Tyla Bolte, Author at MTM College

Brown Bag Films Visits, Hires Summer Interns, Endorses Max the Mutt’s Animation Program!

As seen in the above photo taken at Brown Bag Films – from left to right:
Erik Segriff – MTM Animation Intern, Kevin Seto – Recruitment Coordinator, Christine Huot – Recruitment & Resourcing Manager, Jana Kosanavich – MTM Rigging Intern, and Ryan Persaud – Recruitment Administrator

Max the Mutt has had many graduates hired by 9 Story over the years. They have enjoyed steady employment as animators, layout artists, storyboard artists, while working in all aspects of pre-production and animation. Now, as Brown Bag Films, there are even more opportunities for working on top quality projects.

Brown Bag Films is one of the world’s most exciting, original and successful creative-led animation studios. With studio locations in Dublin, Toronto, Manchester and an office in LA, Brown Bag Films creates cutting-edge animation for the international market. It was acquired and merged with 9 Story Animation, which is now 9 Story Media Group, in 2015.

Brown Bag Films, is a creatively-driven studio with a focus on producing the highest quality, cross-platform animation with strong stories and engaging characters. It produces both 2D and 3D animation, and is known for its high-end work on series such as Doc McStuffins, Octonauts, Nella The Princess Knight and Peter Rabbit. 9 Story’s Toronto studio has been known for its popular 2D series, such as Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood, Peg + Cat, Wild Kratts, 3 Amigonauts and the The Magic School Bus: Rides Again.

Erik Segriff, after his second year in the Animation Program at Max the Mutt, was hired at Brown Bag Films as a summer intern in 2018, and has been asked back again to work as a full fledged animator on Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.

Erik Segriff at Brown Bag Films, graduates hired — Erik Segriff at Brown Bag Films, Summer 2018 intern

We were delighted to have recruiting and resource manager Christine Huot visit us this spring, accompanied by several animation and pre-production directors. They looked at demo reels and interviewed this year’s concept art and animation graduates weeks before our Industry Event.

Why is Brown Bag Films interested in Max the Mutt graduates and students?

“Brown Bag Films has had tremendous success finding very strong talent from the classes at Max the Mutt. Many of our very successful long-term employees are graduates of the Animation program. When I attend recruitment events I have been very pleased with how the students professionally present their work and themselves. With the staff we have hired from this program have very well honed artistic skills and they are very employment ready when they come into the workplace. These past 2 summers we have been highly successful with hiring students from the Animation program for summer internships. Erik Segriff has joined us for his second summer in a row this year and he is a very valued addition to the team, his teammates and supervisors were thrilled he could join us again this year. We also have Jana Kosanavich joining us this summer as a Rigging Intern. We are very happy to support the Animation Program at Max the Mutt and will continue to have them at the top of our list for Campus recruitment.”

Christine Huot
Recruitment & Resourcing Manager
www.brownbagfilms.com

Contact us for more information about Max the Mutt’s 4 year Classical & Computer Animation & Production and Concept Art Diploma Programs!

Book a tour today! Or email us at admissions@maxthemutt.com

And if you are considering an Art-based career, check out our eBook to help you decide.

2019 Ubisoft Toronto NEXT Awards: Congratulations Adam Homonylo and Sergi Iranzo – Finalists for Concept Art

Thursday, May 9/19 was a great evening at Ubisoft Toronto, and a great evening for Max the Mutt’s 2 finalists.

In a year when none of Max the Mutt’s year 4 Concept Art program students entered, Sergi Iranzo, who just completed his second year, came in third, and 2018 Concept Art graduate Adam Homonylo came in second for the Ubisoft NEXT Awards competition Concept Art category.

Adam Homonylo - 2019 Ubisoft Toronto NEXT - 2nd place Finalist — Adam Homonylo – 2019 Ubisoft Toronto NEXT Awards Entry – 2nd place Finalist

Sergi Iranzo 2019 Ubisoft Toronto NEXT Awards — Sergi Iranzo – 2019 Ubisoft Toronto NEXT Awards Entry – 3rd place Finalist

Ubisoft Toronto NEXT is an annual competition designed to display the talent of video game development students in Ontario and to help kick-start their careers in the industry. Winners of each category spend the summer learning from the studio’s top talent with a paid apprenticeship at Ubisoft Toronto.

Max the Mutt year 2 student and third place winner, Sergi Iranzo, here with Max the Mutt 2018 Concept Art Grad and second place winner, Adam Homonlyo with friend at the 2019 Ubisoft Nxt Awards — Max the Mutt year 2 student and third place winner, Sergi Iranzo, here with Max the Mutt 2018 Concept Art Grad and second place winner, Adam Homonylo with friend at the 2019 Ubisoft NEXT Awards

Sergi Iranzo, a friend, Adam Homonylo, Maxine Schacker -Max the Mutt Co-Director-, and Hilary Phillips- Concept Art Co-ordinator-, at the 2019 Ubisoft NEXT Awards

One of the best things about social occasions like this is networking and, for students, getting encouragement and feedback from the pros. Sergi really appreciated getting a chance to speak with Patrick Ingoldsby.

Patrick Ingoldsby, UbiSoft art director, with Max the Mutt year 2 student, and second place winner, Sergi Iranzo. — Patrick Ingoldsby, UbiSoft art director, with Max the Mutt year 2 student, and third place winner, Sergi Iranzo.

Max the Mutt 2018 grad and 2018 winner, Dhenzel Obeng was there and so was Zabi Hassan, 2018 graduate and third place winner in 2017. Both are now Concept Artists at Ubisoft Toronto.

Here’s a compilation of all Finalists for all Categories for the Ubisoft Toronto NEXT 2019 competition:

Congratulations to Damir Musken, of Fanshawe College, who won the first place Finalist and to all Finalists for the 2019 competition!

Check out Max the Mutt’s 4 year Concept art Diploma Program!

MTM Featured Instructor: Dave Ross – Canadian Comic Illustrator

Dave Ross wears lots of hats. Not because of the weather, but for his love of just about every aspect of sequential arts. His main ‘hat’ is: Dave Ross, Comic Artist.

Dave has achieved the highest levels of his craft as a comic book illustrator. This includes working for the biggest, most recognizable companies in the business, including Marvel Comics, DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics.

Instructor at Max the Mutt

All of us here at Max the Mutt are especially appreciative and proud of the fact that Dave chose to pass along his experience and knowledge to the next generation of sequential artists. As an Instructor, here at the College, Dave works with students in the Constructive Figure Drawing, Structural Drawing and Intermediate & Advanced Comic Book Composition Penciling courses.

Dave actually helped establish MTM’s Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts Diploma Program, which was the first of its kind in Canada.

Why did Dave choose MTM to pursue his interest as an instructor? Here’s what he says about MTM on his website at www.daverossart.com:

“All (Concept Art and Sequential Arts) are full diploma programs and all share the Founders’ commitment to first and foremost passing on solid drawing and painting skills to the students.

One of the things that I appreciate most about the school is that the class sizes are capped at 20 students. A good amount of ‘one on one time’ between student and teacher is crucial in this field of learning and the smaller class sizes ensure that the students are not shortchanged.”

Dave Ross’ Other Hats

When not passing along his wisdom, or working as an illustrator, concept artist and/or writer; with characters and character development for the most famous names in comics, including Captain America, Spiderman, Batgirl, Star Trek and Daredevil; Dave remains active in the business.

Author: Dave has published an instructional book “Freehand Figure Drawing for Illustrators: Mastering the Art of Drawing from Memory”, which, according to Dave, is to help readers “be able to draw off the top of their heads and figure any camera angle any pose that you can imagine.”

Guest Artist: Dave has participated in numerous national and international comic conventions and book signings around the world, including Toronto, New York, Hong Kong Singapore and Thailand.

To get a better idea of Dave’s scope of work, and the different hats he wears in doing his work, check out his profile at ComicDB.com.

If you liked this post, check out our recent article how to draw manga characters.

First Year Student Art Show! Visit Max the Mutt Saturday, April 27th & Sunday, April 28!

Max the Mutt will be hosting a First Year Student Art Show, an exhibition of first year student art work from all programs, on Saturday, April 27th and Sunday, April 28th from 11 am to 3 pm !

Our semester is ending, and soon we’ll be setting up this year’s show! Below are photos from last year’s preparation ……

All are invited! So save the dates and come help us celebrate our students’ extraordinary achievements that came from their dedication, hard work, inspiration, and the great instruction they received from MTM faculty!

Where you will enjoy representational drawings, paintings, design, perspective drawing, and classical animation too!

We look forward to seeing you!

And for more information, email us at admissions@maxthemutt.com or contact us if you have any questions. Make sure to check out our newest art workshops and upcoming dates.

2018 Concept Art Grads, Dhenzel Obeng and Zabi Hassan Talk About Being An Effective Concept Artist!

Students stayed on after classes last night to meet with Zabi Hassan and Dhenzel Obeng , 2018 Max the Mutt Concept Art for Animation & Video Games graduates, who are both working as Concept Artists at UbiSoft Toronto. They were introduced by Dayna Griffiths, year 4 Concept Art student and Tiffani Brown, another year 4 student, took the photos and sent this report:

“Some of what was discussed:

-Transitioning to workplace from school. Leaving ego at the door and understanding you’re working to achieve a whole.
-What to expect on the job – problem solving and collaboration. Many art directors. Communication is key. You have awesome people with great knowledge at your fingertips. Use them.
-Exposing yourself online and in a community (events, “meetups”,etc) outside of school. Getting comfortable with being vulnerable with your art. The importance of being open to critiques.
-Understanding that even now, as students, you’re making connections. Value them.

Of course they shared tons more and the students were very engaged. It was a great evening!”

Find out more about Max the Mutt’s 4 year Concept Art for Animation & Video Games Diploma Program!

For more information, email us at admissions@maxthemutt.com or book a tour today!

YOWZA! Animation Visits Max the Mutt And Interviews Year 4 students!

Yowza! Animation dropped in to talk to our Animation and Concept Art students last Friday.

Sally Walker, Studio Coordinator of Yowza! Animation, gave us a call in January to suggest visiting MTM for early portfolio reviews with year 4 Animation and Concept Art students. We agreed on February 22 to give students a little more time to get ready for this very early and exciting chance to show their work (they won’t be graduating until May!).

Yowza, a major Toronto animation studio that does work for Disney, Warner Bros, and Dreamworks to name a few, is also well known for how well they treat their employees!

We were very happy that Animation Director Tom Joliffe, Art Director Jeffrey Timmins and Studio Coordinator Sally Walker took the time out of their busy schedules to visit us.

They were able to enjoy a quick tour of the college and saw three floors of halls with student work on exhibit. Then they gave their presentation to year 2, 3 and 4 students. During the presentation they spoke about Yowza’s philosophy and artistic aspirations, and the skills the studio is looking for — then they gave us a chance to see some of their beautiful recent work! We were truly excited about the quality and beauty of what they are creating. Sally tells us that Yowza is contributing to a high-end 2D feature film, several hand-drawn series, and a stop motion preschool show for CBC (Kiri & Lou).

The presentation was followed by the opportunity for each graduating Animation and Concept Art student to have a personal portfolio review with both Tom and Jeff.

Year 3 students were also encouraged to submit applications for paid summer internships! This was an exciting and inspiring visit for all of us!

Thanks so much to Tom, Jeff and Sally from YOWZA! Animation for your time! We look forward to your next visit!

PS Sally recently emailed us: “About the visit, …. the students were a beacon of intelligence in our future industry and we are thrilled to have a connection with the school. Working with MTM graduates for years has been a pleasure and we see them going very far.”

For more information about Max the Mutt Contact us to schedule a tour and learn about what our school offers and why studios, like Yowza, want to hire our students.

The Basics of How to Draw Manga Characters

If you love manga comics, you’ve probably wanted to be a manga artist. It’s obviously a very distinct artistic style. Learning how to draw manga-style characters is a good way to start to learn how to capture manga’s unique techniques. And having manga art in your portfolio is a definite plus if you want to begin studies towards a sequential arts degree.

The Basics of Drawing Manga Characters

As in most comic book art, the devil’s in the details in mastering the manga art style. But if you don’t get the basics down, your finished character will never be right, regardless of how accurate and detailed your character becomes.

Before You Begin – It’s important to pay attention to the differences between manga characters, real-life human anatomy and other comic book character styles. Manga characters tend to be taller, eight heads tall versus the standard 7.5 heads. And their heads are somewhat smaller in proportion to the rest of the body. Despite the differences, it’s still worthwhile to use a posable art figure to help you get the proportion right.
Start With a Wire Frame – Using a simple, face-on standing pose, copy the posable figure. Use circles for the joints and ovals between the joints to represent the muscles. With a manga character’s slimmer build, muscles in the lower arm and lower leg don’t carry all the way down to the wrists or ankles.
Draw the Outline – Use gradually curving, sleek lines to create the body outline of your character. Use the elements of your wireframe to guide the placement and depth of curves.
Remove the Wireframe – Erase the wireframe guidelines from your character. Look at the overall character and adjust anything that seems out of proportion or not quite right.

With your basic figure complete, you’re ready to add details like the facial features, hair and clothing.

If you enjoyed this post, check out our recent article on four pioneering digital animation innovations from Pixar.

UbiSoft Art Director Patrick Ingoldsby Visits Max The Mutt!

Concept Art students at Max the Mutt enjoyed a presentation by UbiSoft Toronto Art Director Patrick Ingoldsby.

Pat has supported Max the Mutt from the very beginning of the 4 year Concept Art Diploma Program, and attended the very first Industry Event that included the first Concept Art graduates, but this was the first time he held a meeting to speak with students about his career, about UbiSoft and what students should be including in their portfolios.

Hilary Phillips, Concept Art Program Coordinator, had this to say about Patrick Ingoldsby’s visit:

“Patrick spoke in depth about working for UbiSoft Toronto, a company and community he really enjoys. He’s been directing there for 9 years and feels it’s the best job he’s had. Pat gave the students real insights into what kind of skills Ubisoft is looking for, both hard skills like what to put in a portfolio, and soft skills like professionalism, team work, how to comport themselves in an interview. His break down of the departments in game creation gave the students an idea of the various career paths that the skills they are developing will open for them.

Finally he spoke of his personal journey as an artist and the jobs he had before becoming an Art Director at Ubisoft. Pat is a former production artist, now Art Director. He was a production 3D artist in games before becoming an Art Director, and before he got into games, an illustrator in both print and animation. The story of Pat’s professional journey really resonated with the students, who are thinking themselves about how their careers may unfold once they graduate.”

Visit from Ubisoft Art Director- Patrick Ingoldsby - Jan 17/19 - with Hilary Phillips — Ubisoft Art Director- Patrick Ingoldsby – with Hilary Phillips, MTM Concept Art Program Coordinator

Our sincere thanks to Patrick Ingoldsby for taking the time to visit Max the Mutt’s Concept Art students!

We are proud that many Max the Mutt graduates, including two 2018 graduates, are currently working as concept artists and animators at UbiSoft.

Concept Art / Digital Illustration for Entertainment Arts…A Great Career Option!

Max the Mutt is happy to speak with you and share information about the 4 year Concept Art Diploma Program!

We can give you a deep skill base that prepares you for a wide variety of possible career options, everything from designing the art for AAA games, to designing for animation, film, storyboarding, becoming a game artist…the list goes on! Career opportunities are varied and exciting.

Max the Mutt’s 4 year Concept Art Diploma Program is a great option if you love to draw, have an interest in painting, and want to learn traditional, fine art representational painting and drawing skills — plus how to use those skills in the digital world. This program requires imagination as well as observational skills, a passion to create worlds, determination and hard work. What’s more, employers need people who fit this description!

Max the Mutt is well known and respected for graduates who have developed skills, imagination and professionalism. The success rate for our concept art graduates is high. We’ve been rated internationally as one of the top places to study digital illustration…

If what I’ve written above excites you, contact us at admissions@maxthemutt.com. It would be my pleasure to meet with you, look at your work, make suggestions and answer your questions.

P.S. The high level of work you see on our website is the end result of good education and hard work, not what students were able to do when they started!

Have the courage to investigate your options. Contact us now!

All the best,

Maxine Schacker, Co-Director

admissions@maxthemutt.com 416-703-6877/ 1-877-486- MUTT (North America)