Author: Tyla Bolte
Interested In Becoming An Illustrator?
Is art one of your passions? Are you interested in turning your drawings into a rewarding career?
Then becoming an illustrator might be the path for you!
– By Emi –
What is so appealing about the illustration field, you may ask?
Illustration can be a broad term, so let’s break it down. You get to be creative on the daily, while working on projects that require your imagination to run wild; and seeing your finished product after hours of hard work is an extraordinarily rewarding feeling. You often work on a wide range of projects, working with clients from all over the world on anything from children’s books to magazines! Some of the other projects you may work on include:
- Manuals
- Advertising
- Educational illustrations for textbooks
- Narrative illustrations for a variety of literary forms
- Comic Books/ Comic Strips/ Graphic Novels
- Book & graphic novel covers
- and anything from Greeting Cards to Album Covers
Who are Illustrators?
An illustrator is someone who creates images to give a visual element to an idea, narrative or text. These images can be used to provide clarity to advance written or spoken ideas by providing a visual aid. These illustrations will work with the concept, rather than distract from it. Illustrators work on a wide range of projects from comics to personal stand alone pieces! They can also be artists who bring stories and imagination to life with their work. They are often commissioned on a freelance basis or hired by companies to create illustrations for everything from commercial ads to cover art for novels, graphic novels or even art for album covers. Often, an illustrator will specialize in a particular field, while also selling personal work of their own. Many work to publish their own graphic novels and comic series! Illustrators even work in the education field, creating images for textbooks and other educational works.
MTM College (MTM) Graduates go on to have successful careers in the illustration industry, many work as freelance illustrators, some publish their own comics/graphic novels, while others are hired by large companies and publishing houses.
Here are some of MTM’s Illustration graduates and what they are working on now:
Andrew Kwan, graduated from MTM’s Illustration for Sequential Arts program in May 2014, and has gone on to make his illustration dreams a reality. Andrew Kwan writes, illustrates, and publishes his own comic series, “The Work and Gel”, a post-apocalyptic tale about an Earth where humans are no longer at the top of the food chain. He also works as a character designer for Nanomyte Studios, on their multimedia series, “Injection”, another post-apocalyptic tale.
Neiva Mateus, graduated from MTM’s Illustration for Sequential Arts program in May 2014, is now working as a freelance Illustrator for various children’s books. She has illustrated for a children’s book, written by Rachel Vander Veen, called “A Journey Down the River”. This book has been published in multiple languages and encourages children to count, and look for hidden creatures at the turn of each page!
Ana Jaimes graduated from MTM’s Illustration for Sequential Arts program in May 2018. Ana currently works as an art director at NerdyCity, a company that specializes in making board games and tabletop RPG’s that capture the imagination and transport you to a whole new world! She will be teaching a Clip Studio Paint workshop here at Max the Mutt over spring break! This workshop will introduce students to the various illustration and comic focused features the Clip Studio Paint software provides their users such as unique page formatting options, speech bubble features, unique shortcuts, and even how to utilize built-in 3D models to shortcut and strengthen your digital artwork.
Why choose MTM College of Animation, Art & Design to study Illustration?
MTM College (MTM) is a college that simulates a realistic work environment for its students so they are prepared to enter the workforce. MTM now provides a 4-year Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts diploma program with a focus on visual storytelling that teaches students the fundamentals of drawing, and trains students to work with industry standard programs like the Adobe Suite. MTM even offers a 2-semester graphic novel development course that will provide its graduates with a package that can be pitched to publishers! Other benefits of choosing MTM College include:
- Smaller class sizes which offer instructors the opportunity to provide more one-on-one time with students and the chance to get to know them personally
- Instructors work in the Illustration & Comics industry, who want to help their students build the skills they need to start their own Illustration careers.
Like Dave Ross, who has worked with Marvel and DC Comics as a writer, penciller, and cover artist. Dave Ross teaches Structural Drawing, Penciling, and Constructive Figure Drawing for Illustration students.
Paris Alleyne is a MTM Illustration 2013 graduate and another instructor with industry experience having worked as a colourist for comics such as Mutant Teenage Ninja Turtles and GI Joe. He teaches MTM Illustration students a Digital Media course. Paris has won an Eisner Award for Best Colourist on a Comic Book Series. - Curriculum designed in consultation with Industry professionals. Our current 4 year Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts diploma program was updated from a three year Illustration for Sequential Arts diploma program, to meet the demanding requirements of working in the industry. We constantly consult with experts in the industry to ensure our students are receiving the most up to date skills and training.
- A fun and engaging work environment that is supportive of everyone and provides unique learning opportunities. While the curriculum at our college can be demanding, we also want our students to enjoy themselves! Our college has a collegial and friendly atmosphere.
MTM College’s Illustration program has core skills as part of their curriculum. You will gain skills in penciling and inking comics, storytelling and scripting for comics, and children’s book illustration. You will also dive into topics such as graphic design and illustration for advertising skills and storyboarding for film and advertising. You will graduate from the MTM Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts Diploma Program with a solid portfolio, a web page, the skills needed to write an excellent cover letter and resume, and the confidence to perform well in job interviews. MTM College will prepare you to be the next generation of freelance illustrators, comic book, and graphic novel artists.
If you are unsure whether studying illustration is the right fit for you, check out some of MTM College’s Workshops! They are a great way to get a feel for what you will be learning while attending MTM.
To learn more about MTM workshops, contact workshops@maxthemutt.com
To learn more about MTM College’s Diploma Programs, contact admissions@maxthemutt.com
Hope to see you there!
How to Learn Anatomy!
The important Skill of Anatomy and how young artists can Learn It
-by Grace Gardner-
Ah, human anatomy, the artist’s great friend and often foe. Almost every aspiring artist knows the frustration of drawing a hand and making it look right. We often find a way around it with a glove-like shape or just a simple circle and it passes, or so we think. So ‘why’, you might ask, should I have to learn how to draw a realistic hand, or realistic human in general, when the cartoons that I’ve already been drawing work well enough?
The answer is quite simple. Understanding human anatomy offers an artist the fundamental building blocks for correctly drawing other people. Otherwise one could wonder why anyone would start to learn how to draw humans, which wouldn’t be that big of a deal, if we weren’t surrounded by them. But really, if your plan is to pursue a creative career, you’ll need to have a diverse skill set and knowledge of proper human anatomy as it is expected by default and is a bit of a hard skill to fake.
Given that anatomy is essential for understanding how to build proper humanoids, it is a skill you should be learning pretty early on. But there are people who either don’t bother to learn anatomy at all or have difficulty fully grasping it the first time someone tries to teach them. For these reasons students commonly give up learning this skill before they begin.
Yet understanding human anatomy and how to use it properly is a very important skill to have. Anatomy gives students a 100% chance of improving their ability to draw a human form. In Anatomy courses, like the ones offered at Max the Mutt College through our diploma programs, you’ll learn the human body’s bone structure, then how muscles connect to those bones, how those muscles work for movement, act and react. Understanding those concepts help students to improve how their characters move and will assist in creating a less awkward looking form. Anatomy also helps a student understand how to give a human form weight and knowing this helps to make even a 2D person seem more alive.
Taking workshops that focus on figurative drawing like those of our Portfolio Development programs will give you more insight into how to draw a human form.
As a wise artist said: “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist” – Pablo Picasso
You’re probably wondering why in the world it is so hard to draw humans considering not only are we human ourselves but we are constantly surrounded by them. Well it may be surprising to know that the reason IS exactly that, we are constantly surrounded by humans making them very hard to draw.
You see, our brain has made short cuts for us to make processing the world around us easier and an often used social shortcut is to break down and then interpret the details that make up the people around us. Our brains aren’t fully recognizing the exact shapes and contours of our hands or how many wrinkles a person has on their face. The brain sees this information and changes it into generalized ideas of a person, like when you say someone has ‘soft features’ or they ‘looked old’.
Our brains do this for better social communication and is the reason we can see strange looking comic humans as humans. It takes the features we unconsciously process and exaggerates them to give us an impression of what that person is like.
This is why understanding and putting proper anatomy into practice is so hard. You have to un-train the brain of your old social shortcuts in order to really see what humans are made up of for the first time.
Where do you even learn anatomy nowadays?
Well many people now try to learn it casually online by picking up techniques and instructions on how to draw humans here and there through other artist anatomy tips. This will give you an idea on how the body could be drawn in the artist’s style but it lacks that teachable understanding of how the bones and muscles interact to make a human form pose or move.
The best way to fully understand the fundamentals of anatomy is to take a hands on course like ones offered at MTM College. For example, workshop courses like Single Session Life Drawing or any of our Portfolio Development programs which give students the tools to help understand the concepts as well as assist to build their portfolio. Those looking for a more independent approach can follow the teachings of our Constructive Figure Drawing instructor, Dave Ross through his book, Freehand Figure Drawing for Illustrators, which provides a thorough approach to practicing figure drawing. Or for the student choosing to enroll in a creative diploma, like any of MTM College’s diploma programs in Animation, Concept Art or Illustration, they would definitely be taught anatomy and other important basic building blocks in order to improve their skills.
Whichever path you choose, we know that mastering anatomy from the inside out will give a boost to any artist looking to make any characters or creature designs.
Congratulations Sergi Iranzo – 1st place Finalist – Ubisoft Toronto NEXT Awards 2021
Sergi Iranzo, Year 4 Concept Art for Animation & Video Games Program student, has been awarded the 1st place Finalist for the Ubisoft Toronto NEXT Awards 2021 competition.
Ubisoft Toronto NEXT is an annual competition designed to display the talent of video game development students in Ontario, and to kickstart their careers in the industry. With paid apprenticeships in hand, winners of each category receive the opportunity to learn from top talent and further hone their skills.
The 1st place Finalist winner receives a paid 3 month Apprenticeship position at Ubisoft Toronto studio and a $300 prize package. The apprenticeship is set to begin at the end of May 2021.
A compilation of all Finalists and their work from all Categories can be seen here:
Branko Bistrovic, Team Lead Concept Artist – Concept Art Department – Ubisoft Toronto and a former Max the Mutt student, who has been a part of the NEXT competition since it’s founding had this to say about Sergi Iranzo’s submission for the competition:
“For the competition, Sergi Iranzo’s entry for Concept Art category, execution-wise, knocked it out of the park. A ‘Space Opera’ on a grand scale.
An interesting design, solid composition, simple yet striking lighting, that’s very important for a space scene, thanks to the intelligent use of the clouds along with the leading angles of the ships and the actual structure. This still image of a docking bay in the thermosphere has a strong sense of motion and energy which is very impressive. The scale is also exceptionally well-handled. It feels as if the structure is absolutely vast.
Well done Sergi! You are our number 1 pick for all of those reasons. Be proud. You earned it!”
(Click for the Ubisoft Toronto NEXT Awards Live Event Stream for the full event and words from the Judges, like Branko, and the Finalists, like Sergi, from all categories.)
Sergi Iranzo had previously entered and had been awarded the 3rd place Finalist for the 2019 Ubisoft Toronto NEXT Awards competition for Concept Art category. Since he was only in Year 2 of the Concept Art program, at the time for the competition, his 3rd place standing was very impressive.
Check out Sergi Iranzo’s Student Profile to see more work from him.
Congratulations to all Finalists for this years competition. There was some amazing work for sure!!
Check out Max the Mutt’s 4 year Concept Art Diploma Program!
Goran Bukvic, Internationally Known Concept Artist, on Career Training in Concept Art
When Max the Mutt College first decided to develop a Concept Art Diploma Program, we sought advice from top Concept Artists within Canada and the USA about how we should structure the program, and what they felt we should include in our curriculum. We wanted to ensure we were preparing people for not just a job, but a full Career in Concept Art.
Meet Goran Bukvic
Goran Bukvic is an internationally recognized Senior Concept artist who has worked on major AAA titles as well as animation and film projects, including:
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- Jurassic World 2 – 2018
- The Legend Of Tarzan – 2016
- X-Men: Days of Future Past – 2014
- Guardians of the Galaxy – 2014
- Gears Of War 5 – 2019
- Gears Of War 4 – 2016
- Halo 4 – 2012
- Tron: Evolution – 2010
- Tomb Raider
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He has supported Max the Mutt from the start, including a visit earlier this year to speak with Max the Mutt Concept Art students about the industry and how he built his career in concept art.
He was part of our original consultation process in 2009. As part of our conversation, I asked how much our Concept Art students would need to learn about animation to be successful. Curious about whether he thought things had changed since then, I recently sent Goran a copy of the advice he gave me back in 2009 – and he confirmed that it is still exactly what he would say today! Check out Max the Mutt’s Concept Art Curriculum, and you’ll find that our program is still firmly rooted in traditional representational art skills.
Here’s my candid conversation with Goran. I hope you enjoy reading along and find it as insightful as I did!
What would you want a Concept Artist to understand about animation for classical, 2D computer & 3D animation?
It’s all about motion. Chances are that, if you are hired as a Concept Artist on a project, you will be involved in the very beginning, bringing ideas to the table; however, your work will not be the final product. The final product will be something that’s moving, one way or the other. In other words, your conceptual designs should inspire the animators down the pipeline, making sure that it stays consistent throughout the whole process.
Concept Art and Animation have a lot in common, especially when it comes to Character Design. A Concept Artist’s job is to take a particular character through a range of poses and emotions that best describe their personality and their role in the story/gameplay. In animation, “key poses” play a crucial role in “selling” the character, much the same as when designing it. You will want to make sure that it is as expressive as possible in the early stage, so the more familiar with animation you are, the more fluid and believable your designs will be.
Are there special concerns Concept Artists should consider when designing for 2D/3D games?
Not really. It’s more about the idea and concept, no matter what medium will be used for the final product.
How about when designing for animation versus designing for a game?
Animation is “set” and a game is interactive, however, the design approach is the same. They both contain animated assets as a final product. You will want to provide modellers, texture artists and animators with as much information as possible so that, when the initial design is approved, it will be easier for them to follow through and stay on the right track.
Anything to consider when designing for 2D versus designing for 3D?
Again, it is about the idea and concept first and foremost, however, designing for 2D may require a simplified design philosophy because each frame has to be drawn over and over by hand. This is in order to save production time and cost. In 3D, this process is much easier and more effective due to being able to build the model only once and have it rigged, textured and ready to be animated in any way needed.
The importance of storyboarding skills for Concept Art
Other than the above, I think it might be difficult to incorporate a “bit” of animation into the Concept Art program. As you know, learning to animate is a very long and hard process, and it probably should be exclusive. It starts with animating a simple bouncing ball, through flower sack and so on. By the time students get to learn something, the focus will shift away from Concept Art.
In terms of being trained as a concept artist and keeping the focus on that, I think Storyboarding courses would be much more fitting. They may actually have to do storyboarding at some point on a job. It can be structured so that exercises contain some principles of animation that are important in design, like key posing, heavy action scenes, exaggeration and so on.
What should Concept Art training focus on?
The most important part of Concept Art training is focusing on realistic drawing and painting, anatomy, architecture and colour theory.
Cool and original ideas won’t come until students acquire the skill to seamlessly project from the brain to the image. This will take a long time. I feel that the focus should strongly remain on that so that once they graduate, they can show enough “specific” potential to get hired in the industry.
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Interested in pursuing a career in Concept Art? Check out our Diploma program! Want to getter better at painting skills? We have a series of Traditional and Digital Painting workshops that anyone can enjoy!
A Visit from YOWZA! Animation
Recently, Max the Mutt (MTM) was pleased to welcome Kat Curwin (Production Manager) and Jack Carr (Creative Producer) of YOWZA! Animation for a visit.
Kat and Jack gave a presentation on life at YOWZA and working in the industry to our Fourth Year Animation and Concept Art students. Students then got the chance to pepper our visitors with questions, which they took full advantage of! Since Kat graduated from MTM four years ago, it was exciting to catch up with her and hear about her career journey since then. It was also pretty neat to hear how many of her YOWZA Animation colleagues are former MTM students as well.
After the presentation, all the students in attendance were offered the opportunity to have one-on-one interviews with Kat and Jack, to show them their work, and get individual feedback and advice. We heard from several of them about what a valuable experience this interview was, and we’re grateful to Kat and Jack for all the time they spent with us.
We have to say that YOWZA sounds like a wonderful place to work! Since they are a smaller studio, there is a lot of room to showcase your individual talents, and the company works hard to ensure there is are opportunities for artistic growth. In some cases, this environment might mean you get to explore career opportunities you never expected!
One of the important elements to career success stressed by both Kat and Jack was having a great attitude and being a good team player. How you work with others can have a big impact on how well you and your team do, and how far you go in your career in the creative industries. It was a great message for everyone to hear, and something we all should strive towards, regardless of where we are in our careers!
Thank you so much, Kat and Jack for taking time to meet with us!
2013 Graduate Aaron Long Visits Max the Mutt
Director of BoJack Horseman offers valuable advice to MTM students
Aaron Long, Canadian animator and filmmaker, well known as a director on BoJack Horseman (Netflix), was in Toronto in early November to make an appearance at TAAFI INDUSTRY 2019‘s 2-day event, which offers exclusive talks from top animation artists and creators.
TAAFI INDUSTRY 2019
At TAAFI, Aaron spoke about his career starting as an intern for the Chuck Grammage studio with little experience and a ton of passion, through to his current work as a director for Bojack Horseman and Tuca & Bertie with Netflix. He also discussed how animation isn’t just for cartoons, as new streaming services start to take animation seriously. And the ins and outs on crafting your ideas for a primetime world. And lastly was the judge on a pitching competition.
Aaron Long’s Alma Mater
Aaron Long is a 2013 Max the Mutt (MTM) graduate. We were thrilled when he reached out to say he’d love to drop by to say hi, and talk to the students about his work!
As part of his presentation, Aaron showed fascinating behind-the-scene clips from BoJack Horseman and other programs he’s worked on (like the fabulous Tuca & Bertie) and gave students insight into what working on these productions was like. He shared the story of how his career in animation launched. And he emphasized the importance (and challenges) of continuing to develop his personal work while working on other projects.
Our students were inspired by his humility, the information he shared, and his love of traditional animation. He spoke about the inspiration he got from History of Animation, a first-year course at MTM, and his love of using physical movement, attitude, and timing to tell a story. He also highlighted the importance of life-drawing and other fundamental drawing skills he learned at MTM to his work.
Aaron Long created “Fester Fish” while still a student at Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art, and Design. A producer in LA who saw his YouTube channel discovered and contacted him.
Thanks for the visit, Aaron! Please come back soon.
Aaron Long is an animator and filmmaker from Toronto. He currently lives in Los Angeles, and has directed for Bojack Horseman, Tuca & Bertie, Triptank and more. He also creates independent cartoons Sublo & Tangy Mustard and Fester Fish which appear online and in festivals around the world.
Want to learn more about Aaron Long? Check out his work here, or visit his IMBD page.
4 Traits to Look for in an Animation School
As one of the leading, private animation schools in Toronto and the GTA, we’re quite proud of the education and training we offer our students. But it’s not just our pride that speaks when we tell potential students about what to look for in a design and animation college.
We’ve been in your shoes too. We constantly doodled. We couldn’t pass up an opportunity to download free versions of the latest animation and graphics packages. And we didn’t just laugh when we watched The Incredibles, we wanted to create and animate characters like Edna too!
With that perspective, we know what students want from a formal animation education. And our experience as professional animators and artists tells us what students need.
Look for These Traits in an Animation School
Whether you choose to enroll in one of the programs at Max the Mutt or at another school, identifying the following characteristics will help you know that you’ve made a good choice.
- The Faculty – Who you learn from is just about as important as what you learn. Animation is constantly changing as new technologies and techniques emerge. Instructors should be currently involved in the industry as working professionals if you are to learn according to current industry trends and demands.
- The Curriculum – Similar to the idea that faculty should be active in the industry, so too must the curriculum be kept current. This is not just to teach up-to-date skills, but also to help you know what employers are looking for in graduates right now.
- Class Size – Regardless of how good the faculty and curriculum are at any school, their effectiveness shrinks as class sizes expand. It’s not difficult to understand the connection between smaller class size and how much individual attention you will get as a student.
- A Career Focus – Animation is a profession. Employers look for job candidates who not only have the right skills, but who also demonstrate the level of professionalism that will help the company succeed. In addition to teaching you all the processes, tools and techniques, an animation school should also prepare you for the passion, discipline and commitment needed for you to succeed.
Max the Mutt’s Animation Program is proudly endorsed by Brown Bag Films where many of our students enjoy internships and other wonderful positions!
If you liked this post, check out our recent article about one of our instructors, Dave Ross, a comic artist who’s worked for Marvel, DC and Dark Horse comics.
What Does a Concept Artist Do?
Remember when you were a kid and someone asked you “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Two things are likely true about the answer you gave. First, you probably weren’t thinking along the lines of a job that’s in high demand. Instead, you might have said something you were more familiar with, like video game developer, teacher or musician.
The second truth about the answer of what you wanted to be when you grow up? It is highly unlikely that you said “concept artist”.
Even people who work in traditional and digital arts can have a difficult time in saying just what is a concept artist and strictly define what a concept artist does.
This is What a Concept Artist Does
To start getting a better understanding of the role, it can help to expand the name to “conceptual artist”. From there, it’s not such a large leap to understand that concept artists design and illustrate the look and feel, or concept, of a film or game.
But, right away, that definition doesn’t fully explain everything that might be part of a concept artist’s work, which can include the following, among other roles.
- Design & Illustrate Environments – The setting of a game or film is crucial to the story. Can you imagine “Avatar” in a desert? As an integral part of concept design, concept art is often the first visual representation of the specifics of that environment, and how characters fit within it.
- Design & Illustrate Characters – From Halo’s Master Chief, to Hiccup in “How to Train Your Dragon”, the visual development, design and rendering of a character can not only convey the character’s personality, but help tell the story.
- Design & Illustrate Props – The scene isn’t fully set until the props are designed and created.
Concept artists may also be called upon for cover design, poster design, colour keys and storyboards. In developing a mobile game, they may need to 3D-model an environment to be game-ready.
How to Become a Concept Artist
Of course, computer animation for films and games continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Every year, new technology and techniques open up new horizons of what’s possible. And the demand for concept artists grows at least as quickly. After all, not a single frame is created until the design and look of it is confirmed.
To compound the problem, there’s a shortage of people with the rare combination of creativity, education, traditional art skills and computer skills that a successful concept artist needs.
Even if you’re an artist and you feel you have the right combination of skills for the job, you face yet another hurdle. How do you learn to be a concept artist?
Learning Concept Art
Concept art is an element of some art and animation courses and programs. But, to our knowledge, Max the Mutt’s Concept Art Diploma Program is the only program in Canada that teaches you concept art in depth and gets you ready for a career in concept art.
As we mentioned above, concept artists need a rare and varied skill set and our concept art program is designed to train you in all of them.
- Illustration
- Traditional, representational drawing and painting
- Animation-related skills such as storyboarding, film language, location design and layout for animation
- Concept specific courses including research and idea development, character design, environment design, prop design, creature design,
- Photoshop
- 3D computer software
- Employment-level 3D modelling for game artists
- Matte Painting
Additional skills that you’ll learn include background painting for animation; layout for animation & video games; and storyboarding for animation, games and live action.
If you enjoyed this post, check out our recent article: “2018 Concept Art Grads, Dhenzel Obeng and Zabi Hassan Talk About Being An Effective Concept Artist!”