Deanna & Julie discuss Jim Davis, the creator of Garfield. Who is he? What is his art like? Why should we study him?
Join us as we chat about the genre of comics, cartoons, and graphic novels and discover some great reasons to study Jim Davis and his memorable cat.
At 30:00, we discuss a self-portrait drawing project Deanna will be doing with her 10 year-old Boy Scout group!
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Who is Jim Davis?
- Born in 1945 and still alive! (maybe I’ll get to interview him someday!)
- Grew up on a farm with 25 cats
- Created an empire with the Garfield Comic strip
What is his art like?
Why Should We Study Him?
- Learn new vocabulary around cartoon-type art
- It’s interesting to see the visual progression of the Garfield characters over the years
- Many students will really enjoy looking at this type of art
- Many students will really enjoy drawing this type of art- it’s good drawing practice!
- To develop the skill of simplifying a drawing down to it’s fewest lines
- We can learn a lot about drawing facial expressions from the simplified Garfield art
- Subject Integrations:
- Personification
- The art of story telling and humor
- Comics can help reluctant readers
- The intersection between art and business
Things We Mention
- Tumbleweeds Comic Strip
- Paws Inc
- Professor Garfield Foundation
- The Ridge Light Ranch Pinterest Board about drawing people
- The Ridge Light Ranch Creating Cartoons Like Jim Davis Lesson Plan
- The previous Ridge Light Ranch Blog Post about Jim Davis
- The Ridge Light Ranch Drawing Facial Expressions like Rembrandt Lesson Plan