‑ Make a simple zine or slideshow for family “comic‑con.”	Cohesive style, clear growth from Week 1.

We did a short play drawing session together to get started. Will see if we can do some more. There were also suggestions for books to get to help us get better at drawing comics together.