ANIMATION PORTFOLIO WORKSHOP CHARACTER DESIGN

Day 14's shape!

2011-11-07T06:22:00.000-08:00

Two weeks of a new character design every day have just flown by! Here's the shape for day 14! Many thanks for all who participated! Have a look at some more animation character designs on our website.

Day 13's shape!

2011-11-07T06:21:00.001-08:00

Day 12's shape!

2011-11-04T07:29:00.000-07:00

Day 10's shape!

2011-11-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

Double digits, folks! Keep the creative character designs coming!

Day 11's shape!

2011-11-03T09:40:00.001-07:00

As the APW Character Design Challenge continues, we are happy to receive all kinds of designs from different people at various stages of their own experience as an artist. Often imposed parameters become challenges that can inspire creative problem solving. In our case, it's the idea of the "daily shape" as a starting point for an animation character design.

Here is the shape for day 11!

Day 9's shape!

2011-11-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the new improved "Shape for Day 9! You'll be amazed at the smooth taste!

Week 2 of the challenge starts today - Day 8!

2011-10-31T06:52:00.000-07:00

Week 2 of APW 14 Day Character Design Challenge starts up today. We've seen so many wonderful and weird character designs over the 7 days so far...we look forward to many more. Have fun with Day 8's shape! Post on APW's facebook page, too! Thanks to Aya and Iris!

Day 7!

2011-10-30T15:01:00.001-07:00

It's been an entire week of a new character design every day. Momentum continues as more character designs are drawn up.

Day 6!

2011-10-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

Day 6's shape and character designs from some good friends of the Animation Portfolio Workshop.

Day 5!

2011-10-30T14:48:00.001-07:00

The character designs just keep on coming! This is the daily shape #5 of the APW 14 Day Character Design Challenge. Many thanks to Rajesh Pai and APW student Brendan Lindsay!

Day 4!

2011-10-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

Day 4 of the APW 14 Day Character Design Challenge! Here's today's shape - it was a busy week but it's never too late to post some new character designs! Many thanks to Zen Rankin, Brendan Lindsay, and Linda Roy!

Day 3 of the APW Character Design Challenge!

2011-10-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

Animation portfolios are not due for 4 months yet (give or take) but this has not stopped APW students from rising to the challenge!

Here's the basic shape for day 3!

Day 2!

2011-10-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

Here's the shape from day 2 and another design from APW's Vince Peets.

Day 1 of the APW Character Design Challenge!

2011-10-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

Day 1 of the APW Character Design Challenge inspired a bunch of crazy character designs. This character (designed by APW's Vince Peets) was taken from a number of designs that people posted on our APW facebook page. They are all based on the shape (1/14). You can see more of this as it developes on the APW facebook page.

14 Day Character Design Challenge Oct. 24 to Nov. 7!

2011-10-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

Take APW's challenge and design a character a day for 14 days. Two weeks of a new design everyday. It should be fun - everyday we'll post a shape on the APW facebook page. Use the shape as a starting point/inspiration and design a character! Just one pose will do it - try not to spend more than 15 minutes on this - the idea is to explore different shapes while designing 14 one-a-day characters . It's pretty wide open.

Starting on Monday, October 24th and continuing until Monday November 7th there will be a basic shape posted on our facebook - one new shape at 9am each morning. Feel free to post your drawings on our facebook page, too! Have fun!

Room Drawings by Elsie Zheng

2011-04-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

As part of their animation portfolios submitted to Sheridan or Seneca's animation programs, students need to include 2 room drawings. One drawing must show the room (drawn using perspective), all of the furniture and objects within the room, and a character. The second drawing of the same room, should be drawn from the point of view of the character in the first drawing. The exercise shows a student's ability to draw an interior environment from two different angles and maintain a sense of spatial volume and consistent proportions of various objects/furniture in the room. Here is an example of 2 very intricate room drawings by APW student Elsie Zheng. Elsie applied to Sheridan and recieved an offer of admission for September 2011. See more of Elsie's drawings.

APW students get offers of admission

2011-03-31T19:47:00.000-07:00

This last week has been a busy one for all of the students who submitted animation portfolios in late Feb/ early March of 2011. Schools are now responding and offers of admission have been recieved by a growing number of APW students. Read these reactions from the students themselves and from the APW instructors as well.
The dramatic hand drawing is by 2011 APW student Richard Kosnar. Richard recently applied to Sheridan and received an offer of admission.

Interviews with Jim Zubkavich.

2011-03-23T13:05:00.001-07:00

APW Director Gerard Sternik spoke with Jim Zubkavich (Coordinator of Seneca's Animation Arts Centre at York University in Toronto) about a range of animation school-related topics. In this 5 part interview, they answered questions like, "what is an animation portfolio?", ""what specific kinds of drawings does an animation school need to see from a potential student?", and "what is more important, software knowledge or drawing ability?"
Take the time to listen to all 5 parts. You won't find this kind of information anywhere else. If you have any questions about what you hear, let us know.
Parts 1 & 2
Parts 3 & 4
Part 5

Enjoy!

2011/12 Session starts up in May!

2011-03-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

The 2011/12 Spring/Summer Session of the Animation Portfolio Workshop begins on the weekend of Saturday, May 7th and Sun. May 8th. The team of instructors and TA'a are looking forward to the challenge of working with the new group of students.

Rombick's Blog

2010-12-01T06:20:00.000-08:00

After taking the APW session last year, Roman used his animation portfolio to be accepted into the animation program at Sheridan College in Oakville ON "I am 1st year animation student at sheridan, born in last century in the country that doesnt exist anymore." Have a look at some of Roman's drawings (and paintings) in his "Rombick's Blog".

2010/11 Session is off to a good start..

2010-05-02T21:09:00.000-07:00

We kicked off the 2010/11 Session of the Animation Portfolio Workshop with a bang this past weekend. An energetic group of students took the first step along the road to making an animation portfolio and submitting it to a top animation school. These students will study Life Drawing for Animation and Drawing for Animation. They will draw multiple gestures, learn perspective, design characters, and generally go through an awful lot of paper.

Successful Sheridan Portfolio

2010-04-12T07:02:00.000-07:00

At the end of Feb. 2010, Gabriel O'Flaherty-Chan completed the most recent session of the Animation Portfolio Workshop. He was accepted into Sheridan's Animation program and has posted his entire animation portfolio on his blog. Have a look.

http://varroae.blogspot.com/2010/04/2010-portfolio-part-2_11.html

Former APW student Chang Dai's demo reel

2010-03-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

We like to keep in touch with our former students. Chang Dai was a student in the Animation Portfolio Workshop in 2007. She is currently studying animation in Sheridan"s Animation Program. Have a look at Chang's recent work as an animator!

APW Info Sessions at Sheridan

2010-03-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

For three Wednesdays in April, the Animation Portfolio Workshop will be visiting Sheridan to give info sessions about the upcoming 2010 Session of the workshop. APW director Vince Peets will be on hand to talk about what the workshop is all about. There are several former APW students in the Sheridan Animation Program and they have been known to stop by with some examples of their drawings. There will be opportunities to hear information about the APW and also see examples of drawings by our former students who are currently studying at Sheridan. The dates are:

Wed. April 7 11am - 12noon in room A-107
Wed. April 14 11am - 12noon in room A-107
Wed. April 21 11am - 12noon in room A-107

Myke Bakich as an APW student

2010-03-09T11:55:00.000-08:00

Back in 2003, Myke Bakich finished the Animation Portfolio Workshop as a student. He later applied and was accepted into Sheridan.s Animation Program. Myke was one of the first to graduate with a Bachelor of Animation Degree. Our students benefit from Myke's experience as a storyboard artist and animation professional.

See Myke's animation portfolio.

Meet the Parents part 2

2010-02-08T08:59:00.000-08:00

Parents of students have a lot to say about the workshop. In this APWnetwork video, Fatima Merpouya speaks about her son Bahador. She shares her excitement about the progress that she witnessed in Bahador's animal and room/perspective drawing when he was a student with the Animation Portfolio Workshop. Bahador went on to study at Seneca Animation Arts Centre and presently works in the animation industry in Toronto, Canada In addition to his work as a Drawing for Animation instructor with the Animation Portfolio Workshop, Bahador's professional visual effects resume includes work on the feature film "The Incredible Hulk".

Drawing at the Museum

2010-02-02T17:38:00.000-08:00

On a recent Animation Portfolio Workshop class session held in the Royal Ontario Museum, APW instructors Myke Bakich and Bahador Merpouya demonstrate drawing exercises and ideas to our students.
These visits have long been a staple of the APW and have benefited from the newly designed spaces and more display areas in the newly renovated and redesigned ROM.

Photos are by former APW student Iven Simonetti.

Lisa Wang's sketches

2010-01-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

Former Animation Portfolio Workshop student Lisa Wang is currently studying animation at Sheridan's Animation program. Lisa is also a teacher's assistant with the Animation Portfolio Workshop. Here are a few of her sketches from the Metro Toronto Zoo. Have a look at Lisa's animation portfolio that she used to get into animation school. Check out more of Lisa's drawings and animation on her blog: http://lwangg.blogspot.com/

Animation Portfolio Workshop videos on the APWnetwork!

2010-01-26T07:19:00.000-08:00

Tune in to the APWnetwork to watch all of the Animation Portfolio Workshop videos. Students talk about their experiences taking the workshop, learning how to draw from animation professionals and getting prepared for animation school. Parents of former APW students share their perspective on the confidence and learning that they witness in their daughter or son. Animation education professionals talk about the need that the Animation Portfolio Workshop fills in preparing students for animation schools and postsecondary programs.
Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/user/APWnetwork

Meet The Parents part 1.

2010-01-22T05:44:00.000-08:00

Parents of Animation Portfolio Workshop students have a lot to say about the workshop. In this interview, Laurie-Anne Yager talks about her son Mitch's experience as a high school student taking the workshop. She also touches on her son's enthusiasm for drawing and some of the ways that Mitch benefted from the Animation Portfolio Workshop classes in addition to the art classes he was recieving in high school. Mitch was accepted into Seneca Animation Arts Centre.

New Extended 38 week Session!

2010-01-14T18:56:00.000-08:00

We are now offering an extended nine month session.
That's 38 six hour classes bringing the total to 228 instructional hours.
We still offer classes one day a week with the same excellent student-to-teacher ratio that APW students have come to enjoy.

The new Spring Session will start on Saturday, May 1, 2010, with the final class of the session falling on Saturday, March 10 2011. Classes will run from 11am to 6pm.

We've made the change to our program thanks to suggestions from many of our graduate students. The aim is to have the end of the program coincide with the submission deadline for animation portfolios for Sheridan College and Seneca Animation Arts Centre.

Registration for the 2010 Spring Session has begun so now's the time to register!

Look forward to seeing you there!

2009/10 Fall/Winter Session

2009-10-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

The 2009/10 Fall/Winter Session of the Animation Portfolio Workshop is now underway. All of the 28 six hour classes take place on weekends. The Fall/Winter Session began on Saturday October 3, 2009 and finishes on Saturday February 20, 2010 - just as portfolios are due.
We have a great group of focused students working hard on their Life Drawing and their Drawing for Animation. Life Drawing Instructors Myke Bakich and Jose Rivas and Drawing for Animation Instructors Bahador Pouya and Vince Peets are working closely with each student in the group as they plan to eventually complete their animation portfolios.

Info Sessions at Sheridan

2009-03-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

Former Animation Portfolio Workshop students Faisal Raja, Adrian Kaiser, Lisa Wang, Sonia Furier, Daniel Lee Poy and Xiaoyu Wang will be presenting Info Sessions at Sheridan College in room A-107 on Wed. April 1 (11am - 12pm), Fri. April 3 (12pm - 1pm)and Wed. April 8 (11am - 12pm). If you want to find out about the workshop and see drawings from past students you are welcome.

2009 Spring/Summer Session

2009-02-26T07:15:00.000-08:00

Do You want to get into a top animation school? You can. The Animation Portfolio Workshop teaches classes in Life Drawing and Drawing for Animation. Our instructors are professional artists and animators. Our teacher's assisntants are talented young artists. We teach students how to put together entrance portfolios to get into top animation schools like Sheridan and Seneca Animation Arts Centre.
We are now registering students for the 2009 Spring/Summer Session. It starts on May 2/09. Go to http://www.portfolioworkshop.com/ .

Animation Portfolio Preparation Time!

2009-02-22T09:08:00.000-08:00

The 2009 Fall/Winter Session is in portfolio preparation mode. These students have been working hard and building up momentum since October 2008. Now their work is paying off as they are selecting their best drawings for inclusion in their February and March animation portfolio submissions to top animation schools like Sheridan and Seneca.
These shots show the students working one on one with Animation Portfolio Workshop instructors Myke Bakich and Vince Peets.

APW classes at the new ROM

2009-01-27T09:45:00.000-08:00

In addition to studio time (classes in Life Drawing and Drawing for Animation) a vital part of the Animation Portfolio Workshop involves a number of classes spent drawing at the newly renovated Royal Ontario Museum. The ROM offers hundreds of opportunities for Animal Drawing, Object Drawing and Room Drawing for the animation entrance portfolio.
These photos, taken by current APW student Iven Simonetti show our students working with APW teacher's assistant Shen Howe-Lee drawing various birds and animals.

http://apwlifedrawing.blogspot.com/2008/01/seneca-animation-student.html
http://iveno.de/

Graham Finley Talks about the Workshop

2008-09-30T15:29:00.001-07:00

Graham Finley took the Animation Portfolio Workshop back in 2005 and he went on to study animation at Seneca Animation Arts Centre. Graham talks about his experience of the APW.

APW visits Seneca Animation Arts Centre

2008-09-13T18:53:00.001-07:00

We shot this interview awhile back. APW visited Brian Lemay in his office at one of the top animation schools in Canada, Seneca Animation Arts Centre. In this short segment, Brian speaks frankly about the kinds of portfolio submissions that have success. The drawings on his desk are by former Animation Portfolio Workshop students (including Auguste Chang) and the character designs shown are by Brian himself. Enjoy.

Scott's Animation

2008-05-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

Scott Mcnabb successfully completed the recent session of the Animation Portfolio Workshop. He is currently studying 3D at Seneca's Centre for Animation Arts in Toronto. Have a look at this example of one of his 3D animation exercises. Scott is studying acting, anticipation, timing, weight and structure. As well as learning software and continuing with his life drawing.

2008 Portfolio Success

2008-04-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

Students from the recently completed session of the Animation Portfolio Workshop are getting their results back for their 2008 portfolio submissions. As usual, the hard work and dedication of APW students is paying off as they are being accepted into top animation schools like Seneca Animation Arts Centre and Sheridan College.

I've posted some examples taken from the portfolios of recent APW students Lisa Wang ,Jasper Davis, Ksenya Pluto and Xiaoyu Wang. As more results come in more portfolios will be posted.

One More Info Session

2008-04-05T07:09:00.001-07:00

Our Info Sessions have been going well at Sheridan College in Oakville. Descriptions of the courses and projections of lots of student drawings on display. People are signing up for the Spring/Summer Session of the Workshop so if you are interested, now is the time to get your spot reserved. We have one more info session:

Wed. April 9
Room A-143 (right near "the pit")
12noon - 1pm

See you there.

Information Sessions at Sheridan

2008-03-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

Animation Portfolio Workshop will hold an Information Session at Sheridan College in Oakville. The info session will be held right near "the pit" (where all the Art Fundies students work on their homework) for students who are interested and want to find out more about the APW. The Session will be hosted by Myke Bakich (you can see his character drawings below) who is a graduate of Sheridan's Bachelor of Animation Program (and an Animation Portfolio Workshop alumni).

The first session is on
Wed., March 26th from 11am to 12pm in Room A-143. See you there...
If you can't make it to this session we have scheduled a second one on
Wed. April 2, 12pm - 1pm in Rm. A-108. More on that later.

Myke's Melvin

2007-12-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

Here's a fun little character designed by Myke Bakich. This is one of the many characters designed by Myke during his time in Sheridan's Bachelor of Animation Program. A turnaround or rotation of the body, poses, a rotation of Melvin's head and a page of facial expressions.

Lisa's Cafe Drawings

2007-10-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

Lisa Wang is currently studying in the Animation Portfolio Workshop. She visits places that have a lot of people involved in natural, everyday activities and observes and draws gestures and caricatures of these poeple. Here are a few examples taken from her cafe drawing sessions.

Dan Arathoon's Anatomy Drawings

2007-10-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

Dan Arathoon is a first year student at Seneca Animation Arts Centre. Here are some of his anatomical studies of legs and hands. Have a look at Dan's blog...he's in the list of Animation Portfolio Workshop former students on the right.

There's still time to register...

2007-09-19T06:57:00.001-07:00

The Animation Portfolio Workshop announces that Term 1 of the Fall/Winter Session will start officially on Sunday September 30th
and run every Sunday until Sunday December 15th from 10am to 5pm at the Hungarian/Canadian Cultural Centre on St. Clair Ave. West. There are still a few spots open for new students. Term 2 of the Fall/Winter Session will run every Sat. and Sun. from Sat. Jan 5th/Sun. Jan. 6th until Sat. Feb. 23rd/Sun. Feb.24th from 10am to 5pm.

Award Winning Portfolio

2007-09-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

In 2004, after successfully completing the 2003/04 Fall/Winter Session of the Animation Portfolio Workshop, Aaron Hong was awarded the Chromacolour Scholarship for best entry-level Animation Portfolio at Seneca's Animation Arts Centre where he currently studies animation. These drawings are taken from his award winning portfolio. Have a look at his blog too (in the column on the right) to see some of Aaron's more recent work.

Kyle Yip's Portfolio

2007-09-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

After Kyle Yip completed a Session of the Animation Portfolio Workshop in Dec. 2006 he applied to and was accepted into Sheridan's Batchelor of Animation Program that begins this September. These drawings are taken from his portfolio.

Lisa's Animals

2007-09-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

Lisa Wang is currently studying in the Animation Portfolio Workshop. Lisa's 07 summer drawings shown here are of stuffed animals in the Royal Ontario Museum. She has spent some time drawing objects and sculptures in the ROM and adding volume and solidity to her drawings through the use of cross contour, planes and simplifying complex forms.

Grumpy Finalist!!

2007-09-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

Myke Bakich's film Grumpy Old Man has been selected as a finalist. It will be airing on CBC,this Sunday Sept 2 @ 11pm. "The winner is determined by voting. If you have already voted for the film in the previous round, all you gotta do is log in and vote again. If you havent yet, you can follow these instructions to do so: Click on this link to go to http://exposure.cbc.ca/ and below the title page click on 'register/log in' and then do so. They send you a password via email (note:hotmail accounts don't seem to work, and sometimes the email doesn't go to your inbox but ends up in junkmail).You open your email, copy the password and click the link below to get redirected back to the exposure website. Then paste your password into theappropriate box. From there you just click on my film and vote.Voting pole opens on Sunday Sept 2 @ Midnight and closes Tues Sept 4 @ Midnight. Spread the word to family and friends and help support the film. The film's success has been due to the overwhelming support of family and friends, to whom I am Truly Grateful. Thank you,
Myke"

Scott's Torso

2007-08-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

Scott Macnab is a student in the 2007 Spring/Summer Session of the Animation Portfolio Workshop. Scott has recently been spending time at the Royal Ontario Museum drawing plane studies of Greek sculptures and other objects to focus on solid forms and structure in his drawing.

Teletoon Scholarship Finalist

2007-08-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

Chang Dai successfully completed the Animation Portfolio Workshop in Spring 2007. She has been accepted into Sheridan's Batchelor of Animation Program and will begin courses in Sepetember. While Chang was a student in The Animation Portfolio Workshop, she storyboarded and animated a short film "Ain't What It Used To Be" which she then submitted to the Teletoon Animation Scholarship. This scholarship competition was created by TELETOON to encourage creative, original, and imaginative animation by supporting Canadians studying in the animation field or intending to pursue studies in animation. "The main reason behind the design of the little boy was that, I wanted a character who would be easy to animate, yet expressive, so the boy has a huge face and a very simplified body, with large hands and feet to accent on the movements". Have a look and vote online for Chang's film at:

http://www.teletoon.com/teletoon3/teletoon.php?language=en&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;brand=detour&init=chunk&func=php|http://www.teletoon.com/teletoon3/teletoon.php?language=en&brand=detour&init=chunk&func=php|contests/2007_04_scholarship/scholarship2.php|0|0&xVar=

Grumpy Art Work

2007-08-14T07:52:00.001-07:00

This is a colour test for one of the layouts in Myke Bakich's short film Grumpy Old Man. It's a great example of Myke's simplified graphic visual style that he has used in his film. Myke applied the same ideas to the two characters in his film; The Grump and Kind Old Lady.

Gesture Drawings by Faisel Raja

2007-08-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

These gesture drawings of soccer players at UofT are taken from the skechbook of Faisel Raja. Faisel is currently a teacher's assistant at the Animation Portfolio Workshop and is spending all his free time drawing.

"Hey whats up? My name is Faisal Raja and I love to draw gestures. I find it interesting trying to capture the essence of the pose and put it down in anywhere from a few seconds to a minute. One day I wanted to use a marker and just experiment to see how a marker would effect my drawing . I found it to be AMAZING! It made me more confident and more care free knowing that I couldn't use an eraser to correct my mistakes."

Vote For Grumpy Old Man!!

2007-08-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

Make sure you tune in to CBC on Sunday August 5th at 11pm. Myke Bakich's short Film Grumpy Old Man will be featured in a short film competition on the program called Exposure. Animation Portfolio Workshop couldn't be happier to get behind this film made by a talented young film-maker (oh, and did I mention, a former APW student?...) Check out Myke's blog
to read about how you can support Myke by voting on-line for his film!

http://mykebakich.blogspot.com/

This here blog...

2007-07-30T21:24:00.001-07:00

Students of the Animation Portfolio Workshop devote a lot of time to developing their drawing skills. They work hard. This blog is devoted to showing examples of their drawings. After taking the Animation Portfolio Workshop these students have gone on to study animation in some of the top animation schools and also to work in the animation biz.

baby?...inmate??...both??!??

2007-07-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

This one i threw in there just to get things going...

Room Drawing by Myke Bakich

2007-07-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

This room drawing by Myke Bakich is full of unexpected little things...including the small surprised character at the back with the rifle. After taking the Animation Portfolio Workshop in 2002, Myke completed 4 years at Sheridan Animation Program and now works free-lance as a storyboard artist as well as teaching part-time for the APW.

Facial Expressions by Chang Dai

2007-07-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

This character was designed by Chang Dai who studied with the
Animation Portfolio Workshop between September 2006 and March 2007.
Chang was accepted into Sheridan's Animation program.

Animation Portfolio Workshop

2007-07-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome Character Designers! Have a look through these drawings by students (past and present) of the
ANIMATION PORTFOLIO WORKSHOP. http://www.portfolioworkshop.com/
There are more drawings to come from past students as the word gets out about the blog. http://apwcharacterdesign.blogspot.com/
Just click on the Blog Title for more.
Cheers!

Vince.