GOING INSIDE SCAD'S DISCOVERED

[MattBrady]

by Zack Smith

The Savannah College of Art and Design’s Sequential Art Program has established itself as one of the top talent pools for new artists in the United States. Go to any large comic convention and you’re likely to find SCAD-grads lurking in Artists Alley or the portfolio review lines, impression fans and pros alike with their work.

Now, readers have a chance to meet more than 30 new talents with Discovered, a recently-released anthology of stories drawn by SCAD students, grad students and alumni. Distributed by Top Shelf, Discovered is based around the theme of found objects – and uses this to tell stories ranging from slice-of-life to whimsical fantasy, rendered in styles ranging form illustrative to manga and everything in-between.

Discovered is the third annual anthology released by SCAD, according to John Lowe, chair of SCAD’s sequential art department. “I’ve been the chair of this department for the past five years, starting in 2003, and there had always been some talk among the faculty of doing something to showcase the students’ talents,” Lowe says. “There had been some smaller anthologies, but during the first year I was teaching at SCAD, we wound up doing a whole comic called Little Stories, which were based on real-life experiences.

“That went over really well, and when I became chair of the program the next year, I suggested to the president of the school that we do a larger anthology to show off our students’ work. She was very supportive of that – in fact, she hopped on board almost immediately. I was big fan of the SPX anthologies, and threw out the idea of the students doing some stories on a broad theme that could be interpreted in different ways.”

Lowe, who’s also the author of TwoMorrows’ Working Methods is immensely proud of Discovered, which he thinks is “the most well-produced and packaged collection of our work so far.” The idea for the anthology came from discussion amongst the school’s faculty. “This one actually came in through one of our professors, Julie Collins-Rosseau, who did the cover,” Lowe says. “Her husband came in with an idea about classified ads, and how that might work for a story. We liked it, but felt it was too defining. But I’ve always been a big fan of Found magazine, so I suggested, ‘How about you have to discover something?’

“The idea that it was about something you’ve discovered had to be the catalyst for the story – it certainly didn’t have to be a central part of the story, but it didn’t have to inspire the story. The endnotes of the book include a section where each student writes a paragraph discussing the object that inspired the story.”

The tales in Discovered represent “a lot of experimentation with subject matter, visual storytelling, pacing,” according to Lowe. “The subject matter is vast – there are some stories that are very fantastic, while there are others that are very serious,” Lowe says. “It’s a true anthology.”

Lowe says that there are a few stories that particularly stand out for him. “There’s a story I particularly like by Cale Ajioka (“Stomach Ache”), which is sort of a stream-of-consciousness monologue, that’s like Jim Henson meets Chuck Palahniuk. Another one I like is ‘Choking Gun’ by a graduate student named Kevin Burkhalter – you’re going to be hearing a lot about him, because he’s a great storyteller and humorist.”

The artists in Discovered join a long line of distinguished SCAD alumni. Past graduates include the likes of the Luna Brothers (The Sword), Brett Weldele (The Surrogates), Mike Bear (G.I. Joe), Nick Dragotta (X-Statix: Dead Girl, Immortal Iron Fist Special) and Ross Campbell (Wet Moon, The Abandoned).

The school features an Editor’s Day in May at the end of the academic year where editors come down to review academic work. This year’s lineup includes DC’s Bob Schreck, Oni’s James Lucas Jones and Marvel’s Axel Alonso, along with representatives from such companies as Dark Horse, Top Shelf, Devil’s Due and Slave Labor Graphics.

“We have a lot of people right now that are working for Oni,” Lowe says. “James Lucas Jones is always joking that he’s always using SCAD as a farm for Oni projects.”

Why has SCAD proven such a breeding ground for new talent? Lowe believes that it’s because the school allows students to develop their storytelling techniques without forcing a particular style on them. “We focus on visual storytelling, but there is no ‘house style,’” Lowe says. “We have students who are interested in manga, we have students who are interested in doing independent cartooning, and we have students who are interested in mainstream work. I think that’s reflected in Discovered, along with a strong sense of storytelling.”

The school also offers a uniquely academic environment. Unlike such programs as the Kubert School, SCAD is accredited university, as opposed to a certificate program, and features full-time professors. “With that, there’s the expectation that you’re there for the students,” Lowe says. “Every one of my faculty is a dedicated professor.”

This has resulted in SCAD developing their program based on their students’ needs. “We saw how some students didn’t have a good enough grasp on perspective,” Lowe says. “We talked about that, and wound up applying that to the program so that at a freshmen level, it gives them a pretty good idea of one, two and three-point perspectives.” SCAD programs also include courses in such elements as comic scripting, drawing buildings and vehicles, and self-publishing.

The school also gives students the chance to interact with established artists one-on-one with its annual events, such as the Comic Art Forum, where creators such as Howard Chaykin, David Mazzucchelli, Kyle Baker, Jill Thompson, Mark Schultz and Adam Hughes exhibit artwork and offer advice. “Every year, we try to rotate it so that it’s a different group every year, so people who are in the program for multiple years can work with different people,” Lowe says.

Discovered only represents a fraction of the artists coming out of SCAD’s sequential art program – and there promises to be more new talent coming out of the program in the future. “I really feel confident that our program is very strong in terms of teaching, especially at an undergraduate level, the technical skills necessary for telling a good story without forcing a particular style on anyone,” Lowe says. “I think there are many new opportunities in the marketplace, and we have many strong students to meet these opportunities.”

For more information, visit www.scad.edu/sequential-art, or the SCAD artists’ blog at www.seqalab.com.

[Blackbeard]

Methinks I need to find this anthology.

This is an excellent piece, Zack. Well done.

[-Armando523-]

looks great

[Andre]

Looks really cool. Kubert School - take some notes on those ideas!!

[genetic freak]

Color me impressed! I'll be looking for this.

[Not From Around]

I've noticed that lately this site has done articles on several of these local and regional art groups. It's nice that they are giving them some attention in among the more conventional news and interviews.