This workshop is an introduction to graphic novel storytelling. Students will learn the basics of how to construct a story, fiction or nonfiction, using two different languages simultaneously: the written word, and the visual art. Instructor Gina Siciliano is the author of "I Know What I Am: The Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi", a graphic novel biography published by Fantagraphics in 2019. Students will begin constructing their own comic, while Siciliano shares insight on choosing important subjects, setting deadlines, doing research, working in different mediums, balancing text with images, and building the stamina and focus required to bring big ideas to completion. She’ll work on her own small project alongside students, to demonstrate page design and thumbnailing techniques. Students will also look at and discuss a variety of examples, exploring how this medium has grown and changed throughout the last twenty years.