You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives. ~Clay P. Bedford

Draw on Your Creativity with Jay Piscopo

In this interactive drawing workshop, comic book artist Jay Piscopo uses simple geometric shapes to teach kids how to build anatomy and perspective to create art that tells a story. Check out Jay in the CLASSROOM. Go behind the scenes in JAY'S STUDIO where he creates The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli graphic novel series.

Appearance Schedule

Click HERE for Jay Piscopo's Appearance Schedule.

Jay Piscopo is now booking school and library visits. Contact Tami Burke at tami@maine.rr.com to book.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Jay Piscopo Visits Penn Brook Elementary School

“Not only is the art incredible but the stories are well written. This is such a value to our kids." ~ Stephanie McSherry, Literacy Coach, Penn Brook Elementary





Artist and author Jay Piscopo shares tips with Georgetown students
By Theresa DeFranzo/ Correspondent
Wed Nov 18, 2009, 07:03 PM EST

Georgetown, MA - For Jay Piscopo, comic books were his entryway into reading. But since then he’s done much more than just read comics.

Piscopo, the author and illustrator of “The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli,” an all-ages graphic novel series, has been making state-of-the-art children’s entertainment for nearly 20 years. Last week, the Georgetown PTA sponsored an appearance by Piscopo at the Penn Brook School, where he introduced students in grades 2-5 to the art of graphic storytelling.

Piscopo said it was comic books “that got me into reading. Comics are a great way to get kids to read.” The ’40s, he said, were known as the Golden Age of comics and the ’60s and ’70s were the Silver Age. These two periods had the biggest influence on him.

“Batman and the TV show were a huge influence,” he said. “Tarzan was also a big hero of mine.”

To date there are two volumes of “The Undersea Adventure of Capt’n Eli,” with a third volume scheduled to come out next year. According to the author, Capt’n Eli is a graphic novel series in the tradition of Jules Verne, Herge, and classic comic strips like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.

With his companions Jolly Roger, a 200-year-old parrot, and the faithful seadog Barney, Capt’n Eli takes readers into a mesmerizing world of time travel, high-tech ships, flying mini-subs, robots, lost civilizations and undersea empires in conflict.
Piscopo’s passion for using the computer as his canvas led him to develop his unique signature style of combining 2D characters with 3D backgrounds.

What Piscopo did last week with the students was not only talk to them about storytelling, but also show them how to draw — step by step — two famous characters: Dracula and Frankenstein. And for those students who were hesitant to give it a try, Piscopo had this advice for them.

“It doesn’t matter how well you draw,” he said. “It matters how well you get your idea across.”

The great thing about creating just one character is that many more come from it.

“Cartoonists do this all the time,” he said. “They take one character and make more than one from it.”

If you ever find yourself running out of ideas of what to draw, just ask someone to scribble quickly on a blank piece of paper. That’s right — he said you’d be surprised what ideas will come to you using this technique.
After he had a student volunteer scribble for him he said, “I see so many things in this one.”

Stephanie McSherry, literacy coach at Penn Brook, seconded Piscopo’s assertion that graphic novels can help kids get involved in all different kinds of reading.

“I’ve learned over the last year and a half that you can engage kids through graphic novels,” said McSherry. “I got interested last year on how a great piece of artwork and a great story going together can capture a reader.”

She added, “Not only is the art incredible but the stories are well written. This is such a value to our kids. It’s our responsibility to expose our kids to as many different genres as possible.”

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Read all about it! Capt'n Eli Family Fun Day

View photos and video from the 2nd Annual Capt'n Eli Family Fun Day at the Regatta Banquet & Conference Center in Eliot, Maine.


Spending a rainy day with Capt'n Eli
Also a teen race car driver and giant inflatable whale

By Gina Carbone
November 15, 2009

ELIOT, Maine — The intrepid Capt'n Eli, a 13-year-old race car driver and a giant inflatable whale came together on Saturday for the second annual Capt'n Eli Family Fun Day.

During the free event, held at the Regatta Banquet & Conference Center, Jay Piscopo sketched characters from his graphic novel series, "The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli."

Pass modified driver Sulo Burbank, 13, of Gorham, Maine, let kids check out his race car, which was parked outside next to an Eliot fire engine.

Children danced to the sounds of the Rick Miller Trio and drank Capt'n Eli's Soda, which is a sponsor of Burbank's racing.

The Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation brought a 60-foot whale into the banquet hall for kids to walk through, and set up a table full of stuffed animals and marine information. The event functioned partially as a fund-raiser for the Portsmouth-based nonprofit organization.

Event coordinator Tami Kennedy said they had seen about 200 visitors come in by around 1:30 p.m. on a day of pouring rain, with people already waiting outside before they opened at noon. She estimated by 4 p.m., at the end of the event, they would have welcomed around 300 people.

"We've had a great response," Kennedy said. "The objective is to get more fans and to give people an awareness of the series and who the characters are."...READ MORE