Symposium highlights comics, graphic novels and popular culture

The biennial symposium, comiCulture, was held at the University of Houston-Clear Lake Sept. 26. Hosted by UHCL’s Art Gallery, comiCulture is a one day event that feature comic exhibits, skateboard art workshops, presentations from special guests, and portfolio reviews.

This year’s special guests included comic scholar and Henderson State University Professor, Randy Duncan; artist and Rice University professor, Christopher Sperandio; animator and story artist whose works include the Spider-Man 2 and Minions, Cinzia Angelini; co-creator of Howard the Duck, Val Mayerik; author of “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Zombies” and recurring guest on AMC’s “Talking Dead,” Matt Mogk; and skateboard artists, Daniel Amora Mora and Beto Janz.

Plenary sessions and panel discussions provided an in-depth look into the world of comics, animation, and pop culture. Aspiring artists also had the opportunity to receive portfolio reviews from Sperandio and Angelini.

Angelini, an animator and story artist with more than 20 years of experience presented, “The World of Animation: A Glimpse Behind the Scenes.” She has collaborated in studios such as DreamWorks, Disney, Warner Bros and currently with Illumination, In her discourse, she showcased short clips of animation, explaining the difference between 2D, 3D and traditional animation.

Angelini described the animation process as elaborate.

“I like the creativity, especially stories,” Angelini said. “I really like to figure out stories; it is a little bit like playing chess. You have to anticipate what’s coming. It is really intricate work, and I really like that, to create characters that are compelling.”

Not only is Angelini an animator and story artist, she is also directing her very first independent short film titled,“Mila.” “Mila” is a film that depicts the collateral damage of war seen through the eyes of a young girl.

“It is a very interesting project because it shows what artists can do and the power of the artists because we are doing it with no budget,” Angelini said. “It is 250 artists from 25 countries that decided to see ‘Mila’ up on the big screen, and that is our goal.”

For more information on Angelini’s film, visit www.milafilm.com. Expected release date for Mila is 2016.

Angelini offered advice to aspiring animators and story artists based on her own experiences.

“Animation is a very demanding, professional career because you are going to spend hours and hours and hours just animating and training, and doing it and trying this very difficult art form, but it will give you a lot as well,” Angelini said. “There are great careers that can happen. Just keep doing it and study. It is a great industry, and it is growing and growing. Keep it up, and keep working hard.”

Attendees also had the opportunity to design and paint their own work of art on broken skateboards. Notable and international skateboard artists, Daniel Amora Mora, from Southern Baja, Mexico, and Beto Janz, from Toronto, Canada, assisted aspiring artists in the creation and design of their art.

This was Mora’s first time at comiCulture, and he said he was very impressed with the turnout.

“Me sorprendir de ver tanta gente (I was surprised to see so many people), to see a lot of participation of the people,” Mora said.

Mora, who is also a printmaker and a painter, saw potential in many of the artists who showed up at comiCulture and offered words of advice to his fellow artists.

“Keep working,” Mora advised. “Production of the artist is very important because sometimes you have a great opportunity, but if you have nothing to show, es un problema. It’s a problem. You need to keep working and working, and go to museums, and see other peoples art to learn about what is happening en el mundo del arte (in the world of art).”

Jeff Bowen, coordinator of audience development for UHCL’s Art Gallery, and Sandria Hu, professor of fine arts at UHCL, developed the symposium. This is the second year for the symposium.

“We started meeting with developers, comics enthusiasts, art professors and we came up with the name comiCulture and decided to go with a convention idea, making it a little more academically focused,” Bowen said.

Bowen was pleased by this year’s outcome.

“The number of attendees were 267, which represents a 60 percent increase from two years ago,” Bowen said. “Seeing it all come together, the day of the event is a busy one for me. Overall, it was a successful event.”

The next comiCulture event will be held in 2017.

SLIDESHOW: comiCulture and skateboard art photographs

Slideshow created by The Signal reporter Berenice Webster.