Animated Drawing and Graphics (weekdays)

Wednesday to Friday, 10 am – 4 pm, three days

Indicative maximum class size: 16

Make your own short films using experimental drawing techniques and discover how to produce interesting hand-drawn animations without the use of digital technology or CGI.

This course is for people who love drawing and people who don’t - you can have limited drawing skills and still achieve great results.

Animation is used in practically every field of art, graphic design and commerce; from adverts to arthouse cinema and from pop videos to gifs.

The course is ideal for illustrators, graphic designers, artists, film makers and enthusiastic amateurs looking to try something new and curious to see their work thrown into motion.

Course Description

On this practical course you’ll develop your drawing techniques to produce figurative and abstract films with just the use of your smart phone and some drawing materials to produce dynamic and experimental animations.

During the course you will:

• look at the drawn animation techniques such as rotoscope, camera obscura and projectors
• learn about artists that use these techniques, from making Betty Boop to contemporary art
• explore mark-making whilst considering mood, materials and gestures
• record your mark-making through a rotating object built in 24 frames
• practice using a storyboard of two actions to look at pace, drama and dynamism
• experiment with layers, textures, negative space, foregrounds and backgrounds
• understand the principles of animation looking at loops, cycles and sequences
• combine your hand-drawn experiments to create dynamic moving images and short experimental animated films on your smartphone.

The course will include lectures, discussions and critiques combined with practical work and homework exercises.

What will I gain?

By the end of the course, you’ll have a good understanding of basic hand-drawn animation techniques.

You’ll have produced a series of short films that demonstrate your new skills in abstract and figurative animation to use as a showreel in your portfolio.

Level: Beginner

Entry requirement: You should have an interest in film or animation and drawing.

Where you’ll learn: You will be based in the School of Art and Design on the City Campus.

You'll find bright drawing studios to develop your ideas and create exciting work.

You’ll also have access to our library to use outside of your short course; whilst you can’t reserve or take away books, you are welcome to use them as a resource for research and referencing.

Tutor Profile: Stephen Crowe is a multi-disciplinary artist and director.

He’s currently working with animation to bring to life the Renaissance novel ‘Gargantua & Pantagruel’.

He graduated with a Fine Art degree from Liverpool John Moores and Composition from Goldsmiths University of London.

His work ranges from experimental operas to animation and has been shown across Europe and the UK at places such as Tate Britain, The National Portrait Gallery, Café Oto and The Courtauld Gallery.

View Stephen’s portfolio here: https://stephencroweopera.org/Portfolio

You can see what you can achieve on the course here: https://vimeo.com/706877142 

Need accommodation?

You can book a self-catered, single room with private bathroom on our city campus, right next door to our studios and classrooms: www.ntu.ac.uk/summeraccommodation

Any questions?

Contact the short course team:

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2813