Congratulations to @prplstarstudio !! Winner of our #cartooningatmtmgiveaway !!
Check out this lovely entry. A digital painting called “spirit of the lake”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHIi5vsgnx-/…
Thank you to all our contestants for participating. Keep Drawing and watch for our next contest!…
<img class=” wp-image-649″ src=”https://mtmcollege.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DaC-finalTor-and-his-family-promo-piece-300×168.jpg” alt=” CA- Zabi Hussan” width=”705″ height=”395″ srcset=”http://a1gyv49udwj217e981sqhxva.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DaC-finalTor-and-his-family-promo-piece-300×168.jpg 300w, http://a1gyv49udwj217e981sqhxva.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DaC-finalTor-and-his-family-promo-piece-768×431.jpg 768w, http://a1gyv49udwj217e981sqhxva click to read more.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DaC-finalTor-and-his-family-promo-piece-1024×574.jpg 1024w, http://a1gyv49udwj217e981sqhxva.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DaC-finalTor-and-his-family-promo-piece-475×266.jpg 475w” sizes=”(max-width: 705px) 100vw, 705px” />
Concept Art work by- Zabi Hassan (now entering year 3)
Background Layout Scene by 2016 graduate Mandy Wills
Character Designs by 2016 graduate Melissa Lodu
Congratulations to Max the Mutt’s Concept Art students:
Zabi Hassan, a 3rd year student this Fall, https://www.artstation.com/artist/zabi
and
Mandy Wills, a 2016 grad, https://www.artstation.com/artist/mandy169
Who were both selected by the Official Judging Panel at The Rookies for
“The Drafts” section of their prestigious International Awards contest in the Illustration Category! They are among 12 chosen, for this section of the contest, as representing the most Impressive Work submitted by Students from 77 countries around the World in 2016!
And Congratulations to Melissa Lodu, a 2016 grad, https://www.artstation.com/artist/melissalodu, who was chosen as a semi finalist!
You can find the work of all finalists in this category here: http://www.therookies.co/results/draft/illustration
Max the Mutt’s strength lies in a well thought out, developmental curriculum that stresses a foundation of traditional fine art skills. What you see here is the result of good teaching, focus, and hard work. This is the school that understands how important it is for you to understand PROCESS and know how to approach each assignment. The growth amazes us all! We are all born with so much untapped, undeveloped potential. You do need the passion for art, the grit to stick with it when it doesn’t come easily, the professionalism to get to class on time, get assignments in on time, the discipline to FOCUS on what you are doing!
All students in all diplomas take one year of representational painting using oils. Many have painted not at all or very little. Still life paintings were done by year one students.
All students in all diplomas take one year of representational painting using oils. The Concept Art students continue to study traditional painting throughout their education. Year one features still life studies, with subsequent years focusing on figurative work .
ere are some examples of 2015-16 painting!
For more information about our programs, or to book a tour, please contact us at admissions@maxthemutt.com . You can also submit the “book a tour” form on our website, www.maxthemutt.com !
We look forward to hearing from you.
Max the Mutt College of Animation Art & Design will celebrate the work of 2016 graduates, as well as undergraduates!
Acclaimed independent Toronto college of animation, art and design holds popular annual ‘Industry Event’ on May 18, and celebrating its 2016 graduates, gives the public a behind-the-scenes look at ‘Year-end Exhibition and Weekend Open House’ – with free workshops – on May 21 and 22
“A lot of potential talent here and we actually had two people working with us in the past. I would recommend it for students looking for a place.” – Mark Maia, creative director at Big Blue Bubble (Canada’s largest independent mobile gaming company)
“Really impressed with the student work. There are really talented people.” – Robert Anderson, supervising producer at 9 Story Media Group(world leading creator, producer and distributor of award-winning animated and live action content)
Toronto, ON, April 8, 2016 – Toronto’s Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art and Design (2944 Danforth Avenue, M3C 1M5) holds much anticipated annual ‘Industry Event’ for animation, gaming and publishing professionals on Wednesday, May 18 (2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.), and gives the public a chance for a behind-the-scenes look at their year-end open house exhibition (free workshops with top industry pros) on Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22, 2016 (detailed open house schedule below).
Max the Mutt’s industry only event, represented by top companies including Entertainment, Big Blue Bubble, Drink Box Studios, 9 Story Media Group, Moovix Media, Corus/Nelvana, Portfolio Enterntainment, Toon Box, Yowza! Animation and more, gives the opportunity to students and graduates to display their work and for industry pros to scout for new recruits. Works to be on view include; children’s books, animation reels and slide shows, prop and character design, comic book pages, figurative and portrait paintings and much more.
FACEBOOK EVENT (Industry only): https://www.facebook.com/events/1674996226098601
FACEBOOK EVENT (Open House): https://www.facebook.com/events/588134991343350/
MORE INFO: https://mtm-college.com.
Max the Mutt founder/director Maxine Schacker states, “Our year-end events are almost here! We’re happy to hear from so many companies that they will attend our Industry Event – it seems every year gets bigger! And we also look forward to welcoming the public to our weekend Open House, where we’re again providing free workshops on both Saturday and Sunday!”
OPEN HOUSE 2016 SCHEDULE:
Open to the public Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22. The main reception is on the second floor (enter through the side door, elevator is available). Year-end student and graduate exhibition, curriculum information, school tours and free one-hour workshops on both days.
Ø Saturday, May 21:
10:30 a.m. – Doors open.
11:00 a.m. – Information Session; school philosophy, the curriculum for the three diploma programs, workshops and certificate programs. Followed by group school tours.
1:30 p.m. – Free workshop; ‘Comic Book Layout’ with head of Max the Mutt’s Illustration for Sequential Arts diploma program Kent Burles. Burles has worked with Malibu Comics on creating a series of Planet of the Apes comic books, and a series called The Adventurers. He also worked on many role playing games by Fasa, Steve Jackson, White Wolf, and recently on Anvil Galaxy and Rifts for Palladium Books.
5:00 p.m. – Doors close.
Ø Sunday, May 22:
11:00 a.m. – Doors open.
11:30 a.m. – Free workshop; ‘Cartooning’ with MTM’s animation director Tina Seemann. Seemann is the head of classical and computer animation, and a cartoonist. Her work has appeared on TVO’s children’s shows including Polka Dot Door and Bookmice, she designed the ‘Max the Mutt’ mascot and is currently working on a children’s book. Seemann has also taught animation at Sheridan College and the Bell Centre for Creative Communication.
2:00 p.m. – Free workshop; ‘Character Design’ with MTM instructor Greg Beettam. He is a veteran comic book/graphic novel artist, freelance illustrator, graphic designer, writer and visual storytelling expert with more than 20 years experience. In addition to his work in comics, graphic novels and cartooning, he has worked in advertising as a concept artist, specializing in storyboards, story development, scriptwriting and presentation design.
3:30 p.m. – Doors close
Summer Programming: Workshops and Camps
Max the Mutt summer programming offers students an opportunity to upgrade skills or develop new ones. There are workshops and camps in drawing, painting, computer animation, cartooning and comic books and a new certificate program for Fine Art Skills & Portfolio Development. They are taught by the same industry professionals who teach in the diploma programs and they run on different dates starting from June 25 to August 2, 2016. See the website for full schedule: https://mtmcollege.ca/workshops-camps/.
ABOUT:
Founded in 1996 in Toronto, Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art and Design provides in-depth training via workshops and three programs of study; Classical and Computer Animation and Production diploma, Concept Art for Animation and Video Games diploma (only of its kind in Canada) and Illustration for Sequential Arts: Comic Books and Graphic Novels diploma (only of its kind in Canada). Max the Mutt prepares students for careers in animation, concept design, advertising, art direction, comic books and graphic novels.
“I was very impressed with the set up at MTM. The classes and courses are very well structured, and relevant to the specific subject areas. There was a good morale amongst the students I met, and the work I saw was of a very high professional standard. The staff gave me a warm welcome, and could not have been more friendly.”
PHILLIP VAUGHAN
Course Director
MSc Animation & VFX
MDes Comics & Graphic Novels
Art Director Dundee Comics Creative Space
Thanks, Phillip. We really enjoyed your visit, your positive energy, and the graduate student publications you shared with us! It would be fun to work on exploring a partnership. Your enthusiasm about the university level work you saw at Max the Mutt and interest in finding ways for our graduates to qualify to take Master’s Degree programs at your university, is both very exciting and a great endorsement of the hard work and dedication of both students and faculty at Max the Mutt!
Max the Mutt was visited last week by University of Dundee ( Scotland) Master’s Degree program heads Phillip Vaughan ( Course Director MSc Animation & VFX) and Dr.Chris Murray ( comics publisher & editor, and head of “Studies in Comics” ). Although they had contacted to ask about visiting the school, and had connected with Kent Burles ( head of our Sequential Arts program) at a local comic book convention, we really had no idea that their visit would lead to a possible partnership! The possibilities are very exciting and are being investigated now, and we will keep you all posted .
A tour with Kent Burles from MTM Sequential Arts Program head, was followed by a surprise ( for me) meeting where we discussed exploring partnership possibilities between the two schools.
I secretly hope all of this leads to a visit by some of us to Scotland! Now, that would be fun!
You can get more info about of Dundee programs here:
ANNOUNCING FIRST YEAR ART SHOW & OPEN HOUSE!
Every year, to celebrate the hard work and amazing progress of first year students, max the Mutt presents an exhibition of their work. After the private opening ( for students and their friends &families) we host an Open House...and you are all cordially invited!
Please join us on Saturday April 30, from 10 AM to 4 PM, and/or Sunday May 1 from 11Am to 3PM.
On Saturday at 10AM at a brief meeting in our theatre, we would like to share with you Max the Mutt’s unique vision and philosophy, speak about pre-college workshops and the new Certificate Program, and share information about the growth and skill requirements for the increasing number of animation, comic book and game related careers available in Canada.
(PS Our major Open House of the academic year will take place the weekend of May 20 to 22, when graduate work and new work from year 2 & 3 students will be on display, free workshops will be offered, and a Saturday AM presentation will be held about all diploma programs. Full details will be posted soon!)
There was lots of excitement at Max the Mutt last week, as two more top animation companies asked to visit us, speak with students and hold portfolio reviews! Max the Mutt hosts an “Industry Event” every May, but this year there is so much need for qualified graduates that companies are visiting early, doing portfolio reviews, and sometimes offering jobs!
On Wednesday Portfolio Entertainment Head of Studio Operations Sonya Carey and Julie Stall of the creative team, visited the school…
(https://www.facebook.com/portfolioent/ http://portfolioentertainment.com/)…. addressed concept art and and animation students, and then stayed on to hold one on one portfolio reviews. Sonya emailed us the next day, commenting on the continuing excellence and professionalism of our students, and requesting follow up interviews at the studio with some of them.
On Thursday, DHXMedia visited. Here is Animation Director Tina Seemann’s report:
Five representatives from DHX Media came to visit: 3 from Vancouver- Jezebel Pimentel* (*HR, recruiter ), Robin Shea & Craig Roberts; and from Halifax: Andrew Anningson, and Mike Pascucci (originally from Toronto)
They are producing ‘Peabody & Sherman’, ‘Inspector Gadget and several other series for TV simultaneously, and are interested in hiring people who are passionate about what they do, and will even provide training in software. (http://www.dhxmedia.com/)
We were happy to hear them stress that being able to draw is more important than knowing the software! Robin told everyone that the ‘bouncing ball ‘ is a good test for a new animator!
Like Portfolio Entertainment, the DHX business model is reminiscent of the old days when companies mentored new employees. This is a real and positive change. DHX
was pleased to say that they have retained the original 75 people they started out with 5 years ago. These people have simply progressed within the company. DHX wants a stable work force of people who they know and who have worked with each other, and they hope to continue to keep having enough work to keep everyone steadily employed.
They showed a short film portraying studio life- everyone agreed that DHX has plenty of appeal on either coast!
After the presentation the reps were generous with their time, talking to all the senior students at length and having a look at their websites.
They were very impressed by our students work, and happy to find a school with a real sense of community.
Everyone had a great time visiting with DHX! Thank you so much for coming !
Max the Mutt has always featured strong community, instructors who are working professionals, and small class size. After teaching several guest classes in Advanced Environment Design & Painting in Photoshop, and despite his busy schedule as Creative Director at Crush Visual Inc. in Toronto, top concept artist Frank Hong agreed yesterday to take on some classes for CA students beginning September 2016! This is exciting news for all of us. Frank joins a wonderful faculty, led by Concept Art Program Coordinator Jonathan Standing.
He told me he really enjoyed the environment and the enthusiasm of the students. We are all excited to have him as part of our community and look forward to getting to know him better.
Check him out: http://www.this-is-cool.co.uk/the-amazing-digital-art-of-frank-hong/
http://frankhong.deviantart.com/gallery/
Frank Hong has worked for major clients that include UbiSoft, Electronic Arts, and Legendary Pictures, and has been a featured artist on Concept Art World. http://conceptartworld.com/?p=3043
Max the Mutt offers the only in depth program in Canada that focuses entirely on concept art for animation & video games. Contact us now to arrange a tour!
Matte Painting for Visual Effects, designed by James Raiz, a new post-diploma Certificate Intensive!
James Raiz is a Senior Digital Matte Painter and Concept Artist at Pixomondo.
“A matte painting is a painted representation of a landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to create the illusion of an environment that is nonexistent in real life or would otherwise be too expensive or impossible to build or visit. Historically, matte painters and film technicians have used various techniques to combine a matte-painted image with live-action footage. At its best, depending on the skill levels of the artists and technicians, the effect is “seamless” and creates environments that would otherwise be impossible to film. In the scenes the painting part is static and movements are integrated on it.” ( Wikipedia)
Canada is a major centre for Visual Effects, and demand for matte painters is high.
Requirements for consideration for this program for Canadians and International applicants include:
What will you learn in this certificate program?
At the end of this course, you will have a DEMO REEL with 3 to 4 competed Matte Paintings.
COURSE SCHEDULE:
This spring/summer, the program will run as an intensive, running for 6 weeks, with 3 classes per week – 1 weeknight, and two three hour classes on Saturday. Class size is limited to 12.
COURSE OUTLINE:
Week 1: Matte Painting Basics 1
Week 2: Matte Painting Basics 2
4.Relighting Elements
5.Basic Matte Painting Creation 1: Blocking in Elements
6.Basic Matte Painting Creation 2: Integration of Elements
Week 3: Intermediate Matte Painting 1
Week 4: Intermediate Matte Painting 1
Week 5: Intermediate Matte Painting 2 – working with 3D
Week 6: Intermediate Matte Painting 2 – working with 3D
Class size is limited to 12.
Tuition: $1620 (+HST) (54 hours of instruction at $30 ) A tuition reduction is offered to graduates of MTM’s Concept Art Diploma Program see it here.
To apply for this program please email us now at admissions@maxthemutt.com.
