A lot of aspects of American culture have either withered away or become modernized over the past few decades, but one of the few that have defied the test of time is comics. Ranging from superheroes and supervillains to a blonde-haired six-year-old who happens to be best friends with a tiger, comics are still as popular today as they were 50 years ago. There’s a case to be made that they’re even a bigger part of the cultural lexicon these days due to numerous ones being adapted for film and television. At the Warwick Center for the Arts located on 3259 Post Road, there’s going to be a workshop series revolving around the various types of comics happening from February 18-20. The structure of the series will function as an art camp with students over the age of 10 invited to participate as each installment begins at 12 noon.

The official title of the camp is “Comics! Comics! Comics!” and it’ll be conducted by Jerry Shippee, who is the creator of his own comic strip called “Clamcakes”. He’s also been an illustrator and a cartoonist for over 25 years with over 30,000 pieces in his portfolio.

“‘Comics! Comics! Comics!’ is a drawing class that will introduce students to, not only drawing cartoons and comic book characters, but different cartooning media,” Shippee describes. “The class covers three days, and a different media will be taught each day. These media are creating an action character for comic books, how to create a comic strip, and adventure strips in manga. Whether students are beginners, have been drawing for a while, are new or returning students, they will have fun learning some new tricks to drawing comics and wowing their friends!”

Ever since he was young, Shippee always wanted to be a cartoonist. This goal eventually led to him attending the Art Instruction Schools in Minneapolis and eventually training under the likes of Tom Richmond of Mad Magazine and Guy Gilchrist, who is the artist behind the comic strip “Nancy”. Along with teaching at the Warwick Center for the Arts, he’s also taught at the “Kids College” program at the Community College of Rhode Island, the Newport Art Museum, branches of the Greater Providence YMCA and various school districts. Along with this, Shippee runs a newsletter showcasing his work at clamcakesandmore.substack.com. For more information about his artistic background and his creative output, check out shippeetoons.com.

In general, visual art can inspire the imagination, but diving into the comic medium can take it to new heights. To register for “Comics! Comics! Comics!” and for more information about classes and workshops happening at the Warwick Center for the Arts in the future, log onto warwickcfa.org.