FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 25, 2008

Contact:
Rich Bailey, (423) 580-2479 or
Carla Campbell, (423) 648-6054

Batman's in Theatres, and a Batman Artist is at Creative Discovery Museum;

Professional Comic Book Artist Rod Whigham Leads Workshops, July 31-Aug. 2

Comic book artist Rod Whigham has drawn Batman, Men in Black, the Flash, Justice League of America, and many more comic book characters. For three days at Creative Discovery Museum, he'll share his secrets and help kids develop their own super powers.

"I tell kids that I make my living telling stories with these characters who have mutant abilities, but I think everyone in this room has mutant abilities. The imagination is the most powerful tool on the planet," said Whigham. "The imagination is a muscle that gets stronger if you use it. If you don't use it, it goes away."

Whigham will teach a 40-50 minute interactive workshop on how to draw your own comic book character. Workshops will be offered in the Art Studio at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. every day from July 31 - August 2. Twenty children will be admitted per workshop, and workshops will fill on a first come, first serve basis. Workshops are free with museum admission, and registration is not needed.

"We start with a formula on how to break a human face into symmetrical components," said Whigham. "We'll work on basic shapes, placing features, adding details and working on light and shadow. After a certain point, we'll start talking about storytelling, how to create emotion on a character's face."

"It's a pretty challenging class, but kids that have never sat down to draw anything can come to the class and work all the way through," he continued. "I have yet to have a kid get into the class and not be able to finish the drawing while having a good time. It's designed to demystify the whole process. They get inside a professional artist's workplace in a way. I sort of bring my studio to them. They get to see the whole process and be a part of it."

Rod Whigham has worked as a full-time artist for more than 20 years, primarily as an artist for comics. Mainly a penciller, he has also inked, colored and co-written numerous titles for many publishers. He has drawn three graphic novels, including a 145-page adaptation of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, now in international release. He has also done book illustration, storyboards for major motion pictures and advertising, and art for trading card series, including the holographic card designs for Batman Forever. He is self-educated as an artist.

"Kids are in a room working with someone who has drawn this material they get excited about," said Whigham. "They think I'm cooler than I am. I get a lot of cachet out of that."