SCARBOROUGH – Roughly translated as “humorous pictures,” the Japanese pictorial storytelling art of Manga has taken young people around the world by storm.

On March 12, a group of high school and middle school students gathered at the Scarborough Public Library to get a basic lesson in drawing comic art from local author and graphic novel illustrator Jay Piscopo.

Piscopo showed the kids how they could create cartoon-type characters using simple geometric shapes, which can be used to both build anatomy and show perspective. Piscopo showed the participants how to draw two of his favorite movie monsters – Dracula and Frankenstein. He told the kids the best way to create a character is by “building shape on shape.”

He also told the kids that the best way to learn is to trace characters from existing comic books, so long as they did not claim the tracing was their own original work. The best way to get better at drawing, Piscopo said, is practice.

Katia Hrycay, a seventh-grader, and Elizabeth Gentile, a junior at Scarborough High School, take part in the Manga drawing workshop at the Scarborough Public Library last week. Gentile is a member of the high school’s Anime Club.Local graphic artist Jay Piscopo led a group of high school and middle schools students through the drawing workshop.Sarah Mulligan, a junior at Scarborough High School, took part in the Manga drawing workshop at the Scarborough Public Library last week. Mulligan is a member of the high school’s Anime Club.A student taking part in the drawing workshop drew this funny face.


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