This is a quote from a long interview in Animation Magazine with comic artist Jim Lee and others working on the new DC Universe online game. Note the emphasis on feeling the pose in your own body- a basic Nicolaides (The Natural Way To Draw) principle!

“Lee, the blockbuster artist who defined the X-Men, created the Wild C.A.T.s and Wildstorm Studios, and of late has been defining Superman and Batman for a whole new generation of DC comic book readers, was the lead designer on the game. He likened the process — now four years of work since he started — to weight training.

“It’s hard work, but at the end of the day you come out better, stronger for it,” he said. “It’s been a real learning experience — not just learning about how to build an MMO, but also learning about the DC universe.”

Designing the characters involved breaking down all the powers in the DC universe for the players to choose from and use in the game, a process that Lee says gave him a new appreciation of DC.

“I never really thought about what kind of material these costumes are made out of, I never thought about the environments, I never thought about what the neighborhoods of Gotham City and Metropolis looked like,” he said. “Having those answers, I feel much smarter as a DC fan than I ever did before.”

When it comes to animating characters that he’d previously only drawn for the comic book page, Lee says he turned, as always, to a bit of research.

“In some sense, it’s the same. When I draw certain things, I’ll actually stand up and pose it out. I’ll be looking in a mirror or having someone take a photograph,” he says. “Even standing up and posing, and feeling how your body feels at that time —
it helps you convey that when you draw it.”

In addition, although I had marked down the student exhibition in my calendar, I probably would never otherwise have come to see it.  The caliber of the work is fantastic and I hope all the students continue to do well in their chosen fields.  I had heard of the school, but quite frankly the name seemed a little odd.  I’m glad I’m over that misconception.

My only concern about the course was that it was too short.  The amount of material Dave covered needs easily double the time.  However I’m sure its just a “feet-wetting” course and Dave’s advice re practice is true and with discipline we can do that on our own.

Thank you for a great course, and hope to take some more on a scattershot basis if possible.

Regards,

Cathy Mills

Dear Carla,
I just finished the above noted workshop and I just wanted to say how pleased I was with the level of instruction given by Dave Ross.  He is a very talented artist. I only hope that at some point in my career be half as good as he is. But even more than a good artist he is an excellent teacher. I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop; David Ross was kind, patient, encouraging and he gave clear instruction and guidance at all times. His wealth of knowledge and skill is impressive. I will carry what I learned in this workshop into future courses and into my future career.

Kindest regards,
Karen Peuser

Hi Carla
I just finished another fantastic workshop at the Max the Mutt. Once again I learned a lot as well as really enjoyed the course. The instructor Ken Nice was an excellent instructor who really knows his stuff.
The instructor was kind, patient, helpful, knowledgeable and very personable. Your school I must admit does a great job in finding great instructors and teaching the students. The art I saw displayed on the school walls from former and current students just amazed me. Wow what talented students your school produces, this would not be accomplished of course without such wonderful and talented instructors.

I now know compared to other programs I have attended at other schools and programs your school is the best. In future when I consider workshops or courses your school will be it.

Thank you,
Karen Peuser

Our “faculty” page needs updating! Bios for new faculty members will be available very soon. Please bear with us: we are short staffed and very busy. I have placed an asterisk besides new faculty names.

–Fall 2009 Semester – List of Instructors

Program: Classical and Computer Animation Basics

Year 1

Beginning Life Drawing – Jock MacRae

Principles of Drawing – Vivian Felsen

Perspective & Structural Drawing – Bojan Redzic and Jelena Sisic

Representational Painting – Trudy Binder

History of Animation- Maury Whyte

Design & Composition – Jock MacRae, Scott Cameron
Year 2

Intermediate Life Drawing – Ed Shawcross

Cartooning for Animation – Tina Seemann

Layout for Animation – Bojan Redzic

Introduction to Storyboarding – Maury Whyte

*Cleanup & Inbetweening -Phillip Street

Background Painting – Jelena Sisic

Digital Editing Basics (non diploma) – Niall Dowdell
Flash (non diploma) – Bojan Redzic

Year 3

*Advanced Life Drawing – Geordie Millar

Drawing Hands & Feet – Steve Millard

*Animation Basics 3 – James Miko

*Animal Drawing – Maureen Shelleau

Character Design – Steve Millard

Digital background Painting, 2 week intensive – Knud Skov

–Fall 2009 Semester – List of Instructors
Program: Illustration for Sequential Arts

Year 1

Beginning Life Drawing – Nina Bunjevac

Principles of Drawing – Vivian Felsen & Steve Millard

Perspective & Structural Drawing – Bojan Redzic

Representational Painting – Trudy Binder

Design & Composition – Jock MacRae, Scott Cameron

Year 2

Intermediate Life Drawing – Ed Shawcross

Cartooning for Comics 1 – Tina Seemann

Comic Book Layout and Composition – Kent Burles

Inking 1 – Bojan Redzic

Drawing Background, Props and Structures for Comics – Dave Ross

*Cinematic Storytelling and Story Development ( 2 week intensive) – Ken Steacy

History of Sequential Art – Kent Burles

Drawing Heads & Features – Steve Millard

Year 3

Advanced Life Drawing – Ed Shawcross

Drawing Hands & Feet – Steve Millard

Character Design for Comics & Graphic Novels – Bojan Redzic

Advanced Page Composition and Penciling – Dave Ross

Computer Coloring & Lettering – Jock MacRae

*Illustration for Children’s Books Part 1 – Dusan Petricic

*Animal Drawing – Maureen Shelleau

Fall 2009 Semester – List of Instructors
Program: Concept Art

Year 1

Beginning Life Drawing – Ed Shawcross

Principles of Drawing – Vivian Felsen

Perspective 1 – Dimitri Kostic

Representational Painting – Trudy Binder

Design & Composition – Jock MacRae

Structural Drawing – Dave Ross

History of Animation – Maury Whyte

Year 2

Intermediate Life Drawing – Ed Shawcross

Introduction to Concept Art – Don Gauthier

Environment Visualization – Sasa Radosavcevic

Understanding Basic Animation – Bojan Redzic

Cartooning 1 – Tina Seemann

Drawing Props & Structures (2 week intensive) – Bojan Redzic

Background Painting – Jelena Sisic

Digital Background Painting – Jelena Sisic

Year 3

Digital Background Painting (2 week intensive) – Knud Skov

*Environment Visualization (2 week intensive) – Sasa Radosavcevic

*Advanced Life Drawing – Geordie Millar

*Portrait Painting in Oil – Gregory Furmanczyk

Drawing Hands & Feet – Steve Millard

Understanding Basic Animation – Bojan Redzic

*Advanced Environment Design & Painting in Photoshop – Paul Cieniuch

We are very sorry to announce that Ty Templeton is leaving us. We all appreciate his expertise and the tremendous contribution he made to Max the Mutt. Ty will be teaching private workshops and has emailed me that he continues to recommend the Sequential Arts Diploma program.

On the positive side, this week we will be putting together a list of faculty teaching in each diploma with a small bio of each instructor. This will be emailed to all students and also will be posted on the blog. The faculty is growing and I think you’ll share my excitement at the depth of their backgrounds and achievements.

Here’s some of the news!

As previously announced, award winning editorial illustrator and children’s book illustrator,  Dusan Petricic will be teaching year 3 Sequential Arts  students, and will conduct  an editorial illustration workshop later in the year.

We are happy to announce that Scott Caple,  environment designer for Disney and Pixar,  is returning  to Max the Mutt and is designing a Concept Art course for us that he will teach in September.

The programs at Max the Mutt continue to develop.  Concerning Sequential Arts,  our commitment to a solid skill base that will be applicable to mainstream comics and  graphic novels but will also provide graduates with the ability to apply that skill base to advertising and children’s books, remains.

Dave Ross, one of Canada’s best known comic artists, and illustrator/comic artist Kent Burles will be working together to pilot our first industry evening and graduation for Sequential Arts students. Kent will be the co-ordinator, and he and Dave together will look after the smooth functioning of all aspects of that program.

See you all soon!

Maxine

More changes: see new post on Ken Steacy, major Canadian comic book artist, who will be joining our faculty!  Scott Caple has decided that he prefers to teach a more concept oriented course and will not be teaching first semester, but we expect that he will mentor the year four advanced CA final project in the 2010/2011 academic year.

We were invited to attend a Ubisoft press confeence yesterday. I HOPED maybe… and then…it’s true! This is a terrific company. We’ve vsited them in Montreal, have several graduates and one instructor working for them, and all we hear are great things about the company and how they treat their employees. Welcome to Toronto, UBISOFT!!!

Ubisoft® Extends Global Reach, Opening New Studio in Toronto

TORONTO, Ontario, Canada, July 6 – Ubisoft announced plans today to open a full development studio in Toronto, Ontario – a first for the company in the province. This significant announcement is expected to result in the creation of 800 net new jobs within the province over the next decade. The government of Ontario is investing CA$263 million over ten years in the company and Ubisoft’s net investment will be over half a billion CAD in the new studio, which will begin operations in late 2009.
“Today’s announcement marks a strategic move for Ubisoft as we continue to expand our internal development force,” said Yves Guillemot, president and chief executive officer at Ubisoft. “We are in an excellent position to grow and after extensive analysis we are thrilled to have reached an agreement with the government of Ontario to found our new studio in Toronto. The city is one of North America’s economic and cultural epicenters and our expectations are high. We’re excited to be able to count on the exceptional local talent, who will contribute to our accelerated growth and will have a profound impact on the video game industry with the excellence of their creativity.”
Ubisoft Toronto will be overseen by Yannis Mallat, chief executive officer at Ubisoft Montréal, whose proven leadership and vision will be a major asset to the growth and success of the new studio. Ubisoft Toronto will work on Triple-A games and will emulate the proven business model and creative excellence for which Ubisoft is known. In addition, Ubisoft Toronto will bring its own flavour to the global Ubisoft brand, which will benefit from the deep pool of dynamic and quality talent trained in video game design and production in the province of Ontario.
The Toronto studio will also build on the city’s existing experience with the film production industry. Collaborating with local film industry veterans to enhance video game production and extend Ubisoft’s convergence strategy, Ubisoft Toronto will contribute to Ubisoft’s global plan of extending its brands to complementary platforms and mediums, including books, comics, short films and other products.
“We are incredibly excited to finally tap into the remarkable talent Ontario has been developing over the years,” said Yannis Mallat. “Toronto’s unique pool of experience video game industry and film industry talent will allow us to develop a team with exceptional ability to help us realize our goals for creating brands with universal appeal that extend beyond the world of video games.”
The studio in Toronto will be the fourth for Ubisoft in Canada, with other studios located in Montréal, Quebec City and Vancouver and employing more than 2,300 creative staff across the country.
Today’s announcement is made possible with the support of the Ontario provincial government and its dedication to invest in organizations that create jobs and provide long-term value for the provincial economy. Premier Dalton McGuinty was on hand today at the Ubisoft press conference in Toronto to help announce plans for the new studio and elaborate on the provincial government’s support for the endeavour, stating “Our world is one where you can borrow capital, you can copy technology and you can buy natural resources. But to build a high wage and a high standard of living you need talent. By investing in Ubisoft, we’re building Ontario’s economy now and for the future.”
Among its more than 17 multi-million selling franchises, Ubisoft is known for developing and producing such legendary game brands as Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell®, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six®, Assassin’s Creed®, Prince of Persia®, Red Steel®, Rayman®, Rayman Raving Rabbids®, and Far Cry®.
Industry professionals interested in joining Ubisoft Toronto, please contactwork.in.TO@ubisoft.com

Starts October 24 This class is running and there is space available.

This workshop will continue developing your knowledge of the Manga medium, including  its various styles, its unique visual vocabulary, and distinctive approach to character design.  You will be most comfortable in this course if you have already taken a course with Svetlana. Participants will design their own characters and create Manga pages.

(more…)

Happy Canada Day everyone!

There are several things on my mind this summer.  Besides working with major concept artists to redesign parts of our program,  working with Noelle Belgrave (all of you starting at Max the Mutt will know her soon-  without her nothing functions)  to do the scheduling for September classes,  and suffering all the frustrations of trying to update our web pages (we are late going live!),  I’ve been thinking a lot about how to help those incoming students who aren’t used to deadlines, homework, and concentrating!

There was a great quote from Confucius on my Google page the other day.

“I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.” The problem is how to guide people who don’t have the right habits into “doing.”

Please feel free to post any ideas you may have.

On the fun side we’ll be trying out a Friday “Meet and Greet” Pizza evening. Most studios require complete focus and silence, and people need a chance to meet each other and have a little social time.  Every Friday we’ll ask for a dollar or two and provide Pizza and drinks. Friday evening classes will begin a little later so you can make noise.