Everyone gathered around a table at the Voluntown Public Library on July 28 , as Jason Deeble , author of “ Sir Ryan’s Quest , ” read his book to the children at the start of a “ Cartooning and Graphic Novel How To” program . This program was part of the “ Be Creative @ Voluntown Library” summer reading program .

Deeble’s book came out this past April , and while promoting his book , he got involved with interacting with kids . Now he presents his program at libraries , schools and book stores . After many yearsas a school teacher , his flair for working with children comes naturally , as he shares his love of cartooning .

The reason for reading the book was to show the kids how he started work on it , by sketching characters , along with the other steps that he followed to reach the finished product . Deeble first came up with characters made from household and garage items , then drew Ryan to befriend the other characters . Ryan goes through his mother’s pots and pans and ends up dressing in a red cape , wearing a pot for a hat , a trash can lid for his shield , and a yardstick for a sword . Deeble compared Ryan to himself during his youngeryears.

“ Since most story books have 32 pages , ” said Deeble , “ I made 32 squares on paper and made a rough draft . ” From there , he worked on colors and perfecting the story and illustrations , made a dummy book , and finally a finished product .

The participants had a chance to make their own books out of a sheet of paper folded into eight squares . Deeble wrote an idea on a chalk board and built sequences for the rest of the squares . “ Cartooning is sequential art , ” said Deeble , as he showed a man walking , finding a key , finding a door , and so on . Everyone drew their own book and provided their own ending . He also showed them how to do a twopage animation , and encouraged everyone to be creative .

Deeble further explained how some artists work in the “ real” world and some work in the “ cartoon” world . “ When drawing real life , youreye and hand talk to each other … There is no imagination . When youdraw cartoons , yourbrain talks to yourhand . It’s about using imagination … drawing what yourmind sees , ” Deeble said .

Some of the participants were already into drawing . Danielle , of Griswold , started drawing while in pre-school . She said , “ I try to do surreal type drawings , like a man sitting on a moon . I enjoyed learning how to make a dummy book . ”

Shawna Turner was there with her 9-year-old twin sons , Hunter and Max . She said , “ They wanted to come . Hunter thinks it will help him to draw Pokemon better . ”

Tracy Owen’s son , Ryan , enjoys drawing cartoons like Batman and Spiderman .