Comic Strip

’t Atelier is a day activity center in Strombeek-Bever that is part of the Ahasverus Mental Health Center (CGG) in Asse. This center has several locations in the Halle-Vilvoorde region for people who “have long felt that they can no longer manage on their own, are stuck in a rut, and are facing difficulties (relationships, family, etc.) and need guidance.” They organize workshops where participants can spend their time in a meaningful way by learning something new in a group, and I decided to do this through a comic strip. The first lesson focused purely on what makes a story. Participants were asked to think about stories they love and to complete short writing exercises to share with the group. Time and again, people worked individually on their stories before bringing them back to the group, until every participant had a story by the end of the class that could be turned into drawings. During the second class, the participants worked in groups to create the comic strips. They were able to look at other comic strips I had brought along and worked step by step: sketching characters and locations, pencil roughs, and then finalizing with color. By the end of the class, we had four short, yet inventive and funny comic strips.