Testimonials

Congratulations to APW on their anniversary: 20 years of preparing young people for creative careers in one of Canada's most important industries!

APW has been like a second home to me throughout my high school, college and finally my professional years. It's a place where I gained a strong drawing foundation, which serves me professionally everyday. I am so grateful and proud to be a part of APW's community - Happy 20th APW!

Congratulations on 20 years of helping aspiring animators achieve their dreams.

The instructors at APW are very dedicated and attentive. Not only did I learn to draw, they also taught me how to see form, structure, and think and draw in 3D space. The skills I learned at APW have been extremely helpful through all four years in animation at Sheridan College.

APW gave me the knowledge I needed to pursue my dream job. I still use the fundamentals from this program every day at work. These guys know what they are talking about and I really don't think I would have got this far without their help.

I cannot even put into words how helpful APW has been throughout my portfolio journey. I really feel like I have improved and gained a lot more confidence than I started with. I am really grateful for all the guidance each and every one of you has provided me with. It was a truly awesome journey! Thanks a lot once again!

Initially, I signed up for the APW expecting to create an animation portfolio... Little did I know, I was embarking on a thrilling and transformative journey towards becoming an artist. As the months passed by, not only did I see considerable improvements in my drawings, it was amazing to be part of an environment that continued to feel more like my second family. Having the help of Josh and his personal feedback skyrocketed my progression forward. From character development and storyboarding to concept designs for layouts - It would have taken me a considerable amount of time to reach this point without the help of Josh and the APW team. I would recommend this workshop to any student looking to achieve a solid foundation in drawing and the motivation and understanding to get there.

Thank you. 24 months ago my son expressed an interest in studying animation. This is a field I knew nothing about and did not understand. So I researched the area thoroughly. I discovered that having the ability to create a top notch portfolio is extremely important. Job prospects are greatly enhanced by attending top-notch schools. You need an excellent portfolio to be successful in the very competitive admission process to the best schools. You need intense training to enhance and hone your skills in order to prepare a portfolio that would get the reviewers attention. Your Animation Portfolio Workshop successfully honed my son's talents. It helped him develop the portfolio required for success and he was admitted into his Animation School of choice. Your dedication to ensuring that your students achieve their highest potential is proven and exemplary. Thank you for helping our son achieve his goal.

The Animation Portfolio Workshop was one of the greatest experiences of my life as well as one of the best art classes I have ever taken. Every single one of the teachers and TAs helped me greatly improve through the duration of this course. The way everything was taught was so fun and every single teacher was there to help and point you in the right direction when you couldn’t grasp something. One thing I loved about the Workshop was the small tight knit class. Everyone was friends with each other and learned from each other. We were all reaching for the same goal and everyone wanted success for each other. I learned so much and I do not think I would have Improved as much as I had in such a short amount of time. I will use and cherish all the skills The Workshop has taught me for the rest of my life. I miss the experiences of APW so much and would definitely recommend the program to anyone who is interested in pursuing animation as a career!

I got accepted to both Sheridan and Seneca, and without the workshop I don´t think I would have had the same results. I came all the way from Paraguay to do this course because I read a lot of great things about it, and I was not disappointed. The instructors are so amazing! They really care about their students and they help us throughout the whole portfolio experience. It´s also great because you make really good friends! I highly recommend taking this course!!"Your Animation Portfolio Workshop successfully honed my son's talents. It helped him develop the portfolio required for success and he was admitted into his Animation School of choice. Your dedication to ensuring that your students achieve their highest potential is proven and exemplary. Thank you for helping our son achieve his goal.

Working in the animation industry requires more than a handful of skills and abilities. On a daily basis you are required to be quick, confident, committed, careful and provide a high level of quantity and quality work. I was very fortunate to study at the Animation Portfolio Workshop. It instilled in me the dedication and craftsmanship required to develop and use these skills not only as a student, but as a professional. I still use the fundamentals I learned in class at work each day. When it comes to finding success in the workforce you've gotta have the skills to stay employed.

APW was a lifesaver! Getting ready to apply for animation seemed like a daunting task at first, but Vince, Bernadette Lindsey and Gerard were there every step of the way to aid me in building my portfolio. By the end, I made lots of friends, learned invaluable skills and built an incredible portfolio, all of which I will never forget.

Como minha experiência em direção a animação profissional, o Animation Portfolio Workshop foi um excelente primeiro passo. Quando ainda morava no Brasil, não tive a oportunidade de fazer desenho artístico e precisei começar praticamente do zero - e o preparo que a APW me ofereceu foi imprescindível para que eu pudesse ingressar na faculdade. Os professores são atenciosos e conhecem nao só a arte mas também a indústria, o que ajuda na hora de avaliar resultados e objetivos. Recomendo a qualquer um que queira tentar as escolas de arte canadenses ou queira melhorar o desenho e olhar artístico. Se eu pudesse, faria o curso novamente!

Since I’ve been back home in Buffalo, I’ve had time to look back on my 8 weeks in Toronto attending the APW Summer Intensive session. It was an unforgettable life experience and I would do it again without hesitation! I miss Toronto, it’s a fun city with so much to do and see. I continue to draw everyday and carry my sketchbook with me wherever I go. This Workshop has taught me great skills to build on and has given me more confidence to present a portfolio worthy of being accepted into college. Josh did an amazing job teaching the class. He is a very dedicated and talented artist. He knew my strengths and weaknesses and was able to tell me exactly what I needed to do in order to make my drawing better. It was exciting to see the improvement in my drawings week after week. I cannot express enough how much I loved the entire experience and I will remember it always.

APW student portfolios showcase skills that are crucial to succeeding in the industry – high quality figure drawing and a clear understanding of proportion, volume, and gesture. They give their students a solid drawing foundation perfect for building a successful creative career.

It has been our daughter’s dream to attend Sheridan college since she was a freshman in high school. She was devastated when she applied in her senior year and did not get in. We found APW online and were impressed with the artwork of it’s graduates. Our daughter’s art improved SO MUCH during the program. The friends and mentors she met and the skills she learned were more than she could have asked for. She reached her goal of being accepted into Sheridan. It would have been impossible without APW. 1000% all true…we are grateful for you all!!

The Animation Portfolio Workshop was instrumental in getting me into Seneca's animation course. I joined as an amateur artist with zero knowledge of anatomy, and left a professional with a strong understanding of the human body. My sketchbook improved exponentially after the year I spent at APW. Gerard and Vince were incredibly patient with us and took the extra time needed to help us expand our abilities. I can easily say that without the APW, I would not be where I am today, working as a Creature Cloth TD at Weta Digital. Thank you Gerard and Vince!

Animation Portfolio Workshop is the catalyst that launched my career. They successfully taught me the skills to succeed in animation school and beyond. I've been working nonstop for almost 9 years now in Toronto and I am always bumping into successful APW graduates.

During the Summer Intensive program with Gerard and Vince gesture drawing became extremely important to me as an artist. It not only changed the way I think about posing a character, but also gave me the most appropriate method to bring characters to life. Surprisingly, the skill set I was taught in APW still helps me to develop my own drawing style and career now!

I would like to thank all the instructors at the APW for teaching me so much. The drawing experience that I gained at the workshop was beyond what I could have hoped for. This course not only allowed me to produce a competitive portfolio, but it reawakened in me a love for drawing, and a desire to draw. I had never done life drawing before, but the workshop made me fall in love with it, and I wanted to do it as often as possible.