#the oatley academy

[phantomfirefly]

I’m painting the very large spider thing that has haunted me the entire time leading up to it; ff14 art (and art sent to me by my buddies) is keeping me duct taped together. On a soul level. I don’t post much anymore because it feels like screaming into a void rather than connecting with people. I did this class for like three years (with a group i started doing classes on and off again a decade ago. I never went to art school so it is my formal education) and I could NOT manage to connect with people. I don’t know if it’s just how quiet I am (weird maybe?) but, except for one burgeoning friendship (fingers crossed it does not fade into the sunset) I just didn’t interest people and neither did my work. I mean that my art, for everyone, was always just… strangely constructed or at best “ambitious” (which is the nice way of saying it’s way beyond what I can pull off). Other people were making comics or animation bibles or picture books and I was just stuck making another portfolio piece that was too weird. The hard part here is that they were right… idk I try to embrace some of the off the wall elements and let my art directors tell me to cool my jets and and put things more normally on the thirds or not turn dragons into pugs. I couldn’t bring in my work work for games because i can’t do all the stuff that my teacher wants if the client wants me to do something different. Anyway with the kids home I wrapped up my year, which ended at the same time my kids were home from summer and stopped going to class to keep the kids from demolishing the house. This isn’t going well. BUT they thought I was supposed to go for longer. At first I think they mean my year didn’t end in may, that I have some semester left; no they wanted me to go on for a whole entire new year, which apparently is 1000 dollars and they send me another subscription link. It’s a whole back and forth and they are super mad because they reserved this spot for a whole year just for me, and said they refused students for me an everything— so now these almost friends, and my mentor, and everyone involved in my formal art education has turned into a timeshare? With a harsher penalty than adobe has of canceling Photoshop? Anyway the spider has grounded Grim in this picture and she’s going to need her healer who has a macro that yells about an UwU fuzzy paw to rez her. I’m pretty sure that one is Doc or maybe Irene.

[ladygoofus]

Another banger art education video from The Oatley Academy.

[ergoshwampy]

First version of this piece was done back in 2020 during Painting Drama mentorship at Oatley Academy. After finishing this piece I reviewed it with my mentor Chris Oatley who had fantastic feedback. I knew it was worth it to go back and redo the illustration and include the feedback I got. It took me a bit of time to finish, life you know.... but finally, now that I am satisfied with it, I am ready to share with the world.

[sylki]

Finally posting some art...WHAT :0

Here’s a rabbit dinosaur hybrid creature I created for the OatleyAcademy Magic Box digital painting class!

FOR MORE FREQUENT ART UPDATES please check out my instagram, since I’m a lot better about uploading art there. :)

https://www.instagram.com/cylkie/

[darantha]

Finished up a assignment from the Magic Box course over at Oatley Academy; a fancy red panda :) Based on Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s painting of princess Alice!

[cloudedart]

Painted something for the first time in about a month... it’s nice to get back to this! ♥ I used the chisel brush set from OA’s Brush Club! They’re free and I love them

[storytellertreehouse]

Storytelling Resources

I’ve talked to a lot of people recently who are interested in writing and story and have wondered where to start. This, my friend, is the List. For beginning writers through accomplished novelists, this list should have something for everyone. (If not, you didn’t read all the way through, because the LIBRARY is on here!) And these are just my own recommendations. Feel free to add your own favorite resources, and grow the inspiration!

 NaNoWriMo.org

This is the site that started me on my journey. It stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it’s all about getting your butt in gear. You want to be a writer? You’ve got to actually write something! Every November, thousands of writers around the globe sit down and write 50,000 words in 30 days. It’s a great way to teach yourself discipline, especially when you do it with other people who can egg you on to greatness.

Even if you don’t participate in the challenge, the website itself is a veritable hive of writerly goodness. Highly recommended. Though beware, if you venture into the maze of forums, you may get lost. Bring a friend. Or some twine, if you’re feeling especially literary.

 The Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson

This may not be for everyone, but it was exactly what I needed to actually finish my first novel (I was once a chronic starter-but-never-finisher). I only loosely use it now, but when I was first starting out, I followed the steps religiously as I planned out my novels. Great for beginners to plotting. For those who prefer to write seat-of-the pants style, I still recommend that you look it over, or at least educate yourself on the basics of a 3-act structure. Even if you don’t use it consciously, it can still improve your in-the-moment intuition to have a basic structure tucked away in the back of your mind.

 The Storyteller’s Summit

This awesome “work at your own pace” course is created by the Oatley Academy of Visual Storytelling. It is so full of goodies that I don’t even know where to start. It’s ridiculously affordable, the video lessons cover everything from practical tactics for combating creative block to more theory-based critiques of modern storytelling pitfalls, and the community is incredible. Highly recommended.

 The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler

The best introduction to mythic structure, in my opinion. This book takes the lofty ideas of Joseph Campbell’s studies on the “Hero’s Journey” and applies them in a way that’s actually useful for writers. (Sorry Joe!) Think the Hero’s Journey is only for fantasy writers? Check again! Vogler continuously applies the concepts in this book to modern films of all genres. It’s not just Star Wars, either. 

I took a whole course on this book in college, and it really opened my eyes to the possibilities of playing with the “stages” of the hero’s journey structure. It’s much more flexible than some other structures I’ve played with. That said, this one may be a bit thick for people who just want the basics. Good for story structure nerds, though! *pushes glasses up nose* 

Maybe someday I’ll share my analysis of the film “How to Train Your Dragon” that I wrote using the Hero’s Journey.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King

Okay, this one is less about storytelling and more about revising. But it’s SO GOOD. Editing is another one of my weaknesses, and this books lays out the process in a way that actually seems possible, and even fun! And the many exercises throughout the book are brilliant for those of us who learn best by doing.

The Character Naming Sourcebook by Sherrilyn Kenyon

For naming nerds. ‘Nuff said.

Your Local Library

Librarians are perfect human beings who know too much to be left alone. Go ask them questions! I promise they will love you for it. And don’t forget Interlibrary Loan!

Scrivener

It’s a writing program, but it’s not JUST a writing program. Scrivener changed my life, and I want others to share in the delight that is this app. Please, for your sake, go check it out. 

Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell

This is a good book for beginning to intermediate writers who want to up their plot game. Bell has a clear and engaging way of laying out how to use plot twists, rising and falling action, dialogue as a tool in your toolbox, and ways to crank up the tension in your story. His other book in this series, Revision and Self Editing, is good as well, especially if you love checklists.

Directing the Story by Francis Glebas

This one is probably the oddball on the list, since it’s actually a book about storyboarding. But visual storytelling shares a lot with the more verbal forms of storytelling, and that’s why I recommend this book. Also, some of us love to explore our stories through doodles and drawing, and this book has some fantastic advice for how to use that quirk to its full potential.

Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder

This is a polarizing book. It seems it either works for you, or it really doesn’t. It’s great for folks who are interested in writing for the screen - especially films. It may not be so great if you want to be a novelist. But if you want to explore screenwriting, this is a great place to start. My one word of warning is to not let Snyder’s formulas become rules. They’re supposed to just be guidelines, and they CAN be flexible. Test the ideas out to see if they work for you. (If not, move along).

Mary Sue Litmus Test

I add this because I think it’s hilarious. Please test your characters responsibly. Do not take this test too seriously. It’s supposed to be ridiculous and fun.

Written? Kitten!

Exactly what it says on the box. You’re welcome.

Invisible Ink by Brian MacDonald

If you read one book on this list, make this the one. It’s pure and deep and gets to the heart of what makes stories worth telling. And it makes storytelling seem more natural than anything else in the world. 

MacDonald’s other book, The Golden Theme, focuses on the theory of why we tell stories and how they matter. Both of these books are brilliant and will make you think about story in a new light. SUPER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I may think of more resources later. Please add your own to this list!

[zachsgotyourback]

Art dumpo of some schoolwork and doodles for funzies 

[meldrumart]

A long overdue study of the color yellow. 

Considering that I 1) Did this from a photo, 2) am way rusty in regards to traditional-style painting, and 3) took forever on this, I’m pleased with how it turned out and exercised my muscles.  I’m moving on to the next.

Notes to self:  1) Work on getting those really soft shadows.  2) aim for more measuring/ accuracy in initial drawing

That’s it for “yellow”~ thanks for the prompt, OA!

[theartofcamillecruz]

I just found your blog through a drawing of Adora you did and I really like your style! Where did you learn to draw?

Hi there! and thank you so much!

This is a bit of a complicated question to answer because there’s no one exact answer, but I’ll try!

I was self taught through anime for the early parts of my life (I think this is the case for a lot of artists today)

Eventually I did get formal education from an Art program (It was mostly art applied to advertising so they taught us design and composition in a very graphic design centric way, the first two years however, included classes on fundamentals, which were incredibly helpful in undoing a lot of the bad habits I’ve developed over the years)

The only thing was, professors from art schools tend to be very critical with anime inspired art (which I understand) but had me struggling to find a style that would appeal to them (it ended up looking somewhat like vintage pulp comics but not in a good way)

I graduated with a style I didn’t like and quite a lot of gaps in my art education so I started looking online for supplementary classes (I started with the free library on CTRL+Paint and eventually bought a few videos on specific things I wanted to learn, I also took a few classes on The Oatley Academy and Schoolism)

Also books! lots and lots of books!

For the most part however, I think what helped me most was finding artists online with styles I gravitated towards and trying to dissect what about it appealed to me and incorporating that into my own!

So it’s a mix of all those things, Style-wise my more recent influences come from western cartoons (mostly traditional Disney and Dreamworks animation from the 90s and early 2000s like Treasure Planet and El Dorado and anime-inspired cartoons like Avatar/LoK) as well as graphic novels and comics, and there are artists I tend to try and draw from when I can (Sophie Li, Mingue Hellen Chen, Nina Vakuneva among others)

Sorry for the long answer! but I hope that was helpful! (also terribly sorry it took a while, today was unexpectedly busy!) 

[kirasketch]

My finished “Fancy Animal” for Magic Box

based off Egyptian Girl by John Singer Sargent

[ladygoofus]

I'm so heckin' excited that Chris Oatley is releasing podcasts again!! His old podcasts & his online art school (The Oatley Academy) taught me so much of what I know about art and storytelling, and this interview is fantastic.

[dearartdirector]

Thank you for answering people's questions in such detail! I really enjoy this blog and the work that you Mods put into it. Do you have any recommendations for other blogs/ websites similar to this one?

Thanks for the kind words. We put the time in because we really feel that this info needs to be out there. So many artists don’t get the career and business advice they need to be successful — even in art school! Our goal is to give artists the info they need to do all the self-promo and networking that’s critical to an art career as effectively as possible so they can get back to making more art!

That said, here’s the rest of the sites run by the same Secret Agent Art Directors of DearAD (some more secret than others):

Drawn + Drafted — the umbrella home page to all our educational projects

Make Your Art Work — our online classes 

The ProjectCast — our podcast with successful artist entrepreneurs

The Newsletter — sign up and hear about everything

we’re also on Twitter and Facebook

and then there’s also awesome places for art education:

Muddy Colors blog

Illustration Age resource page

SmART School, Pencil Kings, and Oatley Academy for more online classes

Advice on getting your personal projects produced and published at Art Order

That should keep you busy awhile!

—All Agents

[ergoshwampy]

Back in 2020 while doing a mentroship course at The Oatley Academy (https://oatleyacademy.com/) I wanted to paint a scene from the classic story of Hercules. The first variation was a black and white painting, and although I wasn't completely satisfied with it, I think it had a lo of protentional. I took some time away from it, and continued to learn about painting. After two years of painting study and taking into consideration my mentor's feedback (thanks Chris, you're the best), I decided to take another whack at it. Hence the new version with a much better story.

[darantha]

Was sitting in a info meeting for a Oatley Academy class and noodled away at a back study to keep my hands busy, that then snowballed into me using it to finish up the tattoos on my character Corin. :’)

Took me nearly a year after doing the arm part for another painting, but at least it’s done. xD

[cloudedart]

Piece done last year as part of OA’s Painting Drama 2 course! Medusa & Highwayman; or, “The Highwayman’s Horrible Terrible No-Good Very Bad Day”