Sketchbook
April 2, 2008
The Illustrated Journey Exhibition!
The Illustrated Journey Youth Project is hosting an exhibition! The exhibition will feature drawings and comics, as well as performances by the participanting youth; and speakers who will tell you all about the project. Be ready for music, dancing, stories, and more!
WHEN: Saturday, April 12th, 2008.
Doors open at 1:00pm, Main Events at 2:00
Doors close at 4:00pm
WHERE: Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House-
800 E.Broadway (near Fraser)-
The East and West Hall on the Main Floor
April 1, 2008
The Comics are Done!
I am enthralled to tell you that the youth have completed their comic stories! Congratulations to all participants! They are absolutely beautiful and very touching. They are, at the least, impressive, and are a burst of colors and diversity.
It has been a journey in itself to see the completion of these stories and to reach the end of the first ever Illustrated Journey Youth Project. The last session was Saturday, March 29th, and on this day the youth were able to see the fruit of their efforts and acknowledge their newfound storytelling talents. The book with the collection of stories are printed and look amazing! We will let you know soon, where and how you can see the comics, drawings and the book. However, most of the work will be on the on the website for everyone to access at a later date.
More news later....
Larissa Coser
Project Coordinator
February 8, 2008
More Updates!
The Illustrated Journey Youth Project is going at full force. We have had 4 sessions so far. There are now only 5 left! The youth are making some impressive artwork. We will hopefully have them up on the website soon.
It was hard for the youth to begin to write and tell their stories, but now with the one-to-one help of our amazing artists, and the Illustrated Journey Team the process has began. We hope that by the end of this month we will have an initial draft of all the stories, which will be completed by the end of March.
There are a few updates:
• Rhizome Café, a community-based café on 317 E. Broadway, has agreed to display some of the youth’s comics on their walls, so that a wider audience will have a chance to learn about the youth and their stories. We will have more details at the end of March when the stories will be completed. Nonetheless, as mention in the last update, we will still have anexhibition at the Mount Pleasant Neighborhood House in April.
• The Vancouver Foundation, one of our major sponsors, will feature the Illustrated Journey Youth Project on its new Magazine called “Foundation Focus” in May. Even more exciting, the Project will be featured on its TV program, “Caring for Communities” on Shaw TV around the same time.
This is all the news for now. There is still much work to be done!
All the best,
Larissa Coser
Illustrated Journey Youth Project Coordinator
New Year Updates!
I hope everyone had a great holiday and is looking forward to 2008!
The final stage of the Illustrated Journey Youth Project ends this year. From January to March, the project participants, with the aid of the Illustrated Journey team and an amazing group of artists, will illustrate their journey of immigration to Canada, and other stories about their lives as new immigrants.
In the first phase of the project, the youth was introduced to comics and learned the basics about creating their own stories and comics. Now, the second phase of the project will consist mostly of drawing the stories per say. There will be only 30 minutes of lesson per session, and the remaining time will be given for the youth to write and draw their comics with the support of the artists. It will be a challenging and rewarding experience to create these final stories! We are all very excited to see the results!
Here are a some updates:
• There are seven amazing artists participating in the project, including last year’s artists Josue Menjivar and Jonathon Dalton. The remaining five artists have just recently joined the Illustrated Journey. Welcome to you all! They are:
Chistopher Leinnon; Philip Barrett; Lydia Fu; Heui Won; Rich Forg
You can see their work and learn more about them by going to their websites which can be found in the posting under Artists
• There are some important dates to keep in mind. By March 29th, we will hopefully have all the stories in their final version and ready to print. On April 12th,there will be an exhibition of the final work. Time and location will be determined at a later date.
• Once again the workshop dates for this year are:
January 19th and 26th
February 2nd, 9th, and 23rd
March 8th, 15th, and 29th
These are all the updates for now. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
We wish you a great day,
All the best,
Larissa Coser
Illustrated Journey Youth Project Coordinator
December 22, 2007
Year End Project Update
Seasons Greetings Illustrated Journey Participants and Supporters!
The first phase of the Illustrated Journey Youth Project has come to an end. At the last workshop, we had a small celebration with food and music performed by the youth. It was amazing to see how musically talented the group is! Thank you so much to those who performed!
On the last day, everyone was enthusiastic about the work that had been done and they were looking forward to next year. Josue distributed a small booklet that he put together with samples of the participants drawings for them to take home. We will hopefully have some of these drawings as well as some photos on the project website soon.
I would like to thank everyone who has supported the project through its first phase. Thank you to our sponsors for believing in this project and showing your support. Thank you to everyone on the Illustrated Journey team, and most importantly, thank you to our participants for their persistence and hard work.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
The second phase of the project begins January 12th. We will see some of you there!
All the best,
Until next year,
Larissa Coser & Pascaline Nsekera
Illustrated Journey Project Coordinators
Larissa Coser
Illustrated Journey
Project Coordinator
Ph.: 604-630-3816
E-mail: larissacoser@yahoo.com
Pascaline Nsekera
Conseiller Emploi/Immigration
Employment/Immigration Counsellor
La Boussole 612 E. Broadway, Vancouver, BC, V5T 1X6
Tel: 604.683.7337 , Fax: 604.684.1565 Cell:
604.724.6675 or 778.386.5657 Email: pnsekera@lbv.ca ,
Web: www.lbv.ca
November 30, 2007
Latest Project Update
Greetings Illustrated Journey participants and supporters!
I am sad to inform that the first stage of the
Illustrated Journey Youth Project is almost over!
There are only two workshops left this year! As such,
the youth have been working hard at learning drawing
techniques and designing their own comic book stories,
before the workshops end. However, there is more to
come! Next phase, from January to March, will be a
more intensive production stage where the youth and
artists will work in close collaboration to illustrate
the youths Journey of immigration to Canada.
Here are our latest updates:
A reminder to everyone that there is a workshop this
Saturday December 1st. The last workshop this year is
December 8th.
We have decided that next year we will continuo to
hold the Illustrated Journey Youth Project sessions at
the Mount Pleasant Neighborhood House (800 East
Broadway). We would like to take the opportunity to
thank Mount Pleasant for their continued support and
collaboration. Thank you!
Here are the dates of the sessions for next year:
January 12th, 19th,and 26th
February 2nd, 9th,and 23rd
March 8th, 15th (to be confirmed) and 29th
As of last Saturday, November 24th, the UBC students
from the School of Social Work and Family Studies,
Prya Ranu and Jenny Saunders, will no longer be
participating in the Illustrated Journey Youth
Project. Nonetheless, Alejandra Lopez who has been
working with Prya and Jenny will continue to work with
us until the completion of the project in April. You
may remember that as part of their course work, they
were responsible for developing an evaluation strategy
for the project. They have done a great job in
collecting feedback from the youth and the Illustrated
Journey team and in contributing to the improvement of
the project and ultimately to its successful outcome.
Thank you for your great work!
Last but not least, we would like to invite you to
attend our next planning meeting on Wednesday,
December 5th at 5:30pm at the Mount Pleasant
Neighbourhood House (800 East Broadway) in Room # 5 on
the top floor.
That is all for now! Thank you for everyone's support,
hard work and collaboration. Please contact us if you
have any questions or concerns.
All the best,
Larisa Coser & Pascaline Nsekera
Illustrated Journey Project Coordinators
Website:
http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/illustratedjourney/
Larissa Coser
Illustrated Journey
Project Coordinator
Ph.: 604-630-3816
E-mail: larissacoser@yahoo.com
Pascaline Nsekera
Conseiller Emploi/Immigration
Employment/Immigration Counsellor
La Boussole 612 E. Broadway, Vancouver, BC, V5T 1X6
Tel: 604.683.7337 , Fax: 604.684.1565 Cell:
604.724.6675 or 778.386.5657 Email: pnsekera@lbv.ca ,
Web: www.lbv.ca
November 21, 2007
Latest Update from Larissa
Hello Illustrated Journey participants and supporters!
The workshop last week was very productive and a lot
of fun. The youth have started to learn how to put a
story together using comic book art. In one exercise,
everyone had to draw the same story as told by one of
the participants. It was amazing to see all the
different perspectives and drawing abilities that were
in the room.
There are a few updates for this week:
A reminder to everyone that there is a workshop
tomorrow (Saturday), November 17th. There are only 4
workshops left this year!
November 17th and 24th
December 1st and 8th
Nonetheless, remember that next year there are more to
come!
Josue is back to teaching the workshop this
Saturday. I want to thank Jonathon Dalton for doing
such a great job leading the class last week.
Pascaline is also back this week supervising the
Project.
We have a special guest tomorrow, Sean Muir who is
the Executive Director of The Healthy Aboriginal
Network which creates comic books for the promotion of
aboriginal health, literacy and wellness. He will be
showing the youth a short movie based on the comic
they designed called "Darkness Calls".
Thanks to Eloy Marina who is a graphic designer and
a volunteer in our planning committee, we have a new
poster for recruiting artists. I have attached it to
this e-mail for those who want to help with recruiting
artists and promoting the project. We have a posting
about the Illustrated Journey on the Vancouver Comic
Jam website; check it out:
http://vancouvercomicjam.com/?p=6#respond
Hopefully, we will get a good response from artists.
Finally, I would like to invite you to attend our
next planning meeting on Wednesday, November 21st at
5:30pm at the the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House
(800 East Broadway) in Room # 5 on the top floor.
These are all the updates for now. Thank you again for
your continued support and interest. If you have any
questions or concerns please contact us.
Have a great day,
All the best,
Pascaline Nsekera & Larisa Coser
Illustrated Journey Project Coordinators
Website:
http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/illustratedjourney/
Larissa Coser
Illustrated Journey
Project Coordinator
Ph.: 604-630-3816
E-mail: larissacoser@yahoo.com
Pascaline Nsekera
Conseiller Emploi/Immigration
Employment/Immigration Counsellor
La Boussole 612 E. Broadway, Vancouver, BC, V5T 1X6
Tel: 604.683.7337 , Fax: 604.684.1565 Cell:
604.724.6675 or 778.386.5657 Email: pnsekera@lbv.ca ,
Web: www.lbv.ca
November 12, 2007
Artists
We have a wonderful collection of artists participating in the project!
Below I list the artists participating in the final stages of the project in 2008, along with a sample of their work (when I can find it!):
Josue Menjivar - of Fresh Brewed Illustration 
Jonathon Dalton - of JonathonDalton.com
Philip Barrett - of Black Shapes
Heui Won - of HeuiDraw.org
Lydia Fu - of Emily Carr Institute
Rich Forg - of Rich Forg Spaces
Christopher Leinnon - (website being created!)
(this list is always being updated!)
A number of other talented artists have worked with us in the past, including:
Julian Lawrence - of Drippytown
Rusty Beach - of Ghetto Toons
Troy Cummings - of Trox5.com
Ju Hui (Judy) Han - of Otherwise.net
& Eloy (who we hope will return to us soon!)
November 2, 2007
New MySpace Presence!
The Illustrated Journey has a new MySpace presence!
See http://www.myspace.com/illjourney
(Design suggestions most welcome!)
The Latest Update from Larissa
Dear Illustrated Journey participants and supporters,
As most of you know, there have been two workshops for
the project so far. They have been a lot of fun and
the youth and volunteers have learned a lot already
about drawing and comic book art. Again, for those who
are new to this e-mail list, these e-mails are sent
every two weeks to keep everyone updated on the latest
developments of the project. Here are our latest
updates:
I would like to make a last minute reminder to
the participants and Saturday volunteers that there is
NO workshop this Saturday, November 3rd. Again, the
workshop dates for this year are:
October 20th and 27th
November 10th, 17th and 24th
December 1st and 8th
Josue Menjivar, our wonderful artist and
teacher for the project, will not be able to attend
the next session, November 10th. However, another
wonderful artist, Jonathon Dalton, will be
substituting Josue on that day, and continuing the
work that needs to be done. If you'd like to check out
their work go to:
http://freshbrewedillustration.com/ and
http://www.jonathondalton.com/ for josue and Jonathon respectively.
We are once again in the process of recruiting comic book
artists and illustrators for the second semester of
the project- January to March. I have attached a flyer
with all the information necessary. If you know
artists who may be interested in this youth mentoring
project, please pass on my or Pascaline's contact or
the attached flyer.
And last not least, we would like to invite you to
our regular planning meeting next Wednesday, November
7th at 5:30pm at the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood
House (800 East Broadway) in the Family Room on the
top floor. While these regular bi-weekly meetings are
mostly intended to those on the planning committee,
you are welcome to participate and your input will be
very much appreciated, so please come!
That is all for now. Have a great weekend,
All the best,
Larissa Coser & Pascaline Nsekera
Illustrated Journey Project Coordinators
Website:
http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/illustratedjourney/
Larissa Coser
Illustrated Journey
Project Coordinator
Ph.: 604-630-3816 E-mail: larissacoser (*at*) yahoo.com
Pascaline Nsekera
Conseiller Emploi/Immigration
Employment/Immigration Counsellor
La Boussole 612 E. Broadway, Vancouver, BC, V5T 1X6
Tel: 604.683.7337 , Fax: 604.684.1565 Cell:
604.724.6675 or 778.386.5657 Email: pnsekera (*at*) lbv.ca ,
Web: www.lbv.ca