Introducing children to the concept of using colours and shapes to effectively design and depict emotion in comic books, the Background Design workshop at the 11-day Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) was the perfect opportunity for young artists to understand the vital role of colours in any illustrated book’s narrative, not just comics.

“We teach children the connection between colours and feelings, and its role in shaping the visual storyline of a comic book. A red background, for instance, is a popular signifier of anger or even excitement, whereas blue is usually associated with sadness,” noted architect and independent illustrator, Samar Nemeh, while presenting the workshop.

“They also learn how to use different icons in a scene. For instance, lightening, clouds or an explosion. All this learning culminates into a fantastic result for these young artists when they understand how to marry these elements together on a page on various backgrounds like cityscapes or natural scenes,” Nemeh added.

Participating children thoroughly enjoy the simplicity and almost therapeutic quality of this workshop as they get to tap into their own emotions and put their feelings to paper to depict their state of mind.

Learning the basics of comic book illustration, how backgrounds can be manipulated through colour, gives children the advantage of using the same concept to create digital art. “Giving this kind of information to children from a young age helps them prosper in the art field. Art is always evolving – what children draw on paper, they can also replicate on a tablet using the same knowledge of colours and shapes,” Nemeh concludes.

With 132 activities taking place exclusively at the Comics corner, the 12^th SCRF runs until May 29. Children of all ages have the opportunity to explore the world of comics through 110 workshops and 22 shows presented by specialists and artists at the fun-filled event aptly themed ‘For Your Imagination.’