The APW FLEX Program has been designed to offer a variety of courses that can be studied individually or in a group live/online.
Build drawing, design, and storytelling skills with flexible professional training designed for serious artists.
The courses are interrelated in terms of their subject matter, so that a series of courses can be studied in succession, and the APW team is happy to offer suggestions on the most fruitful combination and sequential order that courses can be taken in.
Should a student wish to design the combination and sequence of courses on their own, they are free to do so.
These courses also act as stand alone offerings, so that students are free to choose just one course to study, using the a la carte approach when deciding on which course they wish to undertake.
Choose a single focused course or combine multiple courses to create your own personalized APW training path.
The most important part of studying artistic anatomy is knowing how to study the subject, so as not to waste time and energy acquiring information of an anatomical nature that is not useful to the practicing artist. With this in mind, APW FLEX offers two courses on the topic.
The Skeleton is the structural support of the human body, providing a series of mechanisms that move through the attachment of tendon and muscle.
A good working knowledge of the skeleton is helpful to anyone making drawings from the live model.
Topics that will be covered in the course include, types of joint mechanisms and their corresponding range of movements, the proportion of the skeleton and how it determines the proportions of figures drawn from life, and an introduction to bones as basic shapes to further the study of constructive anatomy.
Students will spend part of each class drawing from images of the skeleton to support the Lectures.
Strengthen your figure drawing with a deeper understanding of structure, proportion, and movement.
The muscles of the human body generate the movement of the human figure, based on the bones and joints that they traverse and attach to.
A good working knowledge of muscle groups, there origins and insertions as well as some basic understanding of their shape proves immensely helpful when drawing from the live model. Knowledge of how gesture is translated through the actions of the bones and there attendant muscle groups is absolutely essential when attempting to depict the poses of the model in a believable fashion.
Students will spend part of each class drawing from images of the muscles and the nude human figure to support the lectures.
Develop the anatomical knowledge professional artists use to create convincing and dynamic figures.
(We recommend having a basic working knowledge of the human skeleton prior to taking this course)
Energy takes the form of matter, and in drawing terms that means gesture creates all of the forms and there inter-relationship in the human figure.
Topics covered in this figure drawing course include gesture, contour, silhouette, mass, format, and basic proportional measuring.
Perfect for artists looking to build a strong foundation in life drawing and observational skills.
Students will move into depicting 3 dimensional forms in space with an introduction to light and shadow. Visual measure of angles using construction lines is also covered in this course.
Take your drawings beyond flat shapes and learn to create believable dimensional form.
(We recommend having a basic working knowledge of gesture, contour, and proportion prior to taking this)
People draw everything from a stick figure at the centre of a bunch of choppy lines designated as “contours” to a line that wobbles like a rubber band, running up the middle of a life drawing that has no real connection to it.
What exactly is a line of action, and how does it work as part of a unified life drawing?
This course develops the students ability to select and draw an authentic line of action in their life drawings through the study of a series of exercises that integrate gesture, contour, shape and design principles.
Learn to create drawings with stronger movement, rhythm, clarity, and visual impact.
What exactly is line quality? The term is bandied about relentlessly on YouTube videos, Discord servers, Reddit threads, and in portfolio requirements for art programs.
It appears that the popular notions of what actual line quality is generally come from second hand information on the topic. For the most part, students imitate what someone else has told them looks like “good line quality” by simply copying the style of drawings that someone else has said “has it.”
Why not learn what actual line quality is first hand and stop copying the styles of other peoples drawings?
Developing a line that expresses gesture, volume, space, contrast, and a contact with the human form based on the sense of touch are all covered through the exercises in this course.
Develop a deeper understanding of line quality and learn to create drawings with greater clarity, volume, and expressive intent.
Gesture drawing is one of the most misunderstood principles of drawing, both in comprehension on the
part of the practitioner and in practice. A huge quantity of drawings made today that are called “gesture
drawings” stand out for one thing in particular – they are everything except gesture drawings! One sees
depictions of stick men called gestures, rubbery figures with hacked up contours that modulate in value,
drawn around limbs that don’t connect convincingly to the human body, and stiff, lifeless figures that
attempt to fake a “gesture” of some sort.
Comprehension of gesture is the root of art that has vitality and life to it. This course delves deeply into what a gesture actually is, and how to draw one.
Develop a deeper understanding of gesture drawing and learn to create drawings with greater vitality,
unity, and expressive power—foundational artistic skills that are future resilient.
You can think of Visual Storytelling as a language and Drawing as a language. These two art forms come together in APW FLEX courses that present creative exercises that provide opportunities to discover and practise the art of storyboarding for film and video.
Should a student wish to design the combination and sequence of courses on their own, they are free to do so.
These courses also act as stand alone offerings, so that students are free to choose just one course to study, using the a la carte approach when deciding on which course they wish to undertake.
Learn the language of common film shots and discover ways you can use this language to string shots together to create meaningful story points that build dramatic moments that can advance your own story.
Develop cinematic storytelling skills.
Learn the process. Translate raw dialogue into storyboard thumbnail drawings and on to finished storyboards.
Study film sequences to identify and unlock useful storytelling tools to use as you tell your own story.Translate written ideas into clear and engaging visual storytelling. Composition and Framing Learn to work with shapes within the film format. Applying design principles to your film shots can open up creative storytelling opportunities.
Discover how strong composition can elevate the emotional power and clarity of your scenes.
The process of drawing life-like poses of human figures and animation characters in many different poses is central to creating vivid sequences and stories. Learn to understand and practise gesture drawing and action analysis of many different poses.
Build more expressive poses and create life-like characters.
Caricature and gesture drawing are at the very core of this character design course. This course offers concrete opportunities to practise and study these two art forms in the context of learning to generate your very own original characters.
Create original characters with stronger design and personality.
Gerard Sternik teaches the life drawing and artistic anatomy courses in the APW FLEX Program.
Gerard is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and spent two years studying drawing and sculpture in Florence Italy.
He spent 4 years studying artistic anatomy in conjunction with the University of Toronto Department of Gross Anatomy.
Gerard taught in the Sheridan College Classical Animation Program throughout the 1990’s and left Sheridan to start the APW program in 1999.
In addition to teaching storyboarding and character design at Sheridan College’s Animation Program and teaching Drawing for Animation at Animation Portfolio Workshop for 27 years, Vince Peets professional experience includes storyboard art for live-action feature films, animation (Chuck Jones) and TV commercials.
Flex
Yes.
