Workshops - Emily Fellah

Comics and illustration workshops with the power to engage pupils in writing, character creation and drawing, designed to tie in with curriculum topics of your choice

Emily Fellah standing with a class of pupils holding up the fox character drawings they created during a workshop at the Sharjah International Book Fair — Pupils with their individual fox characters

Child's hands erasing the pencil lines from a grumpy fox character they created which is drawn in black pen — Creation during a step-by-step drawing tutorial

View over the shoulder of a pupil creating character doodles — Character creation doodles following a tutorial

London and the surrounding areas
Age range Early Years – KS5
Suitable for schools, SEND settings and other arts & cultural settings

Choose from comics, illustration or picture book workshops with optional curriculum themes such as heroes and villains, myths and legends, Space, Fairy Tales or a topic of your choice. I can also design sessions for your World Book Day focus, for literacy and arts weeks, and to support the National Year of Reading 2026.

Included in a typical session

An insight into the way I work and how I develop characters, emphasising the fact that drawings don’t come out ‘perfect’ the first time.
Step-by-step character tutorial where the pupils add their own elements and ideas to make the character unique.
Character inspiration and ‘character maths’ method of generating new ideas, then pupils create more original characters that will work together to tell a great story.
Learn about the fundamentals of creating an exiting story and methods of comic or picture book creation.
Create a one page comic or a picture book plan. I provide guidance for teachers to support the pupils to continue this work.

A colourful robot drawing and other characters created during a workshop — Character workshop

Child's drawings on a picture book template telling a story with colourful illustrations and text — Picture book workshop

Useful to know

I include printable resources such as planning and evaluation sheets for pupils, comic/picture book templates and guidance notes for teachers.
I require PowerPoint facilities and a flipchart, and the pupils need A4 paper or art books and pencils.
I am CRB checked and registered with the DBS Update Service.
I have Public Liability insurance.
Pricing information is available on request. A discounted rate is applied for full day bookings, which can include an assembly and workshops with different year groups and topics. Please contact me here

More information

Types of workshop, age groups and timings

Character workshop (adapted for all ages). 45 minute – 1 hour sessions

Quick intro to me and how I create characters
Step-by-step character tutorial, adding their own details and expressions
The group think about what other characters they would need to tell a great story and create their own original characters with support from me.
This work can be used for further creative writing and comic creation

Character and comics workshop (adapted for all ages). 1 hr 30 minute sessions

Quick intro to me and how I create characters
Step-by-step character tutorial, adding their own details and expressions
The group think about what other characters they would need to tell a great story and create their own original characters with support from me.
Tips and inspiration for creating their own comics
Create a one page comic featuring their characters.

Character creation in a scene (works well for Reception – year 2). 1 hour

Quick intro to me and how I create characters
Step-by-step character tutorial (the group have a lot of opportunity to individualise their character)
Develop the page into a scene (such as the ocean)
Create new characters to populate the scene following tips and inspiration.

Picture book workshop (Reception to year 2). 1 hour – 1 hr 30 minute sessions

I show the group how I create characters, then read through shortened versions of ‘Banana’ (a great story with just 2 words) and ‘This Book Just Ate my Dog’ (an interactive picture book with no flaps or folds).
Following tips and inspiration the group create their own characters
Finally, they create a picture book plan on a template.

Mark making to create a scene (Nursery). Around 30 minutes

• Quick intro to my work

• I demonstrate on the flip chart and the pupils follow me to draw something really simple like a group of straight lines using HB pencils.

• We draw more lines to create tree trunks.

• We switch to crayons to draw the tree foliage.

• We can then build up the scene in different ways such as adding insects and a river etc using a choice of coloured pencil and crayons. As we go along I ask them how it feels to use the different media – what’s easy to hold, how to describe the different marks we can make and what colours we use.

• I read them a forest related story with lots of interaction

Download full workshops details and testimonials

Literacy and arts programmes I’m involved with

I’m an Artsmark Partner with experience supporting schools to achieve Artsmark status. I’m an Arts Award Supporter delivering workshops for the Arts Award journey. I’m also trained to deliver the Discover and Explore levels of the Arts Award. I’m involved with the Sharing REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy) early years offer to parents as part of my library role.

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Feedback

‘It was great to hear from both the children and the other teachers about how much they enjoyed the sessions and how impressed they were with what the children drew. The children came back to classes so enthused about the opportunity to turn their characters into a comic strip, and they have continued to be excited and engaged with it across the school this week. Thanks again for such a wonderful experience for the children.’ Iain McGowan, Writing Lead, Pickhurst Infant Academy, West Wickham.

‘What I really enjoyed was the level of challenge that followed the introductory task. Everyone was fully engaged and seemed to gain confidence as the session progressed. There was a very happy, industrious atmosphere in the room.’ Naomi James, Teacher, Old Palace Preparatory School, Croydon.

‘Poverest Primary School had the fantastic opportunity of having Emily with us for a week where she taught our children the art of creating comic strips. She guided and supported the children through the process using resources which we were given before the workshops commenced. These resources were clear and concise giving us, the teachers, plenty of material to work with so that the children were fully prepared for their workshops. Emily adapted the workshops to suit the age and ability of the class. We were impressed with how she delivered the workshops and her skills and knowledge she brought to the classroom. We would highly recommend Emily and she is returning next year to work with us again.’ Elisa Irwin, Poverest Primary School, St Mary Cray, Kent.