Launch of Online Animation School: Taught By A Pro
Tom Bancroft, well known author and animator, has teamed up with Rich Lanam, an educational technology consultant, to start an online art school called Taught By A Pro (www.TaughtByAPro.com). Tom Bancoft’s work has been included in Disney animation favorites Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan, and many others. He has also written the definitive textbooks on character design that are used at art schools around the world.
Together Rich and Tom have created the online art training program Taught By A Pro in order to provide art instruction by professionals to artists in training who might not ordinarily have the opportunity to be taught by professional animators, comic book artists, comic strip artists, illustrators, video game designers and more.
“Our goal is to give artists in training access to the best professional artists without the expense of art school. Whether you are already a professional artist or an aspiring artist, it is critical that you improve your skills. Taught By A Pro is the platform for improving your abilities and enhancing your portfolio”, states Tom.
Rich adds, “Technology has the capability to improve access to education. Our goal is to reduce many of the barriers – financial, time and distance – so solid art instruction can be available to all who want it. By providing instruction anytime and anyplace at an affordable price we are breaking down some of these barriers.” According to Tom, “The types of professionals who will be sharing their techniques and tips to our students are Masters at their profession and don’t generally teach. These are artists who have honed their craft for some of the most prestigious film studios, video game companies, and institutions in the world. At Taught By A Pro, we are committed to bringing those artists to you!”
After working at Disney feature animation for over 11 years, lecturing at art schools, video game and animation studios, and writing some of the best-selling books on the subject of character design, Tom Bancroft, President of Taught By A Pro, had a few ideas about how we learn as artists. Taught By A Pro was built on Tom’s philosophy of learning. “We believe that we learn by listening, watching, then doing – then doing again, and again. We believe that we learn best in a hear, see, do style. We need to hear an experienced instructor explain a concept, see them illustrate that point, and then DO it yourself via an assignment given by the PRO. We add to this philosophy by also having the PRO do the same assignment so you can see how they apply their experience to the same challenges YOU faced. Seeing an experienced artist face the same challenge you did is one of the best ways to learn!”
Jake is a Researcher and Interactive developer at Wonky Films and the face behind all of Show Me The Animation’s online platforms and website. So if it breaks he’s probably to blame! Aside from running the SMTA online, Jake make’s interactive things for Wonky Films.
