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Cartoonist shares skills at Poland Shepherd
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .During Duane Abel's drawing class, the artist gave away many of the drawings he created during his lesson. Shepherd resident Sally Drevet showed off the picture she won of Brian, a character in Duane Abel's comic strip "Zed."
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Shepherd of the Valley resident Viola Mackey (left) showed off some of the drawings she created during artist Duane Abel's cartooning class.
By SARAH FOOR
To celebrate National Assisted Living Week from Sept. 11-17, Poland Shepherd of the Valley entertained residents and guests with seven days of Disney-themed fun.
On Sept. 12, festivities focused around cartoonist Duane Abel. During his evening visit to the facility, Abel shared his process writing and drawing his own comic strip and shared stories of famous cartoonists throughout the last 100 years.
Abel gave every guest a sheet of paper and colored pencils to practice drawing under his direction.
“There will be no erasing here today,” Abel told the crowd of burgeoning artists. “I don’t have an eraser and neither will you. There are no mistakes here, just new opportunities to be creative.”
Abel introduced the star of his syndicated comic strip, Zed, a walking, talking ball of dryer lint. In the strips, Zed balances his aspirations to be a lounge singer and his adventures with his best friend Brian and his family.
Abel shared the stories of Walt Disney, Shel Silverstein, Charles Schultz, Dr. Seuss and Jim Davis, focusing on their many initial failures but eventual success.
“Although all of you might not want to be cartoonists, it’s still a good lesson to learn. Keeping persistent in something you truly believe in will always pay off, in my opinion,” shared Abel.