Corey Boynton, GAHS Class of 2017, recently paid a virtual visit to Ms. Gingras’s class, Exploring the Graphic Novel. He was the first guest speaker for this brand new elective course offered by the English Department at Gardiner Area High School.
Corey is currently a senior at Maine College of Art in Portland, ME. He will graduate in May with a degree in Animation and Game Art. To prepare for his visit, students had an opportunity to enjoy his published comic book series. The series features Newt, a character he created when he was in elementary school, and has continued to develop through the years.
Corey’s talking points were professional and thoughtful. He advised students to not get discouraged and “stay positive!” He also informed them that the best way to avoid writer/artist block is to create “something you know you will want to spend time on” and work on projects that will “please you rather than trying to please other people.”
Students eagerly learned about Corey’s artistic experiences and asked plenty of questions. Junior, Aidan Eastman asked, “How do you deal with criticism?” Corey responded with an insightful explanation of constructive vs. destructive criticism. It was a give and take experience as the students and Corey exchanged ideas and preferences for digital art platforms. Freshman, Keagan Jiminez asked Corey, “If you could be any one of your characters, then who would it be?” Corey answered that he sees a little bit of himself in each one of his characters. His final words of advice were to “keep drawing” and “trust that there will always be an audience.”