MISKEEGOGAMANG – Mishkeegogamang First Nations students in grades 4 to 8 were treated to a virtual art animation workshop led by Guru Studio’s animation director Andrew Strimaitis.
Strimaitis is famously known for his work on Nickelodeon’s The Backyardigans and Paw Patrol, and CBC’s Big Blue.
“The art class was a fun, first introduction to traditional animation. We learned about what goes into animating a character's facial expression and the importance of showing emotion,” said Strimaitis.
Strimatis’s workshop showed the students the fundamentals of animation with a tutorial on how to draw facial expressions. From there, he showed the kids how to animate their creations by using an old schoolyard method — a flipbook.
“The workshop was really designed to share how drawing and animation can be used as an outlet for creativity and self-expression. Bringing a drawing to life for the first time can be a very exciting thing. Our goal was to share a bit about what working in animation is like and hopefully inspire others towards working in the arts. Animation is a great way to tell stories about the people and cultures that are important in our communities,” Strimaitis said.
Mikinakoos Children’s Fund executive director Emily Shandruk said the students really loved learning how to turn their everyday doodles into animation.
Shandruk said Strimaitis’s process throughout the workshop was very reminiscent of older animation methods where animators would sketch on a single piece of paper and then draw a slight variation of the same shape on the next piece of paper to represent the movement of the object.
“He talked about how that inspired him to want to learn how to be an animator and what the process he went through. So, he took the kids through that process and the image he was showcasing was a face with their mouth slightly open and then going to a wide-open pride look. So, if you flip the page the person kind of goes like “WOW!” and how that can turn into animation,” explains Shandruk.
Because animation is now created almost entirely digitally, Strimaitis’s workshop focused on the fundamentals.
“Everybody just started with a pencil, paper and a paperclip, and he shows how that could turn into a basic animation, but then you develop those skills. Then if you want to continue, he showed what that education could look like and how to want to progress into the world of animation,” Shandruk said.
Shandruk also explains that the collaborative work between Mikinakoos and Guru Studios has been an incredible journey.
Shandruk said, “we have really grown together. We got together this summer. They learnt about Mikinakoos and they wanted to know more about our programs and when we talked to them about the programs around art, they really wanted to collaborate more.”
Although most schools are on holiday break, Shandruk and Strimaitis are hoping to bring more workshops to First Nation communities in the new year.
Engage with Mikinakoos Children's Fund on social through #FirstNationKidsFirst and donate to Mikinakoos Children’s Fund here.
