Foundations & Design Tracks overview
Realize the importance of Foundation & Design
As the world-renowned realist artist Ken Danby once noted- Without good drawing, the foundation of a painting will collapse. It’s a tenet that still holds true in the age of digital art, where the power afforded by modern design tools actually makes the need for a strong grounding in the rules of art and design more important than ever. Whatever your likely career path and desired endpoint in the field of entertainment design--be it in character design or environment design, visual effects, or another one of the many specialist 2D and 3D roles available--it is essential to gain a strong and balanced understanding of the fundamentals of good design, as well as the principles, techniques, and best practices that make up the bedrock of the entire industry.
As you complete each art fundamentals course, you will receive a certificate of completion for that course. In order to qualify for a course certificate of completion, students must complete at least 80% of the class assignment during the duration of the course.
Should you have any questions regarding these courses please contact registration@cgmasteracademy.com. Additionally, you only pay for the course(s) you take in a given term.
Broad based by nature, this track is designed to suit a wide range of abilities, interests, and career paths. Choosing from a range of courses, electives, and studio courses, students customize their own learning experience with 10 or more courses across a variety of sketching, painting, and design disciplines in order to create an individualized yet comprehensive learning experience.
Foundations & Design COURSES
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of our courses.
As you complete each course you will receive a certificate of completion for that course. In order to qualify for an in course certificate of completion, students must complete at least 80% of the class assignment during the duration of the course.
Winter
Spring
Summer
Learn from award-winning artists who've worked at top studios around the world
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Trung Le
I love it whenever Anne shows her work, progress, thoughts, and techniques. I think that's the single most valuable insight to be able to see how professional artists paint.
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Danny Mooney
I really enjoyed Anne's Q&As and her sense of humor. She gave great feedback that helped us and it was never condescending. It always came from a place of encouragement.
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Jessica Bommer
Really thinks about suggestions for individual students to help them get to the next stage wherever they are. Never makes us feel stupid or lazy just because we're not professionals yet!
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Angie Ngie
Anne went out of her way to provide me with extra content to help me out with many questions that I had. She really devotes the time and effort required, to make sure her students can learn as much as possible. I am very grateful to have had such a dedicated instructor.
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Yusuf Ozuysal
Anne was very resourceful and inspirational in all interactions. This was definitely a game changing experience for me.
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Sarah Rivera
She's great about answering questions! Even going so far as to create new videos if we all needed more instruction.
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Jannes Lauwers
She was always eager to find out what we wanted to know more about so she could incorporate it in her lessons."
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Sascha Sarkar
Great introduction to painting in photoshop.
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Cindy Chu
Anne is a very funny and informative instructor! Every one of her lessons is super enjoyable. She brings in a lot of industrial and commercial insight to the class, which is highly useful for those who wants to work in the industry in the future.
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David Fortin
Amazing teacher. Loved the class. The content was impressive. He worked really hard to give this class and I appreciated my experience.
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Xuan-Xabier Huynh
Tyler showed genuine interest in the student's work during the feedback and Q&As: he always goes the extra mile to help us with long and detailed critiques, making sure to address all of our points. The lectures were very informative and presented the class materials well.
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Natalia Mishchenko
Great course! Learned so much. And Tyler is an amazing instructor, always trying to help in any way possible.
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Joshua Moya
Tyler did a fantastic job breaking down the elements of design very clearly.
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Joseph Standridge
The feedback I received was super helpful, but also positive so even after a rough assignment, I left the critique feeling inspired, and ready to improve the next assignment. I learned more than I expected to, and while the limit 8 weeks means things are fast paced, I have plenty of tools to continue to practice with.
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Taylor Scott
Pat Marconett is a cool guy and I really enjoyed learning from him! I personally do NOT like drawing backgrounds or environments AT ALL and this instructor made learning this very informative and enjoyable.
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Mika Tanagi
Scott's a really nice guy. His critique videos were always double the length of the videos in my other CGMA class because he goes for quite a while on certain aspects of my assignment and the perspective, which is what I wanted to hear. It was awesome getting feedback from him!
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Maria Bazhanova
Robert was amazing, very personal and objective at the same time. He gave positive feedback which was inspirational but at the same time gave constructive feedback on how to improve. Would love to take some other course with him.
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Anna Chen
Robert was awesome—he took the time to answer my questions and do demonstrations in my assignment feedback.
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Dennis Scurry
Poe always has great advice on how to push assignments beyond what was assigned.
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Allan Boulogne
Poe is the best. He really cares about the students and he will always go into further detail about his critiques if you need him to. He's got a kick ass car collection and I really wish I knew him personally. Really awesome guy.
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Aimee Lew
Simplified a lot of complex ideas so they were easy to understand and apply, and also helped me with more shortcuts in photoshop that can speed up my process. I had great feedback for my assignments that helped me push more story into my work.
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Stuart Ayre
I've been taught by many art teachers, and I can say with sincerity that Dzu is a good teacher. Here are three things I liked about Dzu as a teacher: 1) he treats each student in the same manner—in other words, no matter what level you are at, he cares for the student and also doesn't seem to favour particular students. 2) His advice is concise and practical. 3) He can walk the walk—in other words he can demonstrate how to create great art.
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Allan Boulogne
Dzu is an awesome guy and a great instructor. He gave some really good insight into how the industry works and how he got his foot in the door. I really wish I had gotten more than 8 weeks to be in his class. Really happy I was able to have Dzu as an instructor—I could talk to him all day.
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Sheryl Soong
I was pretty paralyzed before taking this class. But I learned a lot and now I feel way more comfortable with approaching environments, even with things outside my visual library.
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Nicole Tord
...from week 1 to 8, i can already see the improvement in my approach to environments. I now have the tools to go and confidently tackle backgrounds and scenes
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Laurence Carew
I'd like to really thank Dzu, I think he has been a great help and appreciate his feedback. A great artist I hope to follow in the footsteps of one day!
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Alex Gadbois
The course exposed my weaknesses, but also revealed my strengths. I cannot wait to apply the things I have learned to more pieces.
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Cally Lim
I like that the feedback session is done for all students at the same time, that way we can learn from each other, not just a standalone feedback.
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Dennis Scarry
I like how no matter the level of experience each student has the instructor always gave constructive criticism. They never tore anyone down.
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Cody Rose
Great at clearly conveying ideas and concepts to the students, even without direct contact or interaction during the lectures.
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Aleksandra Szwejk
Patrick Ballesteros is a brilliant teacher, who can encourage students in their way to development in a professional and friendly way. He is very open and always ready to help.
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Zamir Orpaz
Jonathan is one of the best instructors I had so far, really learned a lot from him.
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Danny Sousa
I think he's a pretty amazing teacher. He is super knowledgeable and professional. I'm going to miss getting art critiques from him every week.
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Sonal Rai
His way of teaching is just awesome and in future I would love to learn more from him. It is so simple to understand such big things in a simple way.
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Javier Lopez
David is a great teacher! I really enjoyed learning digital painting with him. It was my first time also using color and his lectures and assignments made it really fun. His feedback was also always really on point and he is really kind in the Q&As.
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Ian Till
David is truly passionate about painting and it shows through his stellar instruction. He quickly identifies areas that need improvement and always points these areas out with encouraging, constructive, analytical feedback that really sinks in. He is a great instructor and great guy!
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Kate Springfield
I don't want to sound over the top, but Peter Han has completely changed, not only the way that I will work in future, but also the way that I think and 'see'. I didn't think it was possible to change so much in such a short time. The way that he adapts to the needs of each student, and manages the time spent on various subjects according to needs and not just a fixed plan is just incredible. He also shares so much about his own methodology and experiences that we gain so much invaluable insight. I have had many classes with other providers, who have taught you how to represent a subject on paper. Peter actually breaks that all apart and builds up, from the very beginning, how you should approach creativity and artistry. Not only have I 'learnt' new things, but have 'unlearnt' my bad habits that were holding me back. I took so much away from this class that I really wish that I haven't bothered with my degree and started with CGMA sooner.
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Anna Grudeva
Peter was exceptionally nice to learn from. Not only did he cover the material of the class but he was also very encouraging when we were dealing with performance anxiety, the process of drawing (and sometimes failing) and he was very supportive overall. He felt like one of those teachers at school that makes you fall in love with a subject, not because the subject is anything exceptional but because the teacher is.
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Caleb Gibson
I'm thoroughly pleased with the feedback and instruction Patrick offered. Every once in a while, I'd check out his feedback to other students and found that he doesn't give out canned and generalized feedback. He seems to be aware of where each student is developmentally, and offers critiques that are the most useful to them.
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Jake Bender
Patrick does a great job with this course. Even though he has taught this extensively, his enthusiasm for the course and our success was present in every Q&A. As this was my first course with CGMA, I did not know what to expect, but if Patrick represents the caliber of instructors at CGMA I look forward to my next course.
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Jonathan Valdez
I cannot say enough about Patrick's ability to communicate his process. Patrick was extremely helpful to everyone during the Q&A and took his time with every single critique. I consider Patrick one if not the best teacher I had the pleasure of studying under. He is a true master of anatomy and I cannot recommend his class enough. I hope to one day have the opportunity to study under him again.
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Nancy Vw
One of the best instructors I have ever had. My artwork improved considerably during this course, as did my understanding of the figure. The instructor is extremely sincere, and encouraging while having high expectations for excellence. I wish that he were teaching more courses. I would take them all.
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Sean Guzman
Great job, especially considering it was the first class Patrick taught on the CGMA platform.
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Marcellino Tan
All of the instructors should be like him!
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Joshua Moya
Patrick has opened the world of traditional art to me. And I am forever great full. His passion for his work resonates clearly in his lectures and QA sessions. He really makes it feel like a world I want to be part of. I will continue to work in charcoal and sanguine long after this class. Thank you Patrick.
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Liberty Johse
I learned so much in this class. Patrick is a fantastic teacher, artist, and person. He truly cares about art and the well-being of his students, like a drawing art-dad!
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Chris Lindstrom
Very good instructor. He provided clear and useful feedback each week and the Q&As were very informative.
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Bakari Griffin
I learned so much and finally learned how to put the character into characters! Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything!
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Jacob Birmingham
It was helpful to have character design tool sets broken down. The methods Brett introduced us to helped me create characters I probably would not have previously envisioned out of my head, just by creating some space to play with different proportions, and providing some new ways of thinking and/or approaching a design.
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Sandra Schwartz
It improves the way I see things around me and the way I draw in general! I 'm so glade I took this course!
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Amanda Zima
I took this class more for fun and to push me a bit out of my comfort zone. I think just having assignments to work on was super helpful to force me to draw. I sometimes suffer from not knowing what to draw, and end up not drawing, or drawing similar things over and over again.
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Frank J Montes
This course has really forced me out of my comfort zone and helped me expand the areas my mind usually goes to when I sit down and draw a character.
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Robert Zsombori
By gaining some understanding on anatomy, I was able to overall improve my figure drawing. As a story and concept artist, this course was a good investment. Thank you.
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Martha Balaile
I have gained more confidence and my anatomy drawings look much better. I can also draw from a reference without relying too heavily on it now.
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Nikhil Arora
Ron Lemen is a tremendous source of information. He really knows his stuff, and he gives good critiques. Also special commendation for getting all the feedback videos in before the Q&As.
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Khadeeja Jamaal
Rey is the best teacher I have ever had. The effort he puts is inspiring. I feel like he really has made a massive difference to my learning. I understand so much more. So good!
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Antonio Díaz
I have been trying to learn anatomy by myself for some time now, and I feel that Ron’s course helped me to finally grasp a lot about anatomy! Everything finally made sense!
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Allan Boulogne
AMAZING instructor. Amazing class. After two years at some art college, he taught me more than I ever would have in the other college. You guys honestly have a keeper here. Best instructor for color and light I've had. He knows his stuff!
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Nora Garcia
Chris Brock has been an outstanding teacher, providing great feedback and always answering emails or forum threads with helpful information.
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Eric Greenberg
It really opened my eyes to how cool and warm light interact. The final week had excellent advice on how to continue studying. Overall, this was an excellent class that was worth every penny.
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Lisa Wen
The course forced me to do studies, which helped in every way! I also learned a lot about color theory!
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Dean Jones
A deeper understanding for the physics of light and colour and increased perception of nuances of colour and image design
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Ian Froud
Very enthusiastic and engaging. Listening to her lectures and her live Q&A was always a pleasure.
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Alyssa Veysey
Shannon was very informative and engaged in everyone's work with wonderful feedback.
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Cody Rose
Very knowledgeable of the content taught within the class. Great at clearly conveying ideas and concepts to the students, even without direct contact or interaction during the lectures.
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Eric Ng
Awesome instructor! She's really nice and even takes the extra time to post additional resources. Also quite patient and understanding.
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Antonio Díaz
Shannon is a wonderful person and teacher. Her love for her craft does nothing but inspire to be better and I will ALWAYS be thankful to her for that!
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Tyler Bourne
Shannon goes above and beyond. She visibly puts more time, effort and energy into each student's work and critique than anyone else. Her critique and QAs are always lengthy (in a good way), she explains things in simple terms, and she is constantly sharing resources, whether on the forums or in the QAs or your critiques. Her caring and commitment to her students shows through in all she does.
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Mei-li Liezl Buenaventura
Really impressed with Ron and happy I took the class with him. I am definitely a better artist now than I was six weeks ago, and as someone who already has a BFA (and has taken many many figure drawing classes in the past), I was really happy that Ron was teaching such a technical way of approaching the subject matter. In our first lesson he mentioned gesture drawing and how frustrating he found it to be as it did not yield a usable mannequin, and as someone who learned the "old way", I can definitely agree. Really, really useful class, taught by a great artist!
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John Waggoner
A great teacher, Ron was able to be stern in his critiques while never seeming hostile or combative. I always felt that my improvement was his first priority.
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Colin Rock
Lemen is a great teacher who clearly cares about his students’ progress and takes the time to give thoughtful feedback.
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Paulina Ryguer
Ron Lemen is an excellent teacher, very communicative and invested in his students' improvement. Ron's Q&A sessions were always informative and enjoyable. He encouraged discussions and answered students' questions in-depth.
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Rodrigo Gay
I truly was impressed by his skill. He dragged us from simplicity to complexity using a very simple method. I really liked the class. BRAVO!
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Ulina Small
He is a very personable guy—his spirit makes learning this content fun. He is good at not only finding the students faults, but also remembering to point out the things the student has done well.
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Amy Chen
He has a great personality that shines through in the lectures. His lectures are always funny, interesting, and informative. I enjoyed watching all of the videos and participating in the live Q&As.
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Adele Hentz
My instructor was incredible, one of the best teachers I've ever had in my life—I want to take all of his classes! He has been such a fantastic help to my growth as an artist.
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Angie Avila
Great teacher and always made the class enjoyable.
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Matej Silecky
Christian was a great instructor.
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Jonah Warnock
Really good at explaining difficult concepts and was really nice to everyone
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Sebastian Posada
Mauricio was awesome! He really engaged with us and answered every question that was asked - pretty amazing!
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James Pickard
Really good mentorship and instruction from Mauricio.
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Anouk Perusse-Bell
The instructor is clearly passionate about his profession and he demonstrated his enthusiasm throughout the assignments. He always managed to bring out the best points in any of the students' work, improving them but preserving the student's initial idea.
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Peter Stringe
I learned a lot more about composition, not just how to place elements on a page but also how to use colour and lighting to direct the eye.
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Robert Lawrence
I improved my digital perspective drawing skills a lot. I learned how to plan out a perspective drawing in thumbnail form before spending a ton of time doing the final drawing.
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Ahmed Atieh
I used to believe that perspective was super complicated, but Robert did an AMAZING job of breaking everything down and simplifying it to the point where I now look back and am appalled that I every found perspective so complicated. I absolutely loved every single second of this course.
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Marcus Soh
With the introduction of the basic rules of perspective, I'm able to comprehend and apply them into the assignments of the course.
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Robert Lawrence
Mostly the course gave me the confidence to explore ideas and mediums. I improved my draftsmanship as I practiced the traditional drills from the course homework.
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John D'Aquino
I absolutely wasn’t able to do what I’m capable of now. Still have a long journey but this was the best first step I’ve taken
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Chris Anka K
The course has given me the confidence to approach drawing and sketching with a critical mind. Its given me the tools to problem solve many different subject matters that my come up in drawing and design
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Anika Linke
It was great to learn actual systems for design and guidelines to critique myself
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Bakari Griffin
It helped me with thinking and creating a clear definition of the topic i want to draw, which is a huge help in starting anything, be it a drawing or a project.
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Gosia Kmiec
Overall I think the course was a great experience and I definitely feel like those few weeks made me more confident with designing.
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Jared Lipscomb
This course really solidified my understanding of the role of a designer and how to develop multiple iterations in a timely manor.
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Branko Đanić
It helped me to understand a lot about design theory and design practice
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Bakari Griffin
It helped me with thinking and creating a clear definition of the topic i want to draw, which is a huge help in starting anything, be it a drawing or a project.
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Ligeti Miklos
Now I feel that with these tools and knowledge I am finally able to realize the ideas I have.
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