Spin a strip

Woodrow Phoenix had the little ones simply glued to his creations — faces,figures,drawings,visual effects on paper…’Finding Character through Drawing’ was a workshop replete with fun,creativity,expression that London-based British writer,artist and graphic designer Woodrow created with ingenuity and passion. Writing and drawing comic strips since ‘86,the artist is here on the invitation of The British Library and had an absorbing interaction with school teachers on the topic,teaching through graphics and also spoke on the relationship of text and image,as regards to writing a graphic novel. Phoenix’s children’s books include Baz the Biz and Is that Your Dog? with writer Steve May,and Count Milkula with writer Robin Price and his published comic books and strips include Donny Digits; The Sumo Family,The Liberty Cat,SugarBuzz!,an anthology comic that was adapted for television by both Walt Disney and The Cartoon Network. His latest book,Rumble Strip explores the complicated psychology of the relationship between people and cars; how this affects the way we navigate the world and how we relate to each other with and through machines.

“For me comic is the most interesting medium to tell a story,it’s colourful,imaginative and an amazing vehicle for expression,what we need is the mind’s eye to break the mould and to think of the bigger possibilities,’’ Woodrow enjoys creating a comic,for it’s entirely his baby,a thought that translates into a book entirely with his brain. “Conception of the idea,story,characters,drawings…unlike films or television,this medium is not diluted by any one else,though the process is painstaking and long,for what takes years to make,is simply read in an hour or few minutes by the reader,’’ the concentration of efforts is what Woodrow enjoys.

Woodrow believes young writers and artists wanting to venture in the field need to break out of conventional methods and try something new,with wit and courage and not sticking to all rules and thinking of new ways of grabbing the readers’ attention…

His Rumble Strip is a great example of the thought,as Woodrow uses landscapes and captions to tell a story,one that’s sans characters and makes the reader the protagonist. “In this way,you are directly addressing the audience,’’ the artist agrees that comics are not a mass medium,but a growing one.