Artist Paul Tovar teaching Anime class.     Photo: Brax - VPC

Upper Valley artist, Paul Tovar, was giving a class of interested youth at the Doris Van Doren Westside Libary a few nuggets of wisdom in hopes of motivating them to let thier interest guide them.

Tovar said, "Many people are good at what they do, so Ididn’t want to dumb down their talent level. I wanted to use their talent to help some of the rookies get excited."

In teaching a general introduction to Anime, Tovar approached the class with a lot of basics and a clear message that it takes a lot of work to get good at being an artist but that it shouldn't deter any of them.

One big motivator was trying to get the kids to break some constraints in their thinking. "You hit it right on the nail... I wanted them to think outside the box... Maybe they were being redundent and if I can get them to work outside the box and let them get the idea thet they dont have to draw this style ... that [they'll say] 'maybe I can draw something different'. I wanted to give them that better idea so that they can broaden theor horizon... broaden their imagination ... give them that point of saying “you know what... I can draw something else' and that's okay.

If they work at it... even just a few hours a day... they will begin to see a difference... in a couple of weeks.

I covered the basics... shapes. basic outline... sturcture..

Tovar mentions that Japanese art such as Anime and Manga which is more "book oriented" are taking off. "Speedracer is taking on its own form. Tovar adds, "Pokemon is anime genre but you can’t single it out just for kids...."

Tovar mentions that his education and experience have prepared him to share even in a different style. "I've been drawing pin-up for about 8 years... dealing with more adult type of work. It is hard for somone to realize that someone like myself can teach a class even though I draw what I do... but it is because I have leraned so much that I can teach the basic fundamentals to anyone .

Prepared by UVB staff.

(Photos: Brax - Valley Publishing Company)

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