The Animation Academy

Practicing what I teach

2012-01-23T19:13:00.000-08:00

Our new class location is making a very positive difference in an already positive program here at the Academy, allowing me and our other instructors to work even closer with students and to participate in the creative process through demonstrations.

Here's something I came up with in the Visual Development class earlier this month. The assignment was to commit to a concept and use value rendering through free form sketching as a means of developing the art for the idea. This wasn't as much of a demonstration as it was my way of joining in on what my students were doing.

This next work was a demonstration in the Character Design 1 class last week. The subject being a traditional five pose head rotation. I came up with a design and then attempted to turn the form by drawing on 12 field paper on an animation disk.

The images will appear full size if you click on them.

With smaller groups in sessions dedicated to the subject, we're experiencing greater creative and artistic growth while having a lot of fun. We accept new and returning student enrollment on a monthly basis. If you're looking to develop your fundamental skills through an animation oriented venue, The Animation Academy offers a program that will greatly benefit you. Feel free to contact us if you have questions or would like more information.

Animation Evening - January 19, 2012

2012-01-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

We'll be celebrating the 14th anniversary of The Animation Academy with An 'Evening of Animation' at the Burbank Public Library. Meet the Pros: Snakebite Cortez, Tom Narey of DreamWorks, Chance Raspberry of The Simpsons, Stephen Silver, EmCeed by yours truly, Charles Zembillas.

All of the guest speakers at this event are former students of the Academy and have gone on to careers of distinction.

The Academy enjoys a great relationship with the Burbank community and the Burbank Public Library. We're happy and excited to be spending our 14th birthday in the company of these superb artists and the fine people of the area.

An Evening of Animation will be taking place on January 19, 2012 at 7 PM at the Library's Buena Vista Branch, just up the street from Disney Studios. For more info please follow this link.

A Happy and Creative 2012

2012-01-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

Hello and Happy New Year to all.

Here in Burbank, the Academy has gotten off to a great start for 2012 as we've consolidated operations into a single location. Here's a look at the building we call home in the Magnolia Park area of town, the geographic heart of the international capital of the animation industry.

We've wrapped up our first week of classes at this location. Things went smoothly and everyone is very pleased with our new system. As noted in my previous post, we're able to field sessions that are more focused and subject specific than the workshop environment we enjoyed. Although it had its positives, our students can make even more creative progress than before. We're scheduling classes throughout the week and are able to expand the curriculum as well.

I'm enthusiastic about what this year will bring to our educational community. We have a lot of new projects in the works and now that we're settled in, there's plenty of room to grow.

The next opportunity for new students to enroll will be for classes starting Monday, February 6, 2012. For more information please feel free to visit the Academy's website or give us a call at 818-848-6590.

Wishing our students, associates, colleagues, friends and fans all the very best for the coming year and beyond.

Keep Creating!

Charles Zembillas
President and Founder
The Animation Academy
Burbank, California
USA

Expanding the Burbank Program

2011-12-20T11:09:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone.

I'm happy to report that the Academy's program will be changing in the New Year. For some time now we've been offering classes in a creative workshop environment held one evening per week in Burbank. This was a great place for class but was a temporary situation. Starting next semester on January 3, 2012, we'll be conducting our sessions in a dedicated classroom located in the same building as our administrative office.

Although the weekly workshop classes have been very beneficial and great fun, moving back to a dedicated classroom environment will enable us to schedule sessions whenever we want. We'll be having a different class each night of the week, Monday through Thursday evenings to start. Instead of dividing students into groups depending upon what they are studying, we'll be able to focus on each specific subject as we did before, making every course even more effective.

We'll also be able to set up our equipment for the venerable Character Animation class, which we weren't able to do before due to the limitations of the space we were working out of.

Also, students who would like to take more than one class at a time will be able to do so without a problem, as long as the prerequisite for the class is met.

I'm excited about this development and enthusiastically looking forward to the new setup. We'll be able to access and utilize our extensive educational archives much easier. We'll be working with smaller groups and really be able to concentrate on each individual student more effectively. We'll be able to supply each class with more material for creating, and we'll even be able to bring back our production internship program as well.

It's all very good news.

We're in the process of updating our homepage to reflect the change in our schedule. It'll be posted very soon. Meanwhile, if you have any questions or are interested in enrolling in our program, please feel free to contact the Academy by calling 818-848-6590. You can also reach us via email by visiting our website.

Thank you, and remember that everything is possible if you Keep Creating!

Charles Zembillas
President and Founder
The Animation Academy
Burbank, California
USA

Estylo from Fernando Jimenez

2011-11-28T11:05:00.000-08:00

A former student of the Academy has launched a new one of a kind product and a successful Kickstarter campaign to back it up.

Fernando Jimenez has come up with the Estylo 1.1, the first and only wooden stylus to work on capacitive touch screens such as the iPad. His goal was to create a completely eco friendly product that would inspire the imagination. Designed for artists seeking greater accuracy over their work, it can also be used for writing or simply navigating the Web. Estylo uses high quality conductive materials so no extra pressure is needed for it to be detected by the device. Estylo is in effect, a pencil for the iPad.

Fernando recently took the Estylo to Kickstarter.com in an effort to raise funding for the project. The campaign has been a tremendous success so far, with 538 backers and approaching 6 times the original funding level of $3500 he was originally shooting for as of this writing with 13 days left to the campaign.

To find out more about the Estylo 1.1 or to contribute to Fernando's launch for the Estylo product line, follow this link to his Kickstarter page.

Fernando has a company of his own to back this up. Go to Plai.tv to see what's happening.

Congratulations Fernando and good luck! You're helping many people expand their avenue for creativity with the Estylo. Looking forward to the many great things you'll be doing in the future.

Joel Valdez BG Designs

2011-11-20T12:04:00.001-08:00

Joel Valdez came to Burbank from Tucson, Arizona to embark upon his art education for animation at the Academy. He's a character centric artist until recently, when he progressed to Background Design and Perspective with his instructor, Robert Gold. Robert is an excellent teacher and does great things with our students. Joel had no experience to speak of regarding BG Design and took to the subject like a fish in water.

Here are his first series of concept sketches in perspective that he's created for the class recently. Keep in mind that he's never drawn backgrounds before and these are concept sketches from his imagination.

Andre Medina at Sony on Cloudy 2

2011-11-17T09:29:00.000-08:00

Heard good news from former Academy student Andre Medina. He was previously at Disney Feature Animation as a Visual Development intern. Now he's found a home at Sony working as a Character Designer on the sequel to "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs". Andre regularly maintains his blog. Follow this link to see what he's up to. You can also view his online portfolio here. This is something Andre came up with while interning at Disney this year, which reflects key aspects of what our students delve into in Character Design I.

Einav Deri's progress

2011-10-04T13:35:00.000-07:00

I first brought this emerging artist to the attention of the Academy's blog on November 15 of last year, then again on June 13 of this year. I'm happy to feature her once again as she continues to make big strides with her art. It was two years ago at this time that Einav Deri came here from Israel to begin her art education. She was a beginner who had a lot of dedicated determination to excel. After her time with us, she enrolled at the Israeli Animation College in Tel Aviv where she is currently a standout student. Here's am example of the work she's doing now that she is translating her 2D character design to 3D.

Einav has been interning for ARG! Cartoon Studio in the US for the past several months, with a project she helped storyboard scheduled to broadcast on Nickelodeon as a commercial on October 10. She is also the lead Character Designer for a project in development at a company creating animated Facebook apps. For more info on what's happening with Einav, check out the links to her sites.

http://theartofanimationgirl.blogspot.com/

http://einavderiportfolio.blogspot.com/

http://www.wix.com/einavderi/portfolio

Congratulations Einav! This is just the beginning for you. Everyone at The Animation Academy in Burbank says hello and wishes you continued success with your career.

Gabriel Carson - Before & After

2011-09-15T16:08:00.000-07:00

I think this makes a great testament as to the effectiveness of the Academy's online version of our Character Design class. This is the work of Gabriel Carson, a student from Michigan who's been enrolled with us since last month. Here's his first class assignment submitted on August 17. Click on the image for an enhanced view.

And here's Gabriel's latest assignment, submitted yesterday on September 14, less than a month from his previous work above.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you, and yes, that is indeed the very same artist. Even though there's still a few minor issues that need to be addressed in his work, the extraordinary improvement you see in Gabriel's skill is not uncommon for students attending our sessions in Burbank, but it's even more remarkable when you consider that this student has been studying with us through the Internet. Our online program is very effective and depending upon the effort a student puts into their assignments and their art, the results can oftentimes be nothing less than amazing.

Congrats to you, Gabriel! You've contributed significantly to the legacy of the Academy by virtue of your excellence.

Marietta Semardjyan's latest work

2011-08-31T16:04:00.000-07:00

An emerging talent in our Teen Program, Marietta Semardjyan is creating some very nice art through her most recent Visual Development assignments. Focusing on tonal relationships and texture, she came up with these thematic designs. They both exhibit strong fundamental rendering skills and confidence in her application of the medium.

At only 15 years of age, Marietta is yet another promising Academy student whose creative endeavors we can look forward to seeing more of in the future.

Kevin Smith's Characters

2011-08-08T15:07:00.000-07:00

Another standout student we've had with us recently is Kevin Smith. Like many of our students both past and present, Kevin is actually a professional in the animation industry who attends the Academy to further develop his skills in areas that he doesn't necessarily work in as far as his job goes. In this case, it's his character design skills.

Kevin is a strong artist who's gotten even better as a result of his time with us. Take a look at some of the work he's done as part of his class assignment in Character Design 1. Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

Regardless as to whether you're at a professional level or not, The Animation Academy can help you build a solid foundation that will pay off for you in many areas of your art. If you already have previous art training or are working in the business, we can help you develop to an even higher level of excellence.

We conduct face to face classes in Burbank and can arrange for online training as well. Contact the school and we'll be happy to discuss your particular art education needs.

Online Program Reviews

2011-07-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

Last week we wrapped up the first semester of the Academy's Online Program. We fielded two live sessions of Character Design 1 on Wednesday evenings Pacific Time in the US. Shortly afterwards we received our first review, an unsolicited message from one of our students.

...........

Subject: Thank you for everything!

It was honestly the best course I've ever attended. Even better than my college courses. I'm really glad that I got the opportunity to take a course at this great academy! It has filled many gaps I wanted to fix in my work generally.

Thank you so much again! And looking forward to Character Design II ^^

Ameera
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

...........

We received this message from another of our online students...

...........

I have been wanting to improve my drawing skills for a long time and I haven't been able to successfully draw for animation. I had to struggle for a little while at the beginning of the class, but I found myself enjoying a new excitement for drawing. Charles is very good at finding and harnessing each students' unique talent. Even when I felt my drawing was not good, he always found many good points in my work and gave me very helpful advice to improve and continue. Charles reminds me of how fun and interesting it is to draw with my imagination. The class was very inspiring. Having a knowledgeable artist teaching an online class like this is very convenient and valuable. I learned so much.

Thank you very much, Charles!

Naomi
Santa Maria, California

...........

Reviews like these are greatly appreciated, but for me, the best confirmation of the success of our class is the artistic improvement our students exhibit as a result of the course. In the case of our first online classes, I'm happy to say that this group did a great job in furthering the Academy's legacy.

We're starting up another group in Character Design 1 next week, beginning August 3. If you interested in joining us, contact the Academy.

For more info click here.

Richard Gaines Expressions

2011-07-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

On March 24, the entry for the Academy's blog was a character rotation by Richard Gaines, a new student who relocated from Florida to Burbank to pursue his education in animation and to further develop his burgeoning career.

Here's the rotation he did for the character he created as part of his class assignment.

Once the design of the character had been fully established, Richard embarked on the next phase of the class, bringing the character to life through a series of facial expressions. Here's the drawings that Richard created as part of this assignment.

Facial expressions are important in fully developing the character, and are also a significant aspect of character based production development in animation. They challenge the character designer to explore the nature of the character through its personality and enhance one's acting abilities as it relates to the art.

Richard is a very talented artist who has become even better since he enrolled at the Academy. Good things are happening for him career wise as a result.

If you're looking to develop your own abilities regarding character design and your art skills in general, The Animation Academy can help you take a big leap forward. With our expanding Online Program, we can help you grow artistically no matter where you may be.

It's easy as...

2011-06-21T11:56:00.001-07:00

A couple of class demos I've done recently provided a good opportunity to feature this work in an educational context as well as a promotional one for the Academy.

Both of these demonstrations were created in Photoshop, using a Cintiq. The first image was sketched directly in the computer while the second was scanned from a black line drawing on paper.

Clicking on the images will provide a full size view.

In this Visual Development lesson, I went from the concept sketch to color, and followed up with lighting, shadow and additional color highlights.

In this lesson, I established some basic shadows on the initial sketch, went into grayscale tonal rendering, then finished the art with a series of color tints.

Both methods to rendering are effective and can produce nice results. Simple ways of approaching the color enhancement of your art that help create a strong visual impact.

We'll be introducing an online version of Visual Development as a continuation of the Character Design 1 class soon. Our first semester of CD1 is currently underway as we are fielding two sessions per week at the moment, and both are proceeding exceptionally well.

Local students may also study Visual Development as a continuation of Character Design 1 at our classes in Burbank.

For more info please feel free to contact the Academy by calling 818-848-6590 or by emailing us through the contact tab on the school's website.

Click here to contact the Academy via email.

Einav Deri B&A Revisited

2011-06-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

A few months ago on November 15, 2010 I featured the Before & After work of Einav Deri. We had the pleasure of hearing from her again as she shared this great new design.

On the left is the very first drawing she ever did as an enrolled student at the Academy. On the right, her latest character oriented work.

Einav's progress is indicative of the advances our students make. In the case of an artist as dedicated and focused as Einav is, that progress becomes even more apparent.

Einav came all the way from Israel to study Character Design with us. Today she's a standout student at the Israeli Animation College in Tel Aviv and gives the Academy credit for big strides she made with her art.

You're welcome to follow her blog.

Click here.

The Academy welcomes students from the world over to join us now that we've launched our Online Program. Live classes and great mentorship through the Academy's Learning Management System.

Contact us for details. Call our office at 818-848-6590 or email us at info([at])theanimationacademy.com and we'll be happy to discuss enrollment with you.

Character Design I Online

2011-06-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

If you've been waiting for the opportunity to get involved with The Animation Academy's Online Program, here's your chance to enroll.

We'll be offering our first class to enrolled students this coming Wednesday, June 8, 2011.

We have two sessions set up so far. One at 5 PM Pacific Time (8 PM Eastern USA, 7 PM Central), and a late evening class that starts at 10 PM Pacific Time (morning of June 9) for students who are in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. This later session is also open to enrollment for students in the US.

Our first online class will be Character Design I, which I'll be teaching live.

For more info follow this link to the AnimationNation Forums:

http://animationnation.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1655&sid=6052056b66bdabbbb41bd508498cfa2d

You must contact the school in order to enroll.

Looking forward to great things from the online program and from the great creative community that will emerge.

Charles Zembillas
President & Founder
The Animation Academy
Burbank, CA
USA

818-848-6590

Patrick Morgan at AN Night - May 31 '11

2011-05-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

For the past two years, on the last Tuesday of the month, the Academy has sponsored AnimationNation Night. It's a free social and educational event in Burbank open to the public. AN Night is associated with the industry forums at AnimationNation.com.

We've had a great deal of success with AN Night, and we always get a big crowd of great people. Sometimes we host special guests, sometimes we coordinate screenings, sometimes we simply get together and draw. In the past we've had legendary personalities such as Don Bluth, Paul Felix, Don Hahn, Peter Chung, Dean Yeagle, Jose Lopez, Max Howard and many more illuminaries from the animation world.

This month, we'll be hosting Academy alumni Patrick Morgan, an outstanding character designer who's currently working at Nickelodeon on "Fanboy and Chum Chum".

For more information, please follow this link to the AnimationNation Forums:

http://animationnation.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1554

Online Program Update

2011-04-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

We reached another milestone with the Academy's online software and successfully tested it for the first time from our offices last night.

The live video and audio stream was solid and flawless in its initial broadcast from our studio location. Everything is working great and we're at the point of actually conducting live online sessions of the foundation class for our program, Character Design I.

Our developers are going to add a few more controls for the instructors and some additional features to enhance the class experience, but as it stands, we're ready to rock and roll.

This is going to be a great new assett for the Academy!

I'll be lead instructor for flagship class of Character Design I Online. We're looking to get the course started by next month in May for students looking to enroll in the Academy's Online Program. If you're an artist who's ready to make a big leap forward with your skills, especially as they apply to the subject of character design, get in touch with us and we'll engage in the process of bringing you on board.

Charles Zembillas
The Animation Academy
Burbank, CA
USA

818-848-6590

http://theanimationacademy.com/

Richard Gaines turns it on

2011-03-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

Recently relocating to Burbank from his home in Florida to further pursue a career in animation, Richard Gaines enrolled at the Academy and has gotten off to a good start.

He's a strong talent who's disciplining his approach to character design and basic drawing. Richard was quick to grasp upon the fundamental principles we impress, and as such was able to complete his first five pose character rotation in grand style.

Click on the image for a better view.

Expect to see exciting things from this arist in days ahead.

Online System Test Successful

2011-03-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening, March 17, 2011, we initiated the first session of Beta Class One to test the capabilities of the online learning management system we've been developing at the Academy.

I'm happy to report that it was a very successful trial run. We pushed the software to its limits and everything functioned extremely well.

The class we're running with is Intro to Digital Painting with our Photoshop instructor Glen Moyes. Glen and his team are the ones who are developing the system. The class consists of several of our instructors and a few of our advanced students. We're currently training our instructors on the system through the first Beta Class.

We're all very excited about what this means for the future of our program. The learning management system we're developing has features that will enable us to interact with our online students in unique and effective ways. I don't think there's anything else quite like it.

We're getting closer to our goal of offering a comprehensive online educational experience for prospective Academy students. I'm confident that we'll soon be at the point where we can bring in those students and establish an online community for the Academy through the classes we'll be fielding.

No matter where you are, if you're interested in The Animation Academy, you'll soon have the opportunity to be a part of it all.

Charles Zembillas
The Animation Academy
Burbank, CA
USA

Andre Medina at Disney Features

2011-03-04T16:09:00.000-08:00

Happy to report that former Academy student Andre Medina has been accepted in a six month training program at Disney Feature Animation in Burbank. He was previously at Disney Features in an internship capacity. Now he's being invited to officially train with the studio.

Andre was a student of ours in Character Design and Visual Development. An exceptional student and outstanding artist, he followed his studies at Cal Arts.

Andre is on our roster of instructors for our upcoming Online Program.

To experience his work, please follow the link below:

http://andremedina.blogspot.com/

Congratulations, Andre! We're very excited for you. Looking forward to great things.

Academy promo with Chance Raspberry

2011-02-10T18:10:00.000-08:00

While experimenting with video in preparation for the Academy's upcoming online educational presence, Chance Raspberry stopped by. Perfect opportunity for some fun with a screen test.

The man's a natural. In one 20 second improvised take he nailed it.

Even though it was intended to be a test I thought it good enough to upload and share his performance and a smile with everyone.

Thank you Chance!

And yes, that custom tailored jacket is indeed from Memphis, Tennessee. The man has style and grace as well as awesome talent.

Gary Trousdale at the Academy

2011-01-27T19:38:00.000-08:00

This is how we celebrated the 13th anniversary of The Animation Academy.

On January 18, 2011, we had the great honor of hosting Gary Trousdale, the co-director of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast", "Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Atlantis".

He is currently at DreamWorks, where he is developing new projects.

I've uploaded photos from the evening on the AnimationNation Forums. You're welcome to click on the link below and learn more about this very special and historic event we had the pelasure of sponsoring last week in Burbank.

http://www.animationnation.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1058

The Academy is 13 years old

2011-01-19T21:19:00.001-08:00

Hi everybody.

We had a great celebration last night to honor the 13th anniversary of the founding of the school.

Actually, the school was founded in December, 1997 but we had our first class on January 19, 1998. Started with 20 students in the back of the Coral Cafe in Burbank and we've been going strong and steady ever since.

I'll return soon with photos from the special celebration.

Meanwhile, a huge thanks going out to all of our students both past and present, our instructors both past and present, our associates, friends, colleagues and supporters of the school, for the great legacy that's developed over all these years.

Let's keep it up and let's Keep Creating! Many more good things to look forward to.

Charles Zembillas
President and Founder
The Animation Academy
Burbank, CA
USA

Another National Scholarship Winner

2011-01-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

In 2007, the year of the very first Warner Bros Hanna Barbera Scholarship it was Kris Anka.

In 2008, the year of the second Hanna Barbera Scholarship, it was Nelson Boles.

In 2010 / 2011, it's Margot Akopov, the winner of the Hank Aaron Chasing The Dream Scholarship!

This is a national scholarship awarded by Major League Baseball.

I first met Margo in 2009 at the Burbank Boys and Girls Club. She was a winner for a contest that Cartoon Network sponsored. Through the Club, she applied for this scholarship so she could study at the Academy.

I found out on Monday that she won!

She'll be attending classes at the Academy for a year.

We have another emerging superstar in Margot, and another Grand Slam.

Congratulations Margot, and thank you Major League Baseball and The Boys and Girls Club for your support of kids and the pursuit of their dreams.

Keep Creating!

The Academy on Facebook

2010-12-31T09:40:00.001-08:00

We've been so busy helping artists become the best they can be, some things had to wait. But we've finally activated the Facebook account for The Animation Academy. Thanks for your patience, folks. We're excited to be a part of this dynamic social network.

You're welcome to join us on Facebook. Like us, be a friend, tell your friends about us and help spread the word.

Just follow the link:

http://Facebook.com/TheAnimationAcademy

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-23T11:49:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone at The Animation Academy, our students both past and present, to our instructors and friends, and to our friends the world over and to our visitors to the Academy's blog, to you and yours, a very Merry Christmas!

For educational purposes I thought I'd include the initial concept sketch for this year's Christmas card from the Academy.

After I scanned the sketch, I drew directly over it in Photoshop, using one of the original computers from the Academy's lab at our old building, and a small out of date Wacom tablet from 10 years ago. Built to last!

Fun promoting Online Classes

2010-12-20T00:56:00.000-08:00

I have a huge inventory of creative content, much of which has never been seen by the public. What better way to begin showcasing it than in regards to promoting The Animation Academy's upcoming Online Program.

Here's some promotional art I'm putting together. The first features the school's brand and ArtShark...

Next up, I've taken some character designs from the development of Sony's "Jak and Daxter" video game series and arranged them in something of a narrative, where the characters are conversing with each other. I've also included informative and promotional text.

Clicking on these images will give you a better view.

I've made use of some concept designs from a project I was developing for a DisneyWorld attraction involving the Pixar animated feature "A Bug's Life". I did these drawings in 1996 or 1997. This is the very first time artwork from this project has been published or even seen by anyone. I've had it under wraps for almost 15 years.

I plan on having a lot of fun with this, showcasing both new work and vintage art from my personal archives.

If you have questions concerning the upcoming online classes, please feel free to get in touch with us either by phone or email. Contact info is available on the school's website.

http://theanimationacademy.com/

Celebrating 12 years of ArtShark!

2010-12-16T00:17:00.000-08:00

It's hard to belive that 12 years have gone by since ArtShark, the Academy's mascot, made his first public appearance. It was December, 1998 when he graced the cover of our schedules.

This is what he looked like back then, and this has since become part of the brand of The Animation Academy. The image was scanned from one of the original copies.

Few people realize there was a year of experimentation with characters before ArtShark came about as we know him today. In fact, this is the character and the artwork that appeared on the Academy's very first flyer back in December, 1997 as the school was getting ready to be launched.

As part of the celebration of the character who's served the Academy so well, I've started a topic on the Gallery Forum of AnimationNation.com which will serve as an exhibition of ArtShark artwork throughout the years. There's rare images I've posted from the first year of the Academy's existence before ArtShark came about, and the story of how the character was developed. I'll gradually be updating it until all of the ArtSharks that've been created will be on display.

You're welcome to follow the topic and enjoy the show by following the link below.

http://www.animationnation.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=811

Online classes on the way

2010-12-08T09:31:00.001-08:00

I'm happy and excited to announce that we're preparing for online classes at The Animation Academy.

We anticipate the launch of our online program by the first week of March, 2011.

We plan on offering a Masterclass Program in Character Design with yours truly as instructor, and a class in Photoshop Basics taught by Glen Moyes.

We plan on expanding the school online with a curriculum based upon our core classes in production design and development including at least two levels of Character Design and possibly three, Visual Development, and other key courses that would round out our current curriculum and build upon it.

More information will be forthcoming, but I wanted to take this opportunity to announce that our online classes are on the way.

Keep Creating!

Charles Zembillas

Robert Gold's latest demo

2010-12-02T23:33:00.001-08:00

Here's a class demonstration that our Background Design and Perspective instructor Robert Gold created a couple of weeks ago. He batted this out like it was effortless.

Robert came to the Academy as a student in 1999 and emerged as a great teacher. He's been with us ever since. He helped train many artists in BG Design and many of his students went on to professional careers.

Marietta Semerdjian - B & A

2010-11-26T20:24:00.000-08:00

The Academy is a program for professional training, and we're open to teens that can show a portfolio of their work and exhibit a desire to learn what it is that we have to teach.

Here's a good example of how a talented teen can improve once they begin with us. This is the work of Marietta Semerdjian. The first sample is what she was doing just prior to enrolling this past summer.

And here's what she's doing after one semester, approximately two months later.

Marietta still shows some anime influence in her art, but it's developed into a more sophisticated approach. Her attention to form is much better and her drawing is more solid. She's distinguishing herself with a unique style instead of mimicking one. All in all, she's done a fine job of taking her first significant steps towards professionalism.

Imagine what she'll be capable of in a couple more years when she's graduated from high school.

Celebrating Anthony Price

2010-11-21T10:51:00.001-08:00

In the early years of the Academy, we had a standout student by the name of Anthony Price. He made his mark with us, then life happened and he went his way. Recently, Anthony has returned to the Academy and we're glad he did. He is now an assistant instructor in Character Design II and his presence is helping to make our students even stronger.

Here's something Anthony created recently. He rendered his design on toned paper, which gives him a middle value to work his lights and darks off of.

Anthony is an artist of exceptional ability, able to design in a variety of styles.

His excellence as an instructor has also positioned him as my assistant for the course I teach at Cal State University Northridge. Anthony is a professional in every sense of the word. You can see more of his work by visiting his blog.

http://antprice.blogspot.com/

Einav Deri - Before and After

2010-11-15T09:40:00.000-08:00

I gauge a student's progress based upon the artwork they create when they start with us, and then compare it with what they're doing a short while later. Here's a good example of how an individual can grow as a result of their participation in our program.

Einav Deri came all the way from Israel to take classes at the Academy. She was particularly interested in Character Design. On the left is a drawing she did the very first day of her class in September, 2009. On the right is what she's doing today.

Another example of Einav's creative growth. On the left, a character she drew prior to attending classes. On the right, something recent.

Here's a study of a head design she came up with for Visual Development, rendered tonally in grays and in color.

Currently Einav is attending animation school in her country and is a standout student thanks to her dedication, determination and the time she spent getting her fundamental skills down at The Animation Academy in Burbank. Her peers flock to her to pick her brain as to what she knows about design and drawing. The Academy helped put her on a solid path to professionalism. She's a rising star and there's little doubt as to the success she'll be experiencing in her career.

To see more of what Einav is up to creatively, visit her blog at http://theartofanimationgirl.blogspot.com

Joel Valdez turns it on

2010-11-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

It's always a thrill for me to introduce new talent to the animation community. This past semester we welcomed Joel Valdez into our program. Joel came to the Academy from Tucson, Arizona and is wrapping up his work in Character Design I. Here's a class assignment he just completed. Click on the image and you'll get a better view.

At the Academy, we emphasize the important of a good character designer being able to handle a basic five pose rotation for the characters they create. It's a necessary skill, especially in a production situation. I'm happy to showcase one of Joel's attempts at completing something that even professional character designers are challenged by. Joel is among the many exceptional students we have at the Academy at any given time, and a big reason why our legacy looms large in the industry.

Looking forward to more great things from Joel Valdez.

Izzy does it again

2010-11-05T02:49:00.000-07:00

One of our most talented teen students, this is her latest from Visual Development. An innovative and delightful composition rendered in markers and color pencils. The Academy's legacy continues to grow with students like Izzy who create magic at every session.

Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

Thursday classes on the way

2010-09-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, especially current and former Academy students, and also to folks out there considering enrolling in our program.

The Animation Academy started in the back room of a local restaurant in Burbank in January, 1998. I launched the business with an investment of $15 that was used for stamps and envelopes to mail out announcements the month before. Since that time, we've had students into the thousands who've taken classes with us. We've literally changed the face of the animation industry with the quality of our training and with the success of a great many of our students.

For years, we were located in a large facility down the street from Disney Studios, NBC and Warner Brothers on Olive Avenue in Burbank, which turned out to be a building that Don Bluth was previously occupying for production purposes. The building was in a redevelopment zone and we were successful in garnering community support and convincing the Burbank City Council to approve the construction of a proposed complex on behalf of our landlord.

We were to be tenants within the complex once it was completed and moved to the Burbank Association of Realtors building on Tuesday evenings, in anticipation of this project. Unfortunately, when the economy tanked a couple of years ago, so did the project.

We've always planned on expanding our program again and I'm happy to announce that as of this coming November, we'll be offering Thursday evening sessions for the first time since we left our building.

Classes will be held in Burbank, close to where we operate on Tuesdays. We have a nice room reserved that is perfectly suited for what we do. My plan is to make Thursday evenings available for students who want to take more than one class with us. The primary focus of the class will be on advanced subjects such as Visual Development and/or Storyboarding. Enrollment will be limited to approximately 6 students in very concerted and specialized sessions.

There'll be 6 sessions over 2 months, and pricing will be consistent with what we already charge, which is pretty darn great considering the excellence of the education that's offered.

This is the first notice about the Thursday evening sessions, and I'll be posting more info through the Academy's venues. Meantime, feel free to contact us if you'd like to get in on it.

Our office number is 818-848-6590 or you can reach us by email through our website.

http://theanimationacademy.com/

Keep Creating!

Robert Negrete's turn

2010-08-28T20:32:00.001-07:00

Here's another head rotation that was created at a recent session of the Academy. Robert Negrete, a new student to our program enrolled in Character Design I, came up with this as part of his class assignment. For his first attempt, he did a fine job. Clicking on the image will improve the view.

As I've mentioned before, rotations are a key aspect of our Character Design curriculum. It's an essential skill that anyone who aspires to be a professional character designer should master. Even if you're not going in that direction with your art or career, rotations are an an excellent exercise in further developing your basic draughtsmanship.

Robert Negrete is a promising artist that we'll be seeing more of in days ahead. To view more of his work, follow the link below.

http://robthesentinel.deviantart.com/

Presenting Ernesto Ochoa

2010-08-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've featured new artwork coming from students at the Academy. My schedule has precluded me from doing so much of the time, but in spite of that, excellent art continues to be generated through our program I'm very proud to say.

Here's a couple of samples of what's been happening this semester. This is the art of Ernesto Ochoa. These are class assignments from our basic introductory class, Character Design I. The first example of his work is a classic representation of character development through fundamental design. Ernesto is taking the time to build out the look of his character in many ways. He establishes the anatomy, fully constructs the head, even takes the time to explore the hands. Clicking on the image will give you an enhanced view.

In addition to design exploration in the concept phase of development, we have our students immerse themselves in rotations as soon as they have an image that's ready to go to models. Head rotations of their characters prepares them for full body rotations which follow in the course of their assignments.

Here's Ernesto's head rotation for one of the characters he developed for his project. It's absolutely professional in every aspect. Again, clicking on the image will enhance the view.

Notice in these samples, how he takes his time and gives his drawings all the attention they need. As with much of the work that our students create, it can be just as good or better than similar work being generated at many animation studios, with all due respect of course.

Ernesto's art is a great example of why The Animation Academy enjoys the excellent reputation that it has, and why many in the industry routinely recommend our school for appropriate training in design and related subjects. Our legacy continues to grow thanks to outstanding artists like Ernesto Ochoa and many more of our students as well.

To see more of Ernesto's work, follow the link to his blog:

http://ernieochoa.blogspot.com/

Monthly enrollment at the Academy

2010-08-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, I hope this entry to the Academy's blog finds you well.

This year, we've experimented with mid-semester, or monthly enrollment. For many years the Academy offered six semesters per calendar year, with the opportunity to enter the program every other month. A few months ago, we decided to try something different by allowing students to enroll at the begining of each month.

I'm happy to report that this has been a very successful change. By overlapping our semesters, we've been able to welcome both new and returning students sooner, without having to wait an additional month for the chance to join us. This system has also been beneficial in better managing the new students that enter our program. Monthly enrollment has helped solved a periodic problem we've faced. That is, the volume of new students we would normally get as a result of bi-monthly enrollment. We've been able to spread new student enrollment more evenly throughout the year, thus enabling us to better facilitate new student groups.

The next window for enrolling at the Academy will be September 7, 2010.

The Animation Academy continues to enhance its legacy through the great creative success of our students. If you're looking to improve upon your basic skills as they apply to animation, you're welcome to contact us and discuss how the Academy can help you to grow.

Our office line is 818-848-6590.

William Ruzicka's storyboard

2010-06-24T15:37:00.001-07:00

Last fall, William Ruzicka enrolled in the Storyboarding class I conduct. I knew him from Cal State University Northridge where we was a standout student in the Animation Drawing class I teach there.

The storyboard he created at the Academy is one of the best ever done by a student at the school. I've been waiting for him to get me copy of it so I could feature his work on the Academy's blog. In this case, through a link to the Gallery section of the new forums at AnimationNation.com

The method I use for teaching storyboards is different than what most may experience, and I get great results as a result. In the case of Will's work, I used a live action script from a Clint Eastwood move "In the Line of Fire" and had him board the first couple of pages. Thanks to the technology of AN's new forums, I was able to easily upload his work. Click on the first image, and a bigger window will appear that will allow you to go through all 25 pages of his storyboard. A link to William's blog is at the end of the images on the actual topic. By the way, he's currently working as a professional storyboard artist thanks in large part to the storyboard he created in class.

Enjoy William's board...

http://www.animationnation.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=104

Here's a link to his blog...

http://neondoodles.blogspot.com/

Evan Cooper before and after

2010-05-06T18:35:00.001-07:00

This is the 200th post on the Academy's blog, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate than by showcasing Evan Cooper once again. He was featured in my entry of December 28, 2009.

Follow this link to the Gallery of AnimationNation.com and you'll see the remarkable improvement in Evan's work since he enrolled with us.

http://www.animationnation.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=002564

Evan's progress is indicative of how much our students grow as a result of our program. This can happen to you as well if you're dedicated, focused, and creatively productive.

The Animation Academy trains great artists.

The Academy has a new website

2010-04-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming and I'm more than happy to announce that The Animation Academy finally has a new site.

http://theanimationacademy.com/

Thanks a thousand times over to Adrian Foster for all of the work he's put into it as the site's webmaster, and to Snakebite for the design.

We're showcasing the artwork and galleries that were there from before. Now you can see some of the art when you go to the homepage, and we're also able to feature video. On the right is an interview with Chance Raspberry, below that is a trailer for a 12 minute movie we did in Flash from the time the Academy was located on Olive Ave. in Burbank. It was a production we were commissioned for. Below that is a video montage of student work. There's two more videos featuring animation that we'll be adding soon. You can see the additional videos by going to the Gallery section of the site.

We'll be creatively expanding the site now that we have this new resource. Meanwhile, we hope you'll enjoy the many things there are to see and be inspired by.

Keep Creating!

Charles Zembillas

Bryan Young's impact

2010-03-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

It's really a thrill to see continuously impressive work being created by our students. Take for example Bryan Young. He was enrolled in Character Design I last semester and made a big impact with his art. Check out his rotations and two facial expression models he generated as part of his class requirements. Clicking on the images will give you a better view.

Bryan did an exceptional job needless to say. His artwork inspired other students to excel. This is what makes the Academy a unique and valuable experience for all. When one student creates outstanding artwork we all benefit from it.

Looking forward to more exciting design work from Bryan Young in days ahead.

Eric Yac - Before and After

2010-02-27T15:46:00.000-08:00

Here's a great example of the kind of progress our students make in a short period of time at the Academy.

Eric Yac started with us last semester in January, 2010. He enrolled in Character Design I, which is a foundation class for our program. This is his first attempt at incorporating basic fundamentals into his drawing. He created these sketches on January 5, the first day of class as you can see from the date he wrote on the page.

Now take a look at what Eric was doing only 17 days later, while working on an assignment at home. Clicking on the images will give you a better view.

It's hard to believe this was done by the same artist, but it was, and in only 2 weeks and 3 days after his initial class sketches. His later drawings show even more improvement. Now Eric is drawing with so much confidence, he's teaching others on his own.

Eric is indicative of why The Animation Academy enjoys such a great reputation in our industry. We can look forward to many more interesting works from Eric in the days ahead.

The Academy is 12 years old today!

2010-01-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to us!!!

On this date in 1998 The Animation Academy held it's very first class! It was in the back room of the Coral Cafe, a local restaurant in Burbank. I started the school with an investment of $15 which was used for buying postage stamps and envelopes. I had a mailing list of about 35 names, most of them students from classes I had taught previously at other schools. I used the list for sending out Christmas cards, and in December of 1997, I sent out flyers announcing the flagship class for a new school. I called it "The Animation Academy" because I couldn't think of any other name.

There was room for 20 students. I figured I'd get somewhere between 5 and 10 enrolled, but as it turned out, all 20 seats were booked and the Academy began with a capacity class.

Over the years we've had students into the thousands, and I figure along with those I've taught at other schools, the number of students I've personally instructed numbers around 3000.

Many lives have been changed by the program at the Academy, and our humble beginnings underscore just how significant the school's been not only in the careers of our students and friends, but in the direction that animation has taken as well. Academy students are at studios throughout the industry including Pixar, Disney, DreamWorks, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and many more. We're closely associated with the program at Cal State Northridge, a major university, and we continue to attract artists from the industry and from outside the US as well. The Academy inspired industry reform through AnimationNation.com and continues to encourage artists to excel.

Thanks to everyone who's currently involved with the school and thanks to the many people who've been involved with us in the past.

Here's to our future, and to your future as well!

Keep Creating!

Charles Zembillas

Amber Kenneson returns

2010-01-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all! Here's wishing that 2010 is a great creative experience for everyone associated with the Academy.

We got the year off to a strong start by launching Semester 13.1 this week, and among the good things we're celebrating is the return of Amber Kenneson. Amber enrolled in our program earlier in 2009 and has come back to continue her work. Here's an example of a class assignment she created previously in Visual Development. An intriguing study for a background in which she made use of full tonal ranges as well as some unusual design elements for a unique composition that is a hallmark of her style. She used blue pencil and graphite. Click on the artwork for a better view.

Feel free to visit Amber's blog by following the link below:

http://www.amberkenneson.blogspot.com

Looking forward to more great art from Amber in the weeks ahead.

Evan Cooper's turn

2009-12-28T18:26:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, I hope you had a great Christmas and are enjoying the Season.

Evan Cooper is a newcomer to the Academy in 2009, and has made his mark in a number of ways, including his enthusiasm for our program and what the Academy stands for. Evan has made a great deal of progress and is developing a style of his own. Among his most recent works, this very well done drawing as he migrates to Visual Development from Character Design II. Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

Evan is progressing nicely and making his distinctive mark at the Academy as many have done before him. Now it's his turn to contribute to our legacy.

Great job Evan, looking forward to more.

Glen Moyes hits his stride

2009-12-15T11:55:00.000-08:00

In only his second semester with us, Glen Moyes really nailed a solid performance with a fundamental exercise we require of our students in Charcter Design II. A five pose rotation on a generic female figure, drawn from imagination with nominal reference.

Another excellent example of why The Animation Academy enjoys the outstanding reputation that it has. It's all about our students. They create the legacy. Great job Glen!

Regarding last post

2009-12-15T11:49:00.000-08:00

Hello folks.

Based upon input we've received from students, instructors and friends, we're going to stick to our tradition of numbering semesters. This upcoming one starting on January 5, 2010 will be our 65th semester, but it will also be the first semester of our thirteenth year. So we'll keep it 13.1 in the manner in which we have been doing for 12 full years.

Thanks for your comments everyone, they've been helpful.

Charles Zembillas

New semester system

2009-11-18T17:35:00.000-08:00

Hello to our many friends, colleagues and associates of the Academy. I want to bring you up to date on the new semester system we're going to try out in 2010 when the next semester is scheduled to begin on January 5, 2010.

Since we began in 1998, we've been numbering our semesters according to the year of our operation and the semester that was being conducted in that year. For example, 2009 and has been our 12th year, and the semester we're currently in is the 6th semester of the year. Thus, the semester is numbered 12.6. Althought it's numbered this way, it's also out 64th semester. The one starting in January will be our 65th consecutive one.

So instead of numbering them by the year, I thought we'd try something different and number them in chronological order. So in Jnauary, instead of semester 13.1, we'll be naming it Semester 65.

Also, in addition to the new numbering system, we're also going to change our enrollment policies. Up until now, we take in new students every other month when the new semesters begin. In 2010, we'll be accepting new students at the beginning of each month, overlapping the semesters. So in February, when Semester 65a begins, we'll take on new students and arrange for their particular semester to wrap up at the end of March. We're going to try this out and see how it works. You won't have to wait two months to get into our program if you miss the start of a semester, we'll be able to get you in sooner and get you up and running in advance.

So when you see the new semester numbers appear on our site, as they appear now, you'll know what's up.

Thanks everyone, and hope to see you soon at The Animation Academy in Burbank, the only place of its kind on earth.

Keep Creating!

Strong Artists

2009-11-04T23:12:00.000-08:00

That's what we're known for throughout the industry and the world. The Animation Academy has an extraordinary legacy in developing fundamental skills that are necessary for achieving a successful career in animation no matter what your medium. Whether it's 2D or 3D, what you learn with us will enhance your talent and inevitabley improve your art. If you work in animation, if you work in a related creative field, if you're attending another school or just getting started, you'll benefit greatly from the strength of our program and the emphasis we place on developing a solid fundamental foundation, especially in the many areas of pre-production design and intellectual property development.

We're planning some changes in 2010 that will help move things along better for current and prospective students, including monthly enrollment as opposed to bi-monthly, and we plan on taking our program online and welcoming the many artists all over the world who would like to participate in the Academy's educational experience but who aren't able to make it to Burbank.

So stay in touch, I'll be updating you with news as things develop.

Keep creating! It's the key to your success.

Charles Zembillas
President and Founder
The Animation Academy
Burbank, California
USA

Chance Raspberry's YouTube Channel

2009-09-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

On September 9, 2009, Chance Raspberry announced the premiere of his latest endeavor, his own channel on YouTube which currently features a promotional video with much of his personal and professional work.

Chance has been a major part of the Academy for nearly 10 years, taking classes with us at first, then enrolling in the animation program at California State University in Northridge while continuing his education with us. He received his Bachelors Degree from Cal State, and moved up to an instructor position at our school helping out with the Teen Program. Chance got his break when he was picked up as a staff artist on The Simpsons TV series and has become a fixture on the production crew for several years now.

To visit his YouTube Channel, follow this link: http://youtube.com/ChanceRaspberry

For updates on videos and other news and projects that are happening with Chance, visit his blog at this link: http://ChanceRaspberry.blogspot.com

Chance ranks among the most successful students we've ever had at The Animation Academy, and it's very exciting and satisfying to see him expanding his Internet exposure. His outstanding talent is matched by the excellence of his character. Congrats to you Chance, and good luck. Keep Creating!

Amy Paulson's Disneyland

2009-09-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

She started with us three years ago and since then, Amy Paulson has become a fixture at the Academy. Lucky for us, as we couldn't have dreamed of having a more charming and talented lady as part of our team. Amy is in charge of the students enrolled in our Team Program and functions as an instructor with us in that capacity.

On her own time she creates beautiful works of art, many of them with Disney as the subject. In this scene she's recently finished, Amy's created an undersea Disneyland in which all of the Disney characters she's featured are designed as if they were in the animated movie "The Little Mermaid". Amy drew the characters from memory and illustrated the composition in Photoshop. Click on the picture for a better view.

You're welcome to visit Amy's blog by following the link: http://www.amypaulson.com/

Dustin Perkins goes BG

2009-08-24T21:01:00.001-07:00

Finally getting a chance to feature some recent student work, and I'm happy to showcase Dustin Perkins.

Dustin's been with us for a good while and has proven to be as talented as he is dedicated. He's gone through our comprehensive program as primarily a character oriented artist, and has just finished a semester in Background Design and Perspective. Here's a couple of samples of his artwork from the class.

The first is a study in 2 point perspective of a basement, including his concept thumbnail sketches.

This is a study of a bedroom in 3 point perspective with the subject beneath the sheets.

Clicking on the images will give you a better view.

Fell free to visit Dustin's blog to experience more of his exceptional art and unique creative vision.

http://www.dustinperkins.com/ashcan/

Academy Update

2009-08-19T22:03:00.000-07:00

Howdy folks, checking in with recent news and updates. But first, allow me to share with you a demonstration I did a few years ago which I recently discovered. It's the eagle head above. It was done in Photoshop after scanning in a rough sketch. The lesson was in the effectiveness of graphic simplicity. In this case, black and white, plus three other colors contained within shapes. Look at what can be done with a simple approach. Shapes of color in the tradition of the animation cell, harnessing the beauty of that approach. I forgot about this work at the time, otherwise I would've included the image in my book 'Controlling Illusion'. As such, I'll settle for sharing with you now.

In news, congratulations to James Lavelle Brown, who has recently been named the Director of the Educational Program! James is an outstanding artist specializing in character design. He's been with the school for over 10 years, almost since the very beginning in 1998. He and his wife are organizing, managing and building our curriculum now, freeing me in class so I can work the floor and spend more time with individual students and groups of students. James has been at it for about a month and so far he's doing a terrific job. The Academy has gotten even better since he's taken over this aspect of operations.

Regarding the many requests we receive from prospective students outside the US, if you're an international student looking to come to the Academy, a tourist visa is all you need. You'll get plenty out of 3 months with us. You'll have to make arrangements for your stay in the LA/Burbank area, but if you can swing the expense of your lodging, living, and transportation, you'll get more than your money's worth from the modest fee associated with the art education in the subjects we offer.

Good things continue to happen with the Academy and with our students and friends. Thanks to the many wonderful people we have associated with our program and The Animation Academy experience.

Keep Creating! It's the key to your artistic future!

Alexis Arciniaga keeps creating

2009-07-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

We frequently hear from students who've taken classes with us in the past. They let us know how they're doing and how much their experience at the Academy has meant to them. Such is the case with Alexis Arciniaga.

Alexis dropped us a line recounting how much she learned in the short time she was with us when she was enrolled in the Teen Program, and she included a few samples of recent work. Here's an example of the powerful art she's creating. Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

Alexis is destined for great things with her art. She creates with confidence and makes a statement. Her work is dynamic and rooted on a fundamental foundation, which gives her a strong footing to do anything she wants to creatively.

Thanks for getting in touch Alexis! You're doing exciting things. We're happy to have been a positive part of your educational experience.

Academy update

2009-07-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Hope this finds you well. Things have been very busy and as such, this long overdo entry to the Academy's blog.

Our new semester will begin tomorrow, July 7, 2009. Our 62nd consecutive semester since we we started in January, 1998. Semester 12.4 will have very healthy enrollment and will distinguish itself by the number of students in attendance from other colleges, universities and art schools in the area. We'll have students from California State University Northridge, Cal Arts, Art Center College of Design, College of the Canyons, and USC to name a few.

With virtually no advertising other than our simple website, this blog and word of mouth, The Animation Academy's reputation precedes itself as our years of service in art education to the community as well as the success of our students has paid off many times over for us as students continue to turn to the Academy for specialized training in the fundamentals of art through an animation oriented venue.

On the last Tuesday of each month we open our doors and welcome guests through an outstanding industry forum we host, AnimationNation.com. Recently, we invited Don Hahn, one of the Disney Studios most experienced and prominent producers as a special guest in honor of the publication of his latest book, a two volume 800 page compilation of the animation notes of the late Walt Stanchfield. Entitled "Drawn To Life", Mr. Hahn gave a video presentation of some of what went into this book. The presentation was very well attended and was a terrific and informative evening of education. This link will take you to the forums for pictures and an account of what we all enjoyed on May 26, 2009:

http://www.animationnation.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=013758#000000

I'll make it a point of getting back on a regular schedule with the Academy's blog as we have alot of new artwork to share. In the meantime, thanks for checking in and as always, Keep Creating!

Carl Aspuria's beginnings

2009-04-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I've fallen behind a bit in updating the Academy's blog. All the positive things going on are keeping us very busy, and now I've got a chance to catch up.

Let's start by featuring some communication from Carl Aspuria. Carl's been a stand out student and a fixture at the school in the recent past and although he's taking a break for the time being, he's reflected in his blog about how his experiences at The Animation Academy has affected his art. Follow the link below and read his comments about his humble beginnings with us:

http://kidfrodo.com/humble-beginnings_20090331

Follow the rest of Carl's blog to see where he's currently at artistically:

http://kidfrodo.com/

Thanks Carl, for the good word and for continuing the Academy's legacy through your outstanding creative efforts!

Congratulations, Emily Brundige!

2009-03-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

Yet another Academy student breaking into CalArts! This time it's for a Masters Degree in Experimental Animation!

Happy to share the news that Emily Brundige, a student with us last year, has been accepted at CalArts for that purpose, and is on her way to great things.

You can follow Emily's blog through this link: http://tomboycomics.blogspot.com/

Very excited for you, Emily! Everyone at the Academy wishes you well. Confident you'll do an outstanding job. Good luck!

The new AnimationNation

2009-02-22T15:34:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! It's been very busy so far in 2009 as many things are happening with the Academy and the people, groups and organizations associated with us.

On January 31, the Academy helped organize the 10th Anime Extravaganza at the Burbank Public Library. We're invited by the Library to do this on a yearly basis and this year as the ones that have gone before, was another great success. There were eleven professional artists, writers and personalities heading up the event with 142 kids and young people from the Burbank Library's Anime Club in attendance. Everyone had a lot of fun interacting with some of the greatest talent in animation.

Here's Chance Raspberry from The Simpsons drawing characters from the show for visitors.

As many of you from the school may already know, the Academy has sponsored a very important website for the past 10 years. AnimationNation was launched 10 years ago on February 25, 1999 as an effort to initiate some much needed industry reform at the time, and has been very influential in the industry on many levels since then. The site has been primarily an online forum for animation professionals, students and serious fans. This past Friday on February 20, it was relaunched with a brand new format that will position the site for New Media and the future of Internet technology.

At the heart of the site is a video player that will give us an opportunity to build a vast archive of animation. We'll also be able to showcase artists and students in a high profile manner.

You can see the new site by following this link: http://animationnation.com/

We're very excited about this new development and will be discussing it further on Tuesday evening, February 24 at a special session of The Animation Academy. We're hosting the very first AnimationNation Night and inviting industry professionals as well as students from the animation program at California State University in Northridge, and of course our students.

The event is free, doors open at 7 pm. We'll be discussing how to develop AnimationNation Night into a monthly marketing and networking evening for artists. For more info, please follow this link to the topic on the AnimationNation forums:

http://www.animationnation.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=013440

Hope to see you there!

Larissa Marantz and Inauguration Week

2009-01-24T10:20:00.000-08:00

She was one of the original founding students of The Animation Academy in 1998 and went on to become a professional Character Designer in animation and a children's book illustrator. Now the art of Larissa Marantz has been selected to be part of a 200 work exhibit in Washington DC in honor of Inauguration Week. Larissa is very talented and extremely intelligent, raising a family and touching everyone she meets with her smile, positivity and upbeat personality. She teaches now herself at the Laguna College of Art and Design.

Congratulations to you Larissa! We're very excited, happy and proud!

To read all about this accomplishment of hers and to learn more about her career, follow the link below to the online article from the Orange County Register:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/obama-marantz-art-2283439-painting-president?referrer=f

Be sure to click on the picture of Larissa to see a slideshow of photos, including the painting of hers that was accepted into the exhibit. For a shorcut to the slideshow:

http://www.ocregister.com/photos/obama-marantz-art-2283439-painting-president

We're 11 Years Old Today !

2009-01-19T12:40:00.000-08:00

It's the anniversary of The Animation Academy!

Here's the story of how we got started...

I was a part time instructor and head of the Animation Department at a school in Sherman Oaks, California known as Associates In Art, which is no longer in business today. A series of circumstances lead me away from Associates and I found myself helping someone else set up a new school at their request. This didn't work out, and by December, 1997, while hanging at the Coral Cafe in Burbank and talking with my friend John, the owner of the restaurant, he asked how things were progressing with this venture.

I said they weren't. Then he suggested that I start my own school in the back room of his restaurant. It could seat 20 people, I could book it in advance on one evening per week, and if this new endeavor didn't work, I owed him nothing.

We tried to think of a name for the school. After some frustration coming up with an idea, I made up my mind to give it the simplest name I could think of, The Animation Academy.

I had a mailing list (snail mail) of about 35 names of former students and friends that I used for sending Christmas cards. On my little 486 computer I came up with an unpretencious announcement of a new school starting up in Burbank. On the front page I posed the challenge, "Are you ready to kick some ass?" I spent approximately $15 on stamps and envelopes, mailed the announcement to 35 people, and waited to see what would happen.

John and I thought we would get between 5 and 10 responses. He suggested that if I got as few as 5, to go ahead with it anyway. By the day of the first class, I had sold all 20 seats.

With an investment of $15, I had raised over $5000 and we were on our way. I had an independent economy established in animation, and students had an alternative school they could come to that was affordable, oriented on fundamentals, and wouldn't saddle them with a debt that would take the rest of their lives to pay off.

Eleven years later, I look back at the trail of students we've had since that time and am amazed and thrilled at the success of a great many of them. More than I can keep track of. The Animation Academy in Burbank has changed the lives of many people and has helped change the industry.

Thank you to our students, staff, friends and colleagues on this special day.

Keep Creating, and keep banging the drum!

Special visitors

2009-01-17T13:16:00.000-08:00

We had three very special guests at the latest session of the Academy this past January 13, all of which are accomplished alumni of our school.

Tyree Dillihay is to the left, John Nevarez in the center, Snakebite is on the right.

John Nevarez is a great Visual Development and Storyboard artist. He's just coming off of the upcoming Astroboy feature and is on to even greater things. He was our scheduled guest, and his presence brought out an outpouring of other alumni, three of which are featured in the photo above.

Here's a link to his popular blog:

http://john-nevarez.blogspot.com/

Tyree Dillihay is best known for being the director of the controversial "Read A Book" animated video on BET from a couple years ago. Here he is nationally televised on CNN as part of a panel discussing the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ4tTOeVp_g

You can access Tyree's blog here:

http://www.tyree-dillihay.blogspot.com/

Snakebite is one of the world's outstanding Photoshop artists. Feel free to view his work here:

http://www.artbysnakebite.com/home.html

This was a great evening. Everyone enjoyed John's presentation along with the other artists in attendance. Thank you John, and good luck to you with your new endeavors. Thanks also to Tyree and Snakebite. Best wishes to all and we hope to see you again very soon.

Next up will be Philip Dimitriadis on January 27.

http://www.philsdesign.blogspot.com/

2009 at the Academy

2009-01-14T12:16:00.000-08:00

A belated Happy New Year to our students, friends and associates!

2009 has gotten off to a great start at the Academy. We conducted our second session of the new semester last night. We have a large group of new students, along with a healthy representation of returning students. At last night's class, the great John Nevarez was our guest speaker. We also had a few other special guests showing up. I'll have photos from class posted soon.

John has just completed Visual Development on the upcoming animated feature film "Astroboy". Here's a link to John's blog:

http://john-nevarez.blogspot.com

A reminder to our students and instructors, we will have class on January 27. We will not have class on February 10.

Also for 2009 starting February 24, the last Tuesday evening of every month will be AnimationNation Night. We'll be hosting artists in the industry and students from other schools as our guests. More info forthcoming as it develops.

Thanks to everyone involved with The Animation Academy for continuing to build its legacy and for contributing to its greatness. Wishing you peace, prosperity and health in 2009 and beyond.

KEEP CREATING

Jay Fabares rising up

2008-12-27T14:38:00.000-08:00

Many of our students who've become successful in the animation business and in other areas of their art became assistant instructors with us first, after spending enough time in our program to qualify by virtue of the quality of their work and the professional standards they develop and exhibit. The latest I'm happy to say is Jay Fabares.

Jay's been with us for several semesters now. She's been a dedicated and diligent student, and starting with our next semester on January 6, 2009 she'll be inspiring and assisting other students with the basics of Visual Development.

Here's a small sample of the work she's created the past few weeks through in class assignments and on her own. Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

To see what Jay's been up to, visit her blog through this link:

http://www.jayfabares.blogspot.com/

Congratulations, Jay!

Merry Christmas !!!

2008-12-23T17:10:00.000-08:00

Peace On Earth, Goodwill To All Mankind

As we contemplate 2008 and everything that's been accomplished this past year, we're more excited than ever about what the future will bring to our students and friends. The Animation Academy will continue to help individuals develop their creative skills and affect lives in very positive ways as we have for nearly 11 years. There's nothing more joyous for us than seeing good people reach their potential and achieve great things with their art.

Thank you to our colleagues, associates and the many folks who've helped make our school a shining light in the creative community. May all your days be bright, and may all your dreams come true!

Kristen Sych visits the Academy

2008-12-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

Our final class of the year was completed last night, and this makes for a good opportunity to post an update about a recent guest we had at the school.

Kristen Sych hails from Canada and was personally committed at a young age to pursue a career as a character animator. He eventually wound up in Los Angeles and enrolled at the Academy early in our history. His strengths as an artist, an animator and as a communicator made him an ideal candidate for an animation instructor, so Kristen filled that role for us for a long time.

Here he is in the company of some of our students and staff. He's the fellow in the center in front of the dark band in the curtain.

Kristen related how his foundation in traditional hand drawn animation and the fundamentals therein made him a stronger computer animator when he made the jump to CGI. He also spoke about how the medium of computer animation has made him a better animator by freeing him from worrying about every nuance of his drawing and focusing instead on the action, activity and performance of the character he's animating. He's currently an animator at Activision.

Kristen doesn't maintain a website or blog. He's in solid demand and hasn't had the chance to develop his Web presence yet. When he does, I'll be sure to post a link.

Thanks for spending time with us Kristen. Your visit was educational, inspiring, informative and entertaining. We hope to see you again very soon.

Walt Disney's Grave

2008-12-12T14:40:00.000-08:00

In honor of Walt Disney's birthday, I took it upon myself to visit his final resting place. It's discreetly hidden at Forest Lawn Cemetary in Glendale, California, the town next to Burbank. A friend of mine who used to work there knew where to find it, so we ventured forth this past Monday to pay our respects.

And here it is, a rare look at the garden area where Walt and his wife Lillian are intered. Click on the photo for a better view.

For more photos from my visit and info about Walt's gravesite, there's a topic in progress on the AnimationNation Forums.

Follow this link:

http://www.animationnation.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=013389

It's Walt Disney's Birthday!

2008-12-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

Today is December 5, Walt Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois on this date in 1901. At the Academy, there's noboby in the art of animation whose memory we honor more than that of Walt Disney. Follow the link below to see a moving video tribute to this great man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td1jTaanU8k

Kelsey Mann from the archives

2008-12-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

Some recent reorganization of the Academy's archives has uncovered a treasure trove of artwork from individuals who were once students here and have gone on to great success in the animation business. Among the discovered images are those created by Kelsey Mann.

Kelsey enrolled at the Academy as a new arrival to the LA area coming here from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He quickly made an impact with his art as he took right to the fundamentals we were teaching and incorporated these principles into his work. The samples below are from his time in our Background Design class, the first dated November 18, 2002 and the next dated November 19, 2002. The assignment was to come up with concept sketches for a cave exterior.

After some concepts were explored, Kelsey committed to a final design and created this composition the following day. Clicking on the art will give you a better view.

Kelsey went on to become an instructor with us and spent a few semesters in that capacity. It wasn't long before he was picked up by a major studio and his career went flying into the stratosphere.

For more info on Kelsey Mann and to see what he's been up to since his days at The Animation Academy, follow this link to his blog:

http://kmann.blogspot.com

Thomas Perkins from the archives

2008-11-24T19:09:00.000-08:00

While organizing some archival artwork, these designs were rediscovered. Tom Perkins was a student at the Academy several years ago and distinguished himself as a powerful and unique character designer and as an artist with inimitable visions. The samples are from Visual Development. They were class assignments that Tom completed in Photoshop. Clicking on the image will enhance the view.

Tom went on to become an instructor with us and has since established himself as one of the industry's leading designers. His blog is high on the list of must sees. Follow the link below:

http://thomasperkins.blogspot.com/

Joshua Lam lights it up

2008-11-13T17:20:00.001-08:00

This semester we're happy to have back with us Joshua Lam. He was a student at the Academy back in its earliest days. Since then he's had a successful career in the graphics department at Warner Bros Studios, has started his own company, got married and is raising a family.

His return has been notable for the exceptional work he's doing in class. Here's an example of his latest. In Visual Development, one of the things we strive to do is have our students explain form through the use of a light source. In Joshua's case he's taken his assignment to a masterful level by lighting the subject from three different angles. The first is from above, the second from above right, the third from below right. Click on the image for an enhanced view.

His approach in this light study along with his attention to the dimensionality of the design is very conducive to 3D modeling. His attention to form would translate very well into a computer generated image.

It's great to have Joshua Lam back, especially when he's creating studies as compelling as this. To see more of his work, visit his blog through the link below:

http://jlartanddesign.blogspot.com/

Carl Aspuria explores

2008-11-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

A recent student to the Academy, Carl Aspuria is getting into his assignments for Visual Development. In this sample from class, he's taken a single design image and has used it to experiment with gray tones, color and form relative to a light source. Clicking on the image will enhance the view.

A healthy approach to developing basic skills, Carl's marker studies are an excellent example of how to efficiently utilize an image for maximizing one's creative experiences relative to one's artistic growth.

Visit Carl's DeviantArt page by following the link below:

http://frodohilton.deviantart.com/

Looking forward to many more impressive works coming from Carl.

Gary Clair stops by

2008-10-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

A fixture at the Academy for many years, and one of the original founding students of the school, Gary Clair's professional responsibilities as of late have denied us the pleasure of his company until our last session this week, where he made a surprise visit. Here he is mobbed by his many fans.

Gary's visit prompted a reach into the archives to feature this design he created a few years ago which was published in our schedule. Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

Follow this link to enjoy Gary's blog:

http://garyclair.blogspot.com/

It was great seeing Gary again and we look forward to many more visits from him in days to come.

Recent guest speakers

2008-10-21T12:36:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone, and thanks for your patience with updates to the Academy's blog. It's been a very active time the past couple of months, but things are settling down enough to share recent news.

Former Academy student Josh Leiberman has sold a series concept to Cartoon Network and is in production on the 7 minute pilot. He stopped by last week to say hello and everyone enjoyed an excellent presentation from him as our guest speaker for the evening. Definitely one of the best presentations we've ever had as far as insight and advice goes about pitching show concepts and studio internships.

Here's Josh with some of his fans.

To visit Josh Lieberman's blog and find out more of what he's up to, follow this link: http://kn8ian.blogspot.com/

Bridget McCarty started with us when she was in high school. She's since gone on to establish her own Internet business selling fine miniatures. She makes a good enough living from her business that she can support herself completely through her art.

In the next two shots, students get a closer look at Bridget's samples and write ups about her work while she explains her marketing techniques as well as sharing practicle business advice for artists.

Visit Bridget's site through this link: http://www.bridgetmccarty.com/

A big thanks to Bridget McCarty and Josh Lieberman. Everyone gained from their time with us. We hope to see Bridget and Josh again in the near future and we wish them continued success in all their endeavors.

"Controlling Illusion" is here!

2008-09-08T19:05:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, students, associates and friends of The Animation Academy. I'm very happy, excited and proud to present my first book, Controlling Illusion.

Controlling Illusion is a compilation of many of the class demonstrations I've done throughout my career as an art educator, with most of them originating from the sessions I've taught at the Academy. Much of the art stems from my Visual Development course, along with some work from Character Design. Here's the front cover, clicking on the image will give you a better view.

The art spans a 22 year period, and the book itself took two years to assemble and write. I decided at the outset that I would gear Controlling Illusion towards an educational experience by describing the lesson from each demonstration. The book is being used a reference text in class and so far, the results in our students' work really shows the difference that Controlling Illusion is making with their design and rendering skills.

You can purchase Controlling Illusion online through a special site I've created for that purpose. Follow the links below for info about the book, along with a view at some Sample Pages and also to see some of the early Reviews the book is getting.

To Purchase: http://controllingillusion.com/

Sample Pages: http://controllingillusionsamples.blogspot.com/

Reviews: http://controllingillusionreviews.blogspot.com/

Initial response to the book has been extremely positive acrosss the board. Controlling Illusion will help make a good artist better and a better artist great. Each page offers useful information and insights about each demo in a way that will walk you through the progressive stages of Vis Dev fundamentals. It's an educational anthology in art through an animation design and development venue that will inspire you to create. I'm very confident you'll enjoy it as a learning tool as much as you will its entertainment value.

Authoring is a lot of fun as I'm finding out, and I'm working on a second book as a result of my experience with this. Meantime, I hope you'll take a moment to take a look at the Controlling Illusion links and get a glimpse into this unique endeavour.

Controlling Illusion is a specialty art education book sold exclusively through The Animation Academy.

Thanks to all, and Keep Creating! That's the key.

Honoring Ollie Johnston

2008-08-20T15:21:00.001-07:00

The creative legacy of the Walt Disney Studios was pioneered by great artists and animators. Among the greatest was Ollie Johnston, one of the legendary "Nine Old Men" and co-author of "The Illusion of Life" which helped resurrect the fine art of animation by educating and inspiring a new generation of talent in the 1980's and beyond.

On August 18, 2008 at the Sheraton Universal in Hollywood, the family of Ollie Johnston hosted a reception in his memory as he had passed away on April 14 of this year at the age of 95. I was invited to help set up for this event and while at the hotel, I met one of Ollie Johnston's sons, Ken Johnston. I had the opportunity to express to him my appreciation for his father and he was gracious enough to pose for the photo below.

The framed picture you see next to him is a remarkable image which the Johnston family brought along as a centerpiece for the memorial event. It's a shot of his father, in the company of he lady who would become Mrs. Ollie Johnston, his mother, at the Hollywood premiere of "Fantasia" in 1940.

More photos are featured on the AnimationNation forums. Follow this link to view them:

http://www.animationnation.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=013237

It was a great honor being part of Ollie Johnston's memorial and representing The Animation Academy in this way.

Andre Medina's first publication

2008-08-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

Since the foundation of the school, The Animation Academy has always encouraged creative enterprise, entreprenuership and independence in one's career, even if the artist is employed at a studio. You see this in many of our most successful students.

I'm excited to be introducing yet another one. Andre Medina worked on "Barnyard the Movie" and is currently on "The Simpsons" crew. He's been a long time student of the Academy and is one of our recent standouts.

At our last session, Andre debuted his first publication. A 16 page collection of some of the sketches and artwork he'd been creating in class. They were quickly bought up at $5 each.

Here's the cover. Click on the image for an enhanced view.

Check out Andre's blog and you'll get an idea of how talented he is:

http://www.andremedina.blogspot.com/

Why limit your portfolio to studio submissions only, when you can package your portfolio and sell it. With this kind of creative excellence, an artist can prepare their portfolio as a publication and begin to build their own independent economy and fan based community.

I'm sure this won't be the last time we see something in print from him. Andre's very dedicated and will be entering Cal Arts this coming fall. Another Academy student on their way to Cal Arts.

Great things are on the way from Andre Medina.

Checking in...

2008-07-18T20:25:00.001-07:00

Hello there students and friends of The Animation Academy. Thanks for stopping by. It's been several weeks since I've posted on the Academy's blog, but not for lack of activity with our school. On the contrary, there's been a lot happening.

I've just returned from Fresno, California where I was the lead instructor for the first three days at the California State University Summer Arts Program 2008, a college credit workshop in the arts that is sponosred by the Cal State University system, the largest state university system in the country. I launched the two week long animation workshop and gave a public lecture as well. The workshop began with a seminar in character design and is now taken over by the 3D modeling and animation instructors. It'll wrap up on July 26. The Animation Academy was well represented not only by myself, but with Kevin Poythress, a former student and current instructor with us who's participating in the Summer Arts Program.

Now that the Summer Arts animation workshop is under way, I'm back in Burbank where we'll be hosting the great Photoshop artist Snakebite as he returns to spend an evening in our company this coming Tuesday, July 22.

Also worth mentioning, at the end of the month, my very first book is scheduled to be shipped. A special publication that I'm excited to be offering. It's being published by The Animation Academy, and when it arrives, I'll provide more information as to the nature of the book and where it can be purchased. Just a few more days to go.

Thanks again for checking in, folks. Wishing you well and as always, Keep Creating!

Spiderman Night Spectacular!

2008-05-27T16:39:00.001-07:00

We had the pleasure of hosting Spectacular Spiderman Night at the Academy last week, as four artists from the crew of Sony's popular animated TV series were in attendance as guest speakers. There was a great turnout, with a crowd that rivaled what we had on Animation Day last April 1.

The group included (from right to left) Walter Gatus (Character Designer and Academy alumni), Paul Harmon (Storyboard), Sean "Cheeks" Galloway (Character Design Supervisor), and Jeff Johnson (Storyboard).

When Q&A was over, everyone rushed the tables to check out their work.

Paul Harmon chatting with Academy students.

Jeff Johnson, Cheeks and the rest of our special guests talking with the crowd, while the Academy's videographer is busy catching some of the conversations.

Cheeks, up close and personal. He brought a printout of his upcoming book, the third one Cheeks will be publishing. Academy students were the first to get a sneak peek at what to expect.

The little kids drawing at the lower right are Walter Gatus' children, inspired and getting started early.

Two very special and very talented visitors from Cal Arts were with us for Spiderman Night. Kristen Campbell on the right in the company of Kris Anka, an Academy alumni and winner of the first Warner Bros Hanna Barbera Scholarship in 2007.

A Big thanks to our guest artists from Sony! It was another spectacular experience at our school.

We're booking seats for classes scheduled for July 1, 2008. It's going to be another well attended semester coming up. If you'd like to enroll, get in touch with us.

Until then, Keep Creating! It's good for ya.

Hannah McCully makes Innerspark!

2008-05-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

Celebrating more good news. Hannah McCully, a student from our Teen Program, has been accepted into Innerspark 2008 at Cal Arts. Innerspark is a special curriculum that Cal Arts sponsors each summer for exceptionally talented teen artists. Hannah is the latest in a long list of students from the Academy to make it into Cal Arts in some capacity.

Congratulations to Hannah McCully on her achievement! We're very happy and proud!

Eddie Nieves turns it on

2008-04-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

A new student to the Academy this semester, Eddie Nieves continues our tradition of excellence with these 2 assignments he completed, his 5 pose character rotations from concept sketches he developed earlier in class.

Clicking on the artwork will give you a better view.

Eddie's skills were commendable when he started, but they've really taken off as result of his time with us. We're happy to share his creative accomplishments with the community here on the Academy's blog, and look forward to the great things he'll be doing in the very near future. Keep up the good work, Eddie.

Animation Day 2008 a Hit!

2008-04-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

In early 1999, The Animation Academy started a revolution in the industry by launching AnimationNation.com, a forum for animation professionals. A tradition has since grown whereby every April 1, there would be a workday gathering of the pros. A day of unity.

For the 10th year in a row, the event has occured in its most recent form as Animation Day.

Here's the turnout on Tuesday evening, April 1, with a crowd of about 100 attending and stopping by. Click on the photo for a better view.

A highly inspiring occasion with glowing words of review appearing at several places on the Web. A week later, the positive energy in the animation community is still riding the wave.

For more info, pictures and to follow the account of Animation Day 08, click on this link:

http://www.animationnation.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=013021;p=1

This year's theme of "The Future" was fitting since a big number of young people showed up, outnumbering the veterans. Groups from the Animation Design Center http://theanimationdesigncenter.com in Torrance and students in the Bachelors Degree program at California State University in Northridge swelled the numbers.

The Animation Academy continues to influence the industry.

Nelson Boles makes it 2 in a row !

2008-03-25T22:19:00.000-07:00

I'm very pleased, proud and excited to share the news with the Academy's community.

For the second year in a row, and in only the second year of the existence of this prestigious national recognition for high school students, the 2nd Annual Warner Bros Hanna Barbera Scholarship has been won by a student from The Animation Academy!

Last year it was Kris Anka. This year, it's Nelson Boles!

Nelson came to the Academy and enrolled in our Teen Program after his family and had been flooded out of their home in New Orleans, Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Nelson came to Los Angeles to stay with relatives and spent two semesters with us while he was here. He returned to New Orleans and continued with his life, drawing and animating films.

Last week, he was contacted by phone and notified by representatives of Warner Bros that he was the recipient of this year's scholarship - $10,000 to go to Cal Arts and a paid internship to Warner Bros Animation Studios.

This link will take you to a YouTube video of the film that won it for Nelson.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zNGjruW_pEc

A huge congratulations going out to Nelson from everyone here at The Animation Academy in Burbank, California with our very best wishes for his continued success. We're looking forward to a great career from this very talented young artist, animator and filmmaker.

Keep Creating, Nelson!

Lopez brothers double up

2008-03-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

Recently enrolled into the Academy's program, twin brothers Donovan and Dorian Lopez made a strong statement in their first semester studying Character Design I. Below is Donovan's initial attempt at his 5 pose character rotation.

This is Dorian's first character rotation. Clicking on the images will give you a better view.

The Lopez brothers contribute to the Academy's legacy of excellence in art training for the animation industry by virtue of the commendable job they did with this all important assignment. Their character rotations are professional quality and would rival many designers already working in the business.

Donovan and Dorian have a bright creative future ahead of them and we're looking forward to what they'll be accomplishing next.

Three's a charm

2008-02-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

It was an excellent occasion at the last session of the Academy as we celebrated 2 surpise guest speakers in addition to our scheduled guest, Walter Gatus.

We had the pleasure of a visit from Snakebite, (third from the left) as well as Andres Alvarez (next to Snakebite on the right). Snakebite is a former student and instructor and a world class Photoshop artist. Andres is a former student of the Academy who went on to become an instructor with us and then founded his own school, The Animation Design Center in Torrance, California, which is in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.

Here they are in the company of a few of our admiring group.

Walter Gatus, another former student who made it big in the animation biz, stopped by to share his portfolio and recent work he's been doing as a character designer on the upcoming series "The Spectacular Spiderman" scheduled to air next month from Sony TV Animation. Walter is in the dark blue shirt to the left of the table.

The action at the Academy as Walter spends extra time with a group of students while others are channeling their inspiration by busting out their own artwork.

Andres Alvarez topped off the evening with a showing of his own, a collection of his work and those of his students from the Animation Design Center. He's the guy with the big smile on the left.

It's been an exceptional and memorable semester these past few weeks as we enjoyed the 10th anniversary of the school and a big turnout in students and creative activity. Thanks to everyone who's been a part of it. The next semester, 11.2 will begin March 4. Hope to see you there.

10 Years, Big Week

2008-01-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

The 10th Anniversary of The Animation Academy was celebrated on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at a special animation event at the Burbank Public Library, on the date of the school's first class in 1998. The event included screenings, portfolios reviews and a panel discussion with the audience. It was a terrific afternoon. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The event was a huge success.

The panel of guest speakers included several from the Academy. From the left on the microphone, that's Walter Gatus from Sony's upcoming Spiderman series. Next to him is Bob Harper from Cartoon Network. Next to him is Gary Clair from Threshold Enterainment. Chance Raspberry from Starz Media is the second person over from him with the black t-shirt. Not pictured but to the left of Walter Gatus is Joe Pearson, renowned independent animation producer.

The panel looking from the other side, included guests from Tokyo Pop. The person on the opposite side of the table in the distance by the podium is Joe Pearson.

Here's a look at part of the crowd in attendance.

After the question and answer session of the event, the group spread out to speak one on one with visitors. Here's Gary Clair from the upcoming film "Food Fight", Chance Raspberry from "The Simpsons" and Walter Gatus from the upcoming "Spiderman" TV series. Three of The Animation Academy's many famous former students.

Looking the other way along the head table, the visitors gathering to speak with Walter Gatus, Chance Raspberry and Gary Clair.

In class this week, our first guest speaker of the year was someone very much distinguished in the animation industry. Tad Stones took time to stop by and talk with our students. An incredible guest, he spoke at length about his experiences in animation. An amazing career spanning the Disney Studios through more than 3 decades.

Tad's career from his time with Disney's training program in its earliest days through recent history and all the projects and shows he's developed captivated our group. Afterwards, students gathered round to speak with him personally.

Here's Tad being thanked by a couple of Academy students who were grateful for his visit and inspired by his talk.

The IMDb database gives a glimpse into Tad's extensive and intriguing career.

http://http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0832309/

A big thanks to Mr. Stones. He left a huge impression on everyone. Thankful for the generosity of his time and wishing him the best in all things.

We're tentatively scheduling our next speaker for this semester on February 12. When the final word comes in it will be announced on the Academy's home page.

10 Years Old Today!

2008-01-19T10:17:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and thank you for visiting the Academy's blog. A very Happy 2008 to you! It's been hectic recently with a large group of new students entering our program this semester and being caught up with preparing my first book which I'll disclose more info about later. So please excuse the delay in posting updates about what's been happening at The Animation Academy.

Today is a special day. It was 10 years ago that we held our very first class in the back room of the Coral Cafe Restaurant in Burbank, California on January 19, 1998.

It began at the suggestion of my friend, John Leousis, the owner of the Coral Cafe. I booked the back room of his restaurant and sent 35 flyers out to friends and former students whose addresses I had as part of a Christmas card mailing list. I had room for 20 students and sold out all the seats.

I spent $15 on stamps and envelopes. With that, a new business and a new educational endeavor was launched in Burbank for the community and the industry.

To everyone who's been a part of the school over the past 10 years, thank you! I hope you've enjoyed your experiences as much as I've enjoyed your company. If the school's helped make you a better artist, if it's helped with your career and creativity, if it's helped make the animation business more accessible and more fun for you, if it's helped make the world a little bit better place, then it's been worth the effort.

We'll be at the Burbank Public Library today, two stoplights up the street from the Disney Studios celebrating with a special animation event the library is sponsoring. Photos from the event will be posted soon.

Here's to the next 10 years and to the continued success of our students, instructors, associates and friends. Thanks again and God bless.

Keep Creating!

Kelly McGraw at the Academy

2007-12-12T19:52:00.000-08:00

At the last session of the Academy we had a very special guest speaker. Kelly McGraw, long time Disney Feature Animation background painter and currently visual development artist. This was Kelly's first time ever making a public appearance to discuss his art and career.

Kelly is remarkable. One of my first students from when I began teaching in the LA area. He started from humble beginnings taking figure drawing classes at local schools and workshops, developing his fundamental drawing and painting skills, to become a fixture at Disney.

He had a captive audience in the students and instructors present. Kelly gave great advice for achieving a successful career in the very competitive world of animation, even in the face of dramatic changes that may affect the industry from time to time.

A huge thank you to Mr. McGraw for the time he spent with us.

We're lining up guest speakers into the spring at the Academy. Next semester will begin January 8, 2008 and will mark the 10th anniversary of the school.

Lilo & Stitch Night - 2002

2007-12-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

An occasion of historical significance from September, 2002. This photo and several others were recently discovered and sent in to us by the photographer of the event.

It's from Lilo and Stitch Night at The Animation Academy in Burbank, at the height of popularity for the film. Organized through the enthusiastic efforts of former student and then instructor John Nevarez.

Pictured below, from left to right.

Dean DuBlois, Director.
Paul Felix, Production Designer
Chris Sanders, Creator, Director, Writer and Voice of Stitch
Jim Schlenker, Developing the TV Series

As far as I know, there has never been another occasion where the head creative staff of Disney's Lilo and Stitch team came together for an educational gathering such as the one that took place at the Academy in September, 2002. I'll be adding this to the school's archives along with the rest of the photos and follow up a little later with more pictures from that special night.

Anthony Nevarez stepping up

2007-11-25T19:24:00.000-08:00

We've had the pleasure of enjoying the company of Anthony Nevarez for several years. First as a teen student, now an adult emerging into more sophisticated subjects and style. In a recent class assignment seen here, Anthony delves into character design and female anatomy, using a classic form construction method. Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

I'm happy to be featuring Anthony's work on the Academy's blog for the first time. Looking forward to the exciting images he'll be creating in the future.

David Colman returns

2007-11-16T16:54:00.000-08:00

The 52nd semester of the Academy is under way and we had a very welcome returning visitor with us at our most recent session.

David Colman, Emmy Award winning character designer, author of "The Art of Animal Character Design" and currently working visual development at Disney Feature Animation. Here he is after his presentation helping a student who wants to specialize in animal character design, while a group of students immerse themselves around his portfolio.

Thanks David! Everyone learns when you're with us at class. Always an inspiration and a good time in your company.

To see more of David Colman's work feel free to visit his blog: http://davidcolman.blogspot.com/

Jorge Merino's rotation

2007-11-09T21:03:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned many times before on the Academy's blog the importance of creating a rotation of a character in relation to the animation production process. It's an aspect of our program which we strongly emphasize.

Here's an outstanding rotation from Jorge Merino. Jorge did this as a class assignment during his first semester with us. He's currently in his second semester. This was his first character model rotation. Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

Talented students always get better when they spend time at The Animation Academy. Whether a beginner, intermediate or advanced, we always get very positive results and can continually showcase excellent artists such as Jorge Merino.

Jorge is challenging himself with new works he's creating in class and building on his affinity to rotate his concepts. Imagine what he'll be coming up with a few short weeks from now.

Spyro going to the movies!

2007-11-02T18:45:00.000-07:00

The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and many other entertainment media news outlets have reported that the popular video game character "Spyro the Dragon" will be heading to the big screen as a feature animated film. Here's a link to the announcement on Variety's site:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117974762.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

I designed and developed Spyro for Insomniac Games and Universal Studios in early 1997. Needless to say, I'm happy to see the character make it all the way to the top of the animation market. The Spyro video game franchise has had more than $500 million in sales. The character is one of the most widely recognized video game personalities in the world. Here's a sketch I created of Spyro as a class demonstration in 2002. I used black line, color markers and some coloring pencil.

At the Academy we emphasize the importance of a marquis character or characters in the establishment of a character based franchise in animation and Spyro has turned out to be a wonderful example of that lesson.

The original development drawings of Spyro the Dragon have been online since 2004 in a presentation hosted by the school. This presentation has had continuous virtually non stop traffic since then with no promotion or advertising behind it, a testament to the popularity of Spyro and perhaps the educational value of the body of work. To view the Spyro presentation follow this link:

http://www.theanimationacademy.com/spyroindex.htm

The Animation Academy is a world leader in the subject of character design training and intellectual property development. Insomniac Games enrolled their production crew into our program in 1998 early in the Academy's history. The Animation Academy has been influential in the animation industry on many levels.

Spyro is scheduled to be released sometime in 2009. Here's to hoping that the script is strong, the production values are high, and the film proves to be as succesful as the video games.

Demo at CSUN

2007-10-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

The Animation Academy enjoys a special relationship with California State University in Northridge. Located in the north San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, Cal State Northridge (CSUN) has an excellent art and animation department with a long history of successful graduates throughout the animation industry. I currently teach at CSUN in addition to the weekly sessions of The Animation Academy.

This is a quick demonstration I created at yesterday's class. The image was sketched in blue pencil first, then followed up with black line and broad tip markers. I blended blue pencil with tissue paper for the blue tones and picked out highlights with an eraser. Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

These demos were also also created at the same session, in the spirit of Halloween, using a similar technique as the demonstration above.

If you're looking for a degree granting program in animation, fine art, graphics, photography and more that is of excellent quality and affordable, check out Cal State Northridge. Here's a link to CSUN's home page: http://www.csun.edu

This link will take you to their art department: http://www.csun.edu/art/

Supplement your education at The Animation Academy, or prepare for CSUN with us and your skills will skyrocket.

Manny Aguiler's narrative art

2007-10-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

We recently introduced a new course for advanced students. The class is called Narrative Illustration and is geared towards making the most of Character Design, Background Design and Visual Development skills acquired through the Academy's program. Ongoing students can focus these skills into compositions intended to exhibit storytelling elements.

We've enjoyed a long relationship with Manny Aguiler, an associate instructor who also continues his education with us. His work has been featured before on the Academy's blog on April 12, 2006. Our associate instructors were at one time our students but they go on learning with us to challenge themselves creatively. Here's a recent example of Manny Aguiler's work from Narrative Illustration. He used graphite on paper to come up with this scene from "Jack and the Beanstalk". Click on the image for a better view.

Manny's dynamic composition features a good balance of shapes and tonality to capture the interest of the viewer and push the element of depth of field within his drawing. There's confidence in his draftsmanship and his work creates excitement and enthusiam with students looking to emulate his example.

Our sessions are attended by a host of excellent artists who've been with us for years and are generous with their knowledge and encouraging with their artistic experience. The Academy's next semester, our 52nd consecutive one, will begin next week on October 23. Manny Aguiler will of course be present.

An Emmy for David Colman

2007-10-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

I'm very happy to announce that David Colman has won an Emmy for his character design work on Cartoon Network's "Class of 3000". Here he is pictured with his fiance at the award ceremony.

A former student of The Animation Academy and an accomplished author with his book "The Art of Animal Character Design", David has done remarkable things so far in his career. He is currently working in development at Disney Feature Animation in Burbank.

David Colman is scheduled to return as a guest speaker this coming semester on November 13, 2007 where we'll have an opportunity to congratulate him in person. You can see pictures of David's earlier visit to the school by referring to the blog archives and the entry on June 13, 2007. You can also visit David's blog by following this link. http://davidcolman.blogspot.com/

John Watkiss visits the Academy

2007-10-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

It was a very exciting session at The Animation Academy last Tuesday as special guest speaker John Watkiss joined us and blew our collective minds with his incredible art. John is a master whose experience involves the visual development of several Disney feature films including Tarzan, Kingdom of the Sun (Emperor's New Groove), Atlantis and Treasure Planet.

He gave us an extraordinary insight and detailed accounts about how many of the Disney features he worked on came to be, especially Tarzan. Here he is working with a group towards the end of class, relating his views on art and sharing a peek at development work few people outside the studio have ever seen.

John Watkiss is an artist's artist. What he can do with a Sharpie and black Prismacolor pencil is astounding, not to mention his absolute mastery of acrylic painting. He trained artists at Richard Williams Studio in London during the production of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, he taught at the Royal Academy of Art in London, and he is without question one of the most incredible artists I've ever met.

It was a real honor and priviledge for us to host Mr. Watkiss and I hope he'll return again before too long. To see more of John Watkiss' work, visit his blog. http://johnwatkiss.blogspot.com

The Great Burbank Rainbow of 2007

2007-10-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

A few days ago a heavy rainstorm passed through the Los Angeles area. I happened to be at the Academy's offices when I looked out the window to see a magnificent rainbow that was anchored almost exactly upon the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. I went to the roof of the building to capture the image you see below. The white object at the furthest point of the lower right hand corner of the photo just above the tree line is the water tower at the Disney lot. Clicking on the shot will give you a better view.

As the gigantic rainbow reached its apex, I took a series of photos to create this composite image. The rainbow is anchored to the right at Disney, to the left on Cartoon Network. In between the arch left of center is where Nickelodeon is located and at right of center is DreamWorks.

This is a very rare occurence. Who knows when it will be seen again if ever. I hope you enjoy these special photos of the animation rainbow in Burbank and that it brightens your day.