The ability to adroitly sketch a little comic illustration is a skill with myriad uses. A back-of-a-napkin sketch slid facedown towards someone attractive in a bar. A pithy scrawl in the margin of a book then gifted to a prospective partner. The skill probably even has non-romantic applications. Who knows?
What we do know is that Oslo Davis has been seducing us all for some time. Through his weekly ‘Overheard’ cartoon in the Sunday Age, art for the Golden Plains festival and work for publications ranging from the Readings Monthly through to the New York Times. Venturing, even, into animation. Creating Melbhattan, a homage to Melbourne inside a homage to Woody Allen – refiguring the iconic opening sequence of Manhattan using Melbourne’s streets and his unmistakable ink-and-watercolour style.
In this, the first of four DIY workshops curated by Three Thousand, Oslo will be taking us through his own Comic Cartoons 101. Talking about how he approaches his own work, relating strategies to help us think of ideas and conducting creative exercises for everyone to complete.
Even if our new cartoon road doesn’t end at the New Yorker, that doesn’t mean we don’t create our own destination. A representative from the Sticky Institute – Melbourne’s long-standing and ‘ardent defenders of zine culture’ – will then teach us how to adapt work for a zine format and self-publish illustrated observations. No Condé Nast required – just a photocopier and a dream.
Email melbournenowrsvp@thethousands.com.au to guarantee a place – walk-ins and sticky beaks welcome on the day too.