The Illustration Academy

During the summers of the past several years, The Illustration Academy has brought together some of America's most accomplished and best-known illustrators to share their insights and advice with students. The students range in age from eighteen to sixty years old and have come from not only the United States, but as far away as Hong Kong, England, Belgium, Sweden, Brazil, and Argentina.

Unique to the illustration field is the fact that a graduating student is thrust into the market place and forced to compete with established illustrators. The mission of the Academy is to shorten the gap that exists between the student and the working professional. This problem is resolved using a rigorous hands-on approach implemented by the faculty. The students work through each assignment with a logical step-by-step approach to produce finished illustrations. Driven by real-world examples and deadlines, the students are encouraged to focus on concepts, techniques, and to pursue a personal point of view to make their work unique. Along side the technical demonstrations of media and life drawing skills, the Academy focuses on the functional business practices in the field of illustration. These include self-promotion, advertising, contracts, taxes and accounting.

website, lecture week info, samples
Ringling College of Art and Design
Attn: The Illustration Academy
2700 North Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, FL 34234-5895