The Art Students League has been teaching courses on drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpting to artists in New York City since 1875! And for the first time on May 25, 2024, ASL held its very own comic con, “League Comic Fest”: a full day of art, special lectures, and portfolio reviews. Set up inside the Phyllis Harriman Mason gallery for the inaugural event were 15 artists & writers presenting an assortment of art prints, zines, stickers, pins & buttons, published books, sketches & original art, and so much more:
Among the creators at the first League Comic Fest were both students and indie names like Nahuel Fanjul-Arguijo, Ethan M. Aldridge, Kitsch Harris, Carmen Pizarro, Mark Ship, Lily Mouto, Bradley Clayton, Ty Peterson, and Mahdi Khene (below). The gallery was even filled with wall-to-wall art from the League’s various courses, including “Drawing Animals”, “Drawing From Life”, “Art For Animation”, “Comic Book Figure Drawing”, and “Comics & Sequential Art”. Such an unbelievable way to be immersed in art all day long!
Industry professionals were also providing aspiring writers & artists some insight into the comic book making business. Not only could you check out their works and ask questions about their process but attend stimulating workshops, as well. Saturday’s panels included informational topics such as script writing (below), pitching comic books to publishers, and how to get an agent.
But, in fact, the League hosted free workshops all week long leading up to their Comic Fest: live cosplay & figure drawing classes, an intro to animation, and “How To Break Into Comics” with esteemed guests Heather Antos, Greg Lockland, Kiara Valdez, and Anthony Marques. These workshops, as well as the Comic Fest, were all free to attend! League Comic Fest is the newest NYC comic con you won’t want to miss so check out ASL’s website for more information on next year’s event.
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