What would you pay for Comic Art workshop?

[OneFunkySoul]

I’m interested in what parents would pay for a children’s Comic Art workshop in half term? It’s a 2 hour session led by a professional kids comic artist (published).

The kids learn to draw popular characters (eg. Bunny Vs Monkey etc) and also create their own characters, scenes, mini strips, they play fun drawing games. They learn comic art skills. We have loads of comic books.

The artist is able to draw in multiple styles so is highly skilled and the kids chuck ideas at him which he can draw quickly (and does an excellent job of it). It’s all done on a large screen but hand drawn.

I’m his adult non-artist assistant and depending on numbers we have another helper (all DBS checked). I help the kids, hand out materials etc. We have a lot of experience but mainly council funded - the feedback has been excellent.

More info: Drop-off. DBS checked and fully insured. All materials provided.

So my question is how much you’d expect to pay for this? It’s difficult to get a benchmark locally, as so many art workshops 1 hour after school or all day in holidays (which we don’t want to do). As I don’t want to lead you, I will update on how much we charge later.

Maybe £20?

Depends on how many children are attending but yes £20.

It sounds like an awful lot to get through in one session - my DS did a course like this a few years ago, but was 3 hours, for 5 mornings.

For a one-off session, I'd consider £20 too.

I agree £20. Possibly £30 at a push but no more than that.

We watch the phoenix comic online workshops which are monthly and fantastic value at £5.99. Really interactive, not just copying the characters, though sometimes that features, often getting kids to make new characters themselves.

As the actual Comic artists do them eg Jamie Smart of Bunny v’s Monkey, I wouldn’t really want to pay more to have a different “artist” show my kids how to do a copy. Doesn’t seem like good value and I don’t like the ethics of someone trying to profit off another person’s copyrighted designs, and creativity.

About £15 or £20.

But it's essential that you run the workshops in areas where most families will be able to afford it.

Part of my work is delivering similar projects that are partly funded by the council, but due to the extreme poverty in that area, the maximum we can charge for any workshop is £8.

Sorry I didn’t explain very well, he’ll draw a character when kids ask for it but he mainly draws his own stuff but more importantly he gets the kids to open up their own imaginations. The interactivity and games are what sets it apart from the Phoenix workshops which we’ve also enjoyed with our kids. He’s definitely not profiting off others work. Another local provider bases whole day workshops around other people’s IP so it’s pretty common actually.

We have met Jamie and he is really supportive and passionate about supporting British comic artists. So I really don’t think he’d mind showing how to draw bunny to a fan of his!

I know this isn't exactly what you asked, and that you're not wanting to do a full-day session, but the main reason parents are sending their kids to full-day art workshops in the school holidays, and therefore the main reason they exist, is not a passionate interest in art, it's childcare. The children might love art, or they migh just quite like it, and prefer art club to sports camps or whatever other holiday clubs are available. So you might get more takers if you extend the time so it at least corresponds to a morning or afternoon session at another holiday club, with a snack break in the middle. You'd then map your prices more onto what parents are paying for half a day's holiday childcare, perhaps charging a bit more as you'll appeal to kids who really want to learn the skill.

We don’t cover all of that in a single session. There are multiple sessions which they can attend all 3 or individually as they’re all different. We’ve tried and tested formats over many workshops. Including a course like you described.

Yes - agree 100% with you. I’m also a parent who books childcare so in the same boat. We’ve thought about it and it’s not something we want to do. If the paid classes are not popular, then so be it.

Yes it’s in an affluent area.

It depends how many kids are there. If there's just the one facilitator. If it's like 30 then it might mean each child doesn't get enough attention or time to improve or show their work?
But about 30 quid if it included a bunch of materials.

So I really don’t think he’d mind showing how to draw bunny to a fan of his!

'We don't think he'd mind' is no way to run a business though.

You need to get these things in writing or risk falling foul of copywrite laws.

Ok so it’s £15 for 2 hours.

Thank you to everyone who responded as it’s been very helpful to know what you would be willing to pay.

Re the comment above about the Phoenix and ethics (which obviously touched a nerve with me!) we actually promote the Phoenix, have lots of copies and loads of David Fickling books as we’re big fans. The British comics scene has struggled for many years and is finally flourishing thanks to Jamie and David Fickling. Jamie said at his London Book fair speech that we need to support each other. We’re doing something face to face in the community which has value and we’re very supportive of the Phoenix. It’s completely ethical to draw fan art because the kids love it, it inspires them. Then they move on to produce their own artwork. I actually feel really sad a parent would think we’re ripping artists off. The artist who leads these courses has been shortlisted for a national graphic novel award and doesn’t need to “rip anyone off” as he’s very talented, but the kids love Bunny vs monkey, Kpop demons etc so I really don’t see what’s wrong responding to that.

Thank you, I’m going to do some more investigating into this as when I looked before at the legalities it was permissible for illustration under the purposes of instruction— just not reproducing it (eg in a handout/ course material). But you’re right as we’re moving from the voluntary to commercial sector we do need to be careful.

I do still take umbrage at being called unethical- when you’re so passionate about comics, have spent years working for free and producing art for the love of it. Having been a very early supporter and advocate of the Phoenix and Jamie Smart. But yes it’s a business so we need to be careful. You are right.

Good luck with it OP.

From experience the problem often lies with the advertising.

So if you were teaching kids how to draw Spiderman for example, Marvel probably wouldn't have a problem with that.

However, if you advertised a 'Spiderman drawing class', it would likely be viewed that you're trading off the character for free, as that is what would attract people to the class.

Thank you - yes I agree the advertising is tough! I will check out the legalities of drawing IP characters for instructional drawings in the moment. These usually take about 5-10 minutes max so a small proportion of the 2 hr workshop and we are not using them to market the workshops (but I have seen other craft/arts provision locally do this - I am now wondering if they have a license). The artist has drawn Bunny or Monkey or Shadow monkey on request but it is not every workshop. We do not record or produce printed handouts etc.

But I do agree with you, it is worth taking this seriously as we become more of a commercial venture (especially given the feedback on here) so thank you for raising it. We are really passionate about getting kids to read and draw comics and want to make it as affordable as possible, with some level of decent income for the high amount of effort we are putting in.

They sound fun sessions op. I agree about the comment that I would want to drop for longer if this was a holiday club. If possible to do that I would pay more. Eg £50 is not unusual for an all day holiday camp 8.30-4.30 so £40 say for 9-4 pm.