WHY I DO THIS: because children should enjoy comics.

This article posted by Mike Bullock (link below) is one reason I decided to create a comic series designed for children. Comics are an incredible art form, & a lot time they don't get their due. The medium can be seen as 'geeky' or as one person told me in high school, "why are you reading that? Aren't comics for kids?" 


And because of that stigma, there has been such a push to make comics a serious adult medium. I grew up on comics, & I would like to continue to see children read comics. Its an awesome medium for children, but there needs to be a focus on good creators creating good comics for children. The big players in the industry don't want to devote time creating comics for children. But they should, because you need to always give attention towards a young audience no matter the medium, comics, movies, etc. That helps keep your medium alive, by adding new blood.


And there are new creators creating great  stories for kids, & I want to be a part of that. Who knows, maybe Grade 5 can be mentioned in an article like this. Until then, check out the article link below & behave like a kid!

http://www.brokenfrontier.com/columns/p/detail/comics-dont-like-kids-these-days

WHY I DO THIS: FOR MY FRIENDS

If you would've told the 5th grade version of me, that one of my best friends would have moved to Arizona, one would have been married off & seen very seldom, one would have become a firefighter & due to his schedule, I only see him infrequently, & lastly, that one would have been removed from life almost entirely until recently. I would have told you to shut up & let me play kick ball, because I wouldn't have believed it, especially when I saw these guys every day. Well, at least monday through Friday.


But the reality of it is, friends grow up & create lives for them selves, it doesn't matter if you've known them since 1st grade or not. This is a great thing, but for some one who is very close with his best friends & was used to seeing them every day, its an unpleasant feeling knowing that it will be extremely rare that we will all be in the same place at the same time ever again.


So, when I decided to create 'Grade 5' I knew first & foremost that the series was going to be about my friends. I wanted this to act as tribute to a time when my friends & I could sit across from each other at a lunch table & discuss what we were planning to do during the weekend, instead of texting/ facebooking each other from miles away. 


And even though the characters are at the point where they are taking a life of their own, & sounding less like the friends that I grew up with, this is something that I can always look back on to be remind me of a nostalgic time that I will never get back, but one that I was very blessed to have. Because honestly, not every one has four best friends that they can afford to be stupid with. 


-Jason

Daily Sketch Series Batch #4

This is batch #4. This batch how ever might be my least favorite group of sketches. I was rushed & really wasn't impressed with the work I produced on Sammie's sketch & on 
Dean's sketch. Those sketches don't posses the emotion that I was able to create with Steve's sketch or Trevor's sketch. And Dean's character hasn't been given any time to shine, so I actually had a little trouble figuring out what to do with him. 


But I do feel that I def. captured Mrs. Woemen's character. She's pretty much an angry gargoyle, the stereotypical old teacher that you love to hate. P.S. Mrs. Woemen's character plays a huge role in the events of issue 3. I'll be posting the next batch shortly. Until then, behave like a kid folks.


My favorite sketch in this batch is easily Mrs. Woemen's sketch.