High school student to teach anime class

Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009 | 3:36 p.m.

Budding cartoonists are invited to sharpen their skills at the Enterprise Library during a free lesson in character creation.

The library, 25 E. Shelbourne Ave., off Las Vegas Boulevard near Windmill Lane, will host "Become an Anime Character," taught by Liberty High School sophomore Kaitlyn Martin, from 11 a.m. to noon Jan. 17.

Martin said she will help attendees create their own characters by giving them easy step-by-step instruction on how to draw the eyes, the shoes and everything in between.

"It's just a lot of fun," she said, "because first of all, it's unique in its own way and there are so many ways of animating; it's crazy."

To help attendees realize what different ideas they can combine for their characters and create something unique, Martin said she'll start the lesson by having everyone draw their favorite animal as well as their favorite movie or television character.

They can then take features from those drawings and incorporate them into their character.

While Martin has never taught a drawing class before, she said she gained plenty of experience working with other artists when she formed the computer-based Comics Animations and Drawings club at Charles Silvestri Junior High School — a club she said she hopes to bring to Liberty as soon as the school acquires the necessary computer programming.

Martin said she enjoys her style of drawing largely because of the artistic freedom it allows.

"You get to make something that is completely unique and completely your own," she said. "The best part about this is you get to enter a totally different world where basically anything can happen."

Ashley Livingston can be reached at 990-8925 or ashley.livingston@hbcpub.com.