Let's Make Zines!

A class for your inner punk, rebel, poet, cartoonist or child. Pre-internet, zines were a popular way to share art, ideas and stories. I remember a local art critic in the 1980s who shared his articles within small, DIY booklets that he left in coffee shops around Seattle. Zines were also popular for serials, much like the way Charles Dickens published his novels in serial form in the newspapers of his day. Another example is the Love and Rockets comics that were self-published in 1981 (before Fantagraphics picked them up).

Knowing how to draw is not necessary! I will help you use your creative strengths. Collage, photography and stencils can powerfully portray ideas. We will do free-writing exercises in class to help consolidate thoughts, along with group critiques to help you know what is working and what isn't. The goal of this 5-week class is to create, print a small edition of and distribute your zine. Possible themes can be photography, a cookbook, favorite quotes, your heritage, an instruction manual, poetry, comics, an illustrated glossary or how to care for a pet snail.