First Semester Work (years 1 and 2):Max the Mutt

[Maxine Schacker]

Max the Mutt is now running year one and two of the new four year Diploma Program in Concept Art for Animation and Video Games.

We are posting work here from Drawing Backgrounds, Props and Objects, a year 2 course taught by Dimitri Kostic.

In the near future we will be adding more work from this course, and from Introduction To Concept Art as we well as some year one perspective drawings (our foundation year).

[ikken]

This is a really good thread - the art you post here is supposed to give a clear idea of what to expect from the school, right?
I could sound hostile (I call it "ironic") in a few of my comments here, but a picture really tells a thousand words.
How many students are currently enrolled into the course, if it's not any kind of a commercial secret?

[Maxine Schacker]

We'll post more tomorrow. I'm not completely proficient (an understatement) at doing this yet and couldn't get any more images up.

What do you mean by "commercial secret"? There are 12 people in year two and 15 or 16 in year one. This program will remain small, with no more than 17 accepted each year.

[Maxine Schacker]

I'm about to try to post more work by second year CA students. keep in mind that our first year is a visual arts literacy year, so these are their first CA courses. All work is from "Drawing Backgrounds, Props and Structures."
As soonas I can, I'll post work from Intro To Concept Art.

[Maxine Schacker]

i wish I could attach the right students to each drawing but there wasn't a way to do this (that i could find). So far, the work you are seeing is by 6 of the 12 students in the year 2.

They are: Michele Assaraskakorn, Yi He, Kimberley Linn, John Newton, Andrea Scott and Andrew Skarine.

Drawing Backgrounds, Props and Objects was instructed by Dimitri Kostic.

[ikken]

Promising enough already.
I absolutely adore your students approach to referencing:
http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=542128&stc=1&d=1229442106
< -- >
http://i44.tinypic.com/16kax35.jpg
I know that it does happen in all sorts of art courses, but I have no idea why should you post this as an example at a very specific forum.

[Maxine Schacker]

Obviously, we didn't know, but thanks for the post if not for the tone! I'll let the instructor know ASAP.

[ikken]

Merry xmas to you too.

[Maxine Schacker]

These drawings were done for part 1 of a full year course in Perspective and Structural Drawing.

[aussiedeza]

Hey Maxine thanks for posting some of the students work, great to see a variety of different techniques, look forward to seeing more.

[Maxine Schacker]

I had hoped to get work from "Intro to Concept Art" posted before vacation, but wasn't able to get it done! Look for it after January 5, when the school reopens.I'm not teaching CA students yet, but I'm the coordinator for that program. The CA students have been a joy to work with- hardworking and enthusiastic. I'll be with year 2 students second semester for a figurative painting course that meets 8 hours a week and I'm really looking forward to it.

[Pawkfox]

The line drawings and various scapes all look good but I'm a bit disappointed in the rest =/

[cheerleader]

cooool dude. i dig it

[Maxine Schacker]

Pawkfox, I'm really interested in seeing your work. I can only find your computer based work on line. If your basic traditional skills are very developed, perhaps when you apply to schools, you can ask for advanced placement.

[Maxine Schacker]

Second semester starts tomorrow and I look forward to getting some help posting the work from Intro to Concept Art. I'll do my best to get the work posted as soon as I can.

[Maxine Schacker]

Finally! Here are the images as promised. Each student chose one of three scripts and was responsible for character, prop and environment design.
Please keep in mind that this is the introductory course. These students had completed one year of what we call "Visual Arts Literacy" prior to taking this one semester course.

My apologies: the instructor for Intro to Concept Art was DON GAUTHIER. Don was a background designer for Disney and Nelvana and is now an art director for Red Rover Creative, a 3D animation company in Toronto.

[Jonas Heirwegh]

Nice work. Pretty good for first years.

[Steven1991]

That looks indeed very good.
I'm also interested in seeing some works of the life drawing class, cartooning class & anatomy class

[Maxine Schacker]

Just click on the link at the end of this site. That will take you to our website. Go to "Gallery." There's lots of '08 work, plus '07 and '06 archived.

If you live in the GTA, we have two final shows at the end of the academic year. All 2009 year one work will be on exhibit in April. Our year three and four students have a longer school year, and their work plus the graduate show won't be up until the middle or end of May.

[Steven1991]

Just took at the gallery, also some very impressive works.
Don't live in the gta though, i'm in Belgium , so thats pretty far away from Canada.

[Maxine Schacker]

Thanks for taking the time to view our web site! If you ever visit Toronto, please give us a call and come for a tour.

(Incidentally, an international student from Belgium is in year one of the animation diploma program! )

[Jonas Heirwegh]

Thanks for taking the time to view our web site! If you ever visit Toronto, please give us a call and come for a tour.

(Incidentally, an international student from Belgium is in year one of the animation diploma program! )

Nice, I'm from Belgium too. Lots of people from belgium on this forum apparently.
Really good to see a student from here in Toronto. What is his name/site/nickname?

[Maxine Schacker]

Whoops! I thought he was from Belgium...but he's from The Netherlands. Other international students are from Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Switzerland, Germany, France, USA, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Israel...I hope I didn't leave anyone out. Toronto itself is the most international city in North America and many of our Canadian citizens came to Canada from other countries. For a small school, we really are the United Nations...but we don't have anyone from Belgium yet.

[Brashen]

As always you can tell alot about a school from it's students work. I commend you on showing us even the lesser works of students. most schools shy away from showing all but the best of their student's work.

Hopefully as they progress with the program well see some major changes. Thanks for sharing Maxine!!

[Maxine Schacker]

Brashen, you amaze me! I really want to see your hand drawn and painted work. You must be a prodigy!!

I say this because as a professional dealing with professionals, and having taught in several programs before Max the Mutt, I know just how good, for introductory courses, our student work is. I don't question your integrity in the statements you make, but I'm really curious to see your free hand design work (character, environment and props). You must indeed be the Mozart of concept art!

[Oden]

I'm not sure if that sarcasm was warranted, Maxine. I think Brashen was sincerely complimenting your efforts to show a range of student work...it's true that some schools shy away from posting student work that isn't their very best.
It's also true that there's a range of quality here...but that's not a bad thing.

[Brashen]

Wow okay Maxine I have no idea what you meant by that. As Oden said I was seriously pointing to the fact that you don't shirk away from honesty.

As a professional you should know better. A minority of the works shown here display a lack of technical understanding and it's a given since this is their first semester. People will look and they will judge. Most of the work shown here is above par and what I would expect from a school such as yours.

I've never claimed to be a prodigy nor were my intentions to implicate I'm better than anything you'll ever see. If you based your assumptions from anything I've said then I apologize. But if you just wanted to mock me for the sake of mocking then I also apologize for giving you that opportunity.

I never expected this from a well respected community member.

[Maxine Schacker]

Keep in mind that I defended you when you caused an uproar on another thread...you can be provocative. However, I really am open to the possibility that you are a prodigy. You are judging work of beginners and stating that you find much of it "lesser work." I beg to disagree. If you really see it that way, my assumption has to be that, like Mozart, you must be unusually gifted, a natural.

First semester of first year foundation work, and first semester of first year concept work (the second year of the program) is not graduate work! In a developmentally planned program, over the four years students will grow both in skills and depth of thinking.

I certainly didn't expect to be posting work this early. Our problem now is to keep our students in the program for 4 years. One of them has already been spirited away by a job in animation. We hope he'll return because as good as he is in certain areas, he has tremendous potential if he either completes the program or finds other ways to develop the skills he still lacks.

It will be two and one half more years until we have our first graduates from this particular program! In the meantime, this work is top rate for beginners.

I honestly accept the possibility that you are a self taught prodigy. You certainly are taking a superior and judgmental position, exemplified by your statement about "hopefully we'll see major changes."

I must assume that this indicates your expectations are that after one semester they should be doing better work (and that your certainly would be doing better work), and that surprises me. Naturally, it also has increased my curiosity about you, as a beginner yourself, and your work !

I know that there are some (but not many) real "naturals" in this world. I would never assume anything without seeing your work.

[Brashen]

I cannot recall where a situation arose and you defended me but if it did then I thank you.

Now for the rest, you base too much on assumptions. Assumptions that your students are amazing even at their level. Assumptions that you think I'm some haughty know it all prodigy when I have never given you a reason to think so. Assumptions based on misinformation will just lead to disaster.

You stated ''You are judging work of beginners and stating that you find much of it "lesser work."'' Where I said "A minority of the works shown here display a lack of technical understanding and it's a given since this is their first semester". Now here you are just placing words in my mouth.

You said "First semester of first year foundation work, and first semester of first year concept work (the second year of the program) is not graduate work! In a developmentally planned program, over the four years students will grow both in skills and depth of thinking." While I said before that "Hopefully as they progress with the program well see some major changes."

No matter how you read that statement they mean exactly the same thing. That people at this particular stage are going to get better as they progress with the curriculum. No matter what school they attend.

As I said before, a lot of the work shown here is above par and very promising for people who've just started. I've never doubted the students nor the school. Some people have stated their disappointment in some of the work yet I seem to be the one taking the brunt of your rebuttals.

Where I got to in my art is because I chose to get there through my work and through my dedication no less and no more than others before me. My parents never wished for me to go this rout but I preservered and pushed on with no to little help and guidance. You're the one touting this whole prodigy thing not I.

I have apologized for an offense I did not commit and yet you sit there berating me and I will tell you no matter who you are what you've done I will not sit back and take it.

[Nervous Disorder]

There is something to be said for the language used, Brashen.

Let us remember for a moment, that we are on the internet, and as such, tone can only be expressed through the words we choose or smilies.

Now, lets pretend you have your own little college. The students are your little community, your children. and you watch with pride as they grow from strength to strength.

Now, if someone says thanks for posting the "lesser work" and lets hope to see "MAJOR" changes, well, isn't it natural to take that as an insult?

On a second read, I get what you're saying there, but I still have to wonder if you chose those words purposely. You don't have a bad command of the language at all.

Changing it around slightly, "Thanks for posting a range of works from the best students to the mediocre. I look forward to seeing the progress."

Essentially the same thing, but I've turned it into a positive, whereas, the way you wrote it had a far more negative tone.

and add a smilie...

"Thanks for posting a range of works from the best students to the mediocre. I look forward to seeing the progress. :)"

No mistaking... positive post.

Its all about how you say it, not what you say ;)

[Brashen]

Thanks Nervous Disorder,

But no one can possibly have construed that as an offensive jibe as you can see by the reply under her initial 'witticism'.

There is only one possible explanation to her sudden lunge and you've already mentioned it. It's her sensitivity towards her school and the kids that go there. I totally understand the need for her to protect and as I said I will not hold it against her. Hell I'd rip off anyone's head if they were making fun of my work.

The fact of the matter is she still continued in her self righteous anger after I and Oden explained that my statement was in no way meant to be harmful or deprecating.

That's the reason why I'm a little bit....well not angry but disconcerted over this.