One of the difficulties all animation, illustration and concept art programs are having is the diminishing skill base of applicants. Art programs in universities and high schools frequently don’t emphasize skills like life drawing and perspective. Conceptual art and installation art (which I hear less about these days) don’t require students who know how to paint a convincing apple, much less a realistic portrait. As a result, students are emerging with fewer and fewer traditional representational art skills, the very skills that are required in sequential arts.

If you think you want animation, illustration or concept art as a career, please start early! Look for courses that teach perspective, basic eye training, principles of composition, and the language of traditional drawing and painting. Many schools, like Max the Mutt, offer summer courses like “Learn To Draw,” our four week intensive that runs in July. By the summer after your second year in high school you should be looking for courses like this one! Get started! Like learning to play an instrument, or becoming a professional athlete, you can’ t do it overnight. You need to understand the basic principles and then you need lots of time to practice.

You also need to look at great drawings and paintings. Reach out to the greats of the past. Artists like Rembrandt, Daumier, Velasquez, Goya, Vermeer…the list goes on and on. Be adventurous! Go to a good book store and look through the art section. Look for representational artists.Check out the great Japanese wood block artists Hokusai, Utamaro, and Hiroshige. Start you book collection. Sometimes you can buy secondhand . Discover and enjoy the great illustrators, men and women like Daumier, Rackham, Beatrix Potter, and Wyeth.

Start doing copies from the masters. We use “Drawing lessons From The Great Masters,” by Robert Beverly Hale, as part of first year studies. This book will give you great instruction and great drawings! We also use “Hawthorne on Painting,” by Charles Hawthorne, “Bridgman’s Complete Guide To drawing from Life,” by George Bridgman, and “The Natural Way To Draw,” by Kimon Nicolaides.. These books will give you an idea of how to approach learning to draw and paint. If you have questions for me, feel free to leave comments and I’ll answer.