My latest course for Lynda has gone online – and it’s the most fun yet! The course teaches the classic animation drawing techniques, which are also applicable to comic books. This was a 28 year long ‘brain dump’, in which I included everything that I could remember from working for Don Bluth in the late 80s, through to working with the masters of the classic design style Terry Shakespeare and David Molina (of ‘Creative Capers’ in Los Angeles).
Follow this link to get 10 days of free unlimited access to lynda.com. This will also allow you to see the course, for free.
Even if you’re not interested in following a traditional animation or comic book path, watching the course will give you an appreciation of the skills required to make an appealing cartoon or animated character.
Here are the rest of my Lynda courses.
The course doesn’t just come with the movie lessons, it also comes with a 66 page handout, which is a book in its own right. Here are some sample pages to give you a sense of the scope. Click the image for the full size version.
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If you don’t already have a subscription to linkedin-learning and want to watch my full courses, this gives you a free 30 day trial:
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Looks most excellent! You KNOW you need this, Kathryn. Yes, yes, I do.
I’m halfway through watching this course and it’s amazing! So much good information packed into such a concise and clear format. I love it… wish I’d had all this when I first started drawing cartoons. Thanks for making this course Dermot!!
Thanks Matt! It was a labour of love. Started out simple, and ballooned.
I watched the entire course in one sitting. You’ve done an amazing job, Dermot. Seriously, this is probably one of these best courses on drawing I’ve ever taken. I know I’ll have to watch it multiple times — there’s so much to take in. But I’m going to start using so many of your techniques immediately on my current projects. Thanks!
many thanks for the feedback Richard! The course seems to be doing very well. I stuffed everything I could remember over the last 25 years into it!
Dermot, thanks so much for your Lynda course! I’ve tried to work out of books – Richard Williams and Preston Blair amongst others, but I really found your course pulled it all together in an easy to digest way. Love your work, thanks so much for this it’s really great.
Thanks Scott!
I don’t know if there are any actual books that cover the specific nitty gritty of drawing in the Disney/Bluth style. ‘Illusion of Life’ has sections, of course, but it always tends to be a general skim of the subject. Meaning no disrespect to any of the existing titles, but I have more pages on how to draw hands than most do on how to draw the entire body, for example! Almost to the point of being silly – a page on treatments styles for knuckes & fingernails!
Of course, R. Williams is essential for animation, esp. mechanics and walks/runs – I don’t think anyone will ever come close to that again!
thanks for your article…