Walking Dead creator Charlie Adlard talks comics and careers with school pupils
Shropshire's own world-famous Comic book artist Charlie Adlard, one of the creators of The Walking Dead, has been passing on tips and tricks of the trade to schoolchildren.
He visited Meole Brace Secondary School to talk about his career and could not resist discussing the artwork of students.
A veteran of the comic industry for more than 25 years, Charlie, who lives in Shrewsbury, is known for his work on the immensely popular Walking Dead series, which gave rise to the hugely successful television series of the same name which has been watched by millions of people across the world.
Last year he created artwork for the first of nine boards for the Shrewsbury Comic Art Trail and his image at Shrewsbury Castle included Michael Palin, Charles Darwin and 'Charlie the Ape'.
In 2019 he was made an Honorary Fellow of Wrexham's Glyndwr University in appreciation of his services to the creative arts. He has also received many industry awards for his work on The Walking Dead and has drawn dozens of other titles during his career.
Charlie told pupils that he had "achieved his dream" and advised them to put passion into whatever they did in life.
He said: "It is there for the taking. Never compromise.
"It is hard work, believe me, but you can get there and you just have to go for it."
As many as 115 of the 1,200 pupils, aged from 11 to 16, listened to his talk and about 60 stayed on to take part in an impromptu workshop when Charlie shared his thoughts on their skills.
Kate Hare, who teaches English and runs the Aspiration Talk programme which started last September, said: "We have someone come into school every two weeks to talk for half-an-hour about their career, volunteering or interests and students can choose whether to attend.
"There were 115 students who listened to the talk by Charlie who spoke about his work on comic book artistry, how he got into it and top tips.
"He spoke about careers in art and then kindly agreed to do a workshop with about 60 students in the library.
"They had brought in their own artwork, some done in clubs and other pieces from home, and talked to Charlie about ideas and plot lines.
"He is one of the 16 inspirational people we have had coming into school to talk about their lives and previous speakers have included Paralympian Nick Beighton, Shrewsbury Town footballer Jaden Bevan and a parent who is in the police service.
"I try to find a speaker to suit everyone in the school and if there is anyone who would be prepared to come and talk about their life I can guarantee at least 50 to 60 pupils will be lining up to listen to them.
"Anyone who would be prepared to give a talk can contact me via the hare.k@meole.co.uk email address."
