TAD's Summer Illustration Academy!

[John English]

For the first time The Illustration Academy will be presented as a special program to TAD's Illustration Department. The program will be held in two locations, Kansas City and Richmond and begins May 31st and ends June 25th. Come spend a month in the studio with the Academy faculty and begin to acquire the tools needed to launch your career!

• Studios will be in the Pod studios for TAD
• Housing will be handled by local colleges for the fee of: Single occupancy-
$47.25 person/night Double occupancy- $24.15 person/night (this is for
Richmond, Kansas City prices will be finalized in a few days)
• A maximum of 30 students will be excepted to either location
• Program Fee is $3900 this includes a years subscription to the VLP
• Discounts of 20% ($780) for returning students and $500 for VLP
subscribers
• Portfolio submission required with application (minimum of 6 images)
• Download application: http://www.illustrationacademy.com
• Fax application to: (913) 831-4916 or email: [email protected]
• Each location has registration and checkin on Sunday May 30th from
2-5 PM


Thanks,

John

[George Pratt]

John,

Pretty exciting stuff! Everything that's been going on this year has been amazing and this is just icing on the cake. The Academy will be an absolute blast and an uncompromising learning experience.

My association with the Academy, I can't even remember how many years it's been, has been one of the most fruitful aspects of my life as an instructor and an artist. Getting to teach next to many of my heros has been incredibly rewarding. And seeing the great changes this program has made on the lives of so many students is unbelievable.

I wish I had easy access to my Academy photos right now. I'll have to dig around and reinstall them and post some of them. Students in a totally immersive art environment, wallowing in art day after day. It's powerful stuff. Seeing the amount of art that is used as wallpaper in those classrooms is pretty inspiring in an of itself. But everyone there is working diligently on making better pictures, sharing the knowledge they have with everyone.

I look forward to seeing the students in Kansas!

George

[Doug Chayka]

John,
There are many outstanding colleges, but nothing compares to the Illustration Academy.
The academy can do what no other institution can do: completely immerse you in picture making, 24/7, in a communal studio setting led by the most successful practitioners in the field. The intensity and depth of the experience is unmatched.
I attended the Academy as a student for two summers (1995, 1996), and the experience opened my eyes to completely new ways of approaching concepts and techniques, and broadened my perspectives on illustration, art history, and so many other aspects of contemporary culture. It equipped me with skills that I continue to rely on in my professional practice.
It is a great privilege to be returning for my third summer as an instructor at the academy and to have the opportunity to work with and continue to learn from the biggest talents in the field. I'm counting the days 'til Richmond!

Doug Chayka

[Sterling Hundley]

The Art Department, ConceptArt.org, ConceptArt Workshops, the Visual Literacy Program- all of it can be traced back to the Illustration Academy. The program has affected so many lives directly, who have gone on to affect so many others.

This program is without question the reason why I am able to make pictures, and solve visual problems for a living.

The Academy has never been more accessible, more affordable, and more promising than this summer's program. If you are waiting to see how TAD develops, the Academy is the closest you can get without actually attending.

As always, I can't wait to inspire and be inspired.

Sterling Hundley

Doug- Can't wait to have you here!

[Brent Watkinson]

The KC location will have the following full time instructors:

John English
Brent Watkinson
George Pratt
AND........
The Man......
The Myth.....
Mark English!

And don't forget, for three of the four weeks, a "visiting" artist will be in attendance as well. At either location, (KC or Richmond), the instructors will be industry leaders that have proven and amazing track records.

I can't wait!!!!

[John English]

Thanks-

Brent, George, Doug and Sterling!

This is what an Art School should look like. Students immersed in a studio environment with great artists/instructors to mentor them through the process. Putting students in an immersive situation allows the students to learn application. The Illustration Academy gives a student the opportunity to bridge the gap from student to professional.

Here are a few more shots of what goes on at the Academy:

[Josh George]

Great photos John, seeing these gets me all fired up! Just a glimpse into the studio atmosphere and a hint at all the hard works that goes on. Look at all those wonderfully messy desks!

What I love about The Illustration Academy is its ability to delivery information in a clear and concise way. Kind of like a supped-up vocational tech school! From learning how color works (did you know there is temperature in color? That there is such a thing as a warm blue?) how to apply it (and not just painting color wheels) to enhance your message . To how light works, how you can design with it (check out Brent's light demo). Not to mention material technique after technique, that there are endless ways to make an image that you might never have thought of.

The working professional instructors and visiting artist are able to SHOW you how to develop pictures, not just TELL you how.

[J Love]

I attended the Illustration Academy in 2008, and can't wait to dive into it again in 2010! The Illustration Academy changed my life in so many ways that it is hard to put into words. All my life I had been looking for someone or somewhere that could teach me what I desperately needed to know to make myself a better artist. Traditional art schools tried to tell me that what I wanted to know was "unteachable", that it could only be discovered by making my own art for many years, through a process of trial and error - that making art was some sort of magic, and you would either have it or you wouldn't. The Illustration Academy shattered that notion on the very first day I was there. The instructors and artists associated with the Academy are the real deal, they have the knowledge that I needed and craved, and they were completely open with sharing that knowledge. These were not professors that talked about making art, or taught you how to talk about art, these were professionals at the top of their game making art side-by-side with you, and sharing their knowledge and hard-won wisdom and they were happy to do it! I learned more in one month at the Academy than I did in years at art school, but not only that, the Academy taught me how to teach myself - I am now a lifelong student of art, and I wake up every day excited for it.

I am still digesting the information that I got from the Academy almost two years ago - as I grow as an artist the teachings take on new resonances and open up new doors in my brain. I left the Academy two summers ago feeling like the luckiest person alive, and getting to go back to the Academy this year confirms it: I'm the luckiest person alive.

[Fvallejo]

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h211/ndballa24/work_room.jpg

Man this image takes me back. My first Illustration Academy workspace from July 2008, around 3am in the morning. This piece (http://www.booooooom.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/francisvallejo_02.jpg) is sitting on my desk as I tried to squeeze it in to the regular Academy assignments. My good buddies Dustin d'Arnault (http://dustindarnault.blogspot.com/) sat in front of me and Oliver Dominguez (http://www.oliverdominguez.blogspot.com/) sat behind, with 4 other of my best friends sitting in the next aisle. One of the best experiences of my life.

At that point I was mostly working through instinct. That was the first time I had teachers tangibly instruct picture making ideology. I'm very honored to be involved with a program that changed me so much.

You guys are in for a treat this summer!
-fv

[treybryan]

Man this is going to be great! Seeing everyone in the pods spaces is going to be so inspiring.

I'm ready!

Trey

[MussoliniBikini]

The anticipation is kill'in me, I'll be attending the Kansas city Pod this summer. Anyone know the exact address of the Pod, status of the housing situation in Kansas city?

Looking forward to meeting you all

http://nortonart.blogspot.com

[John English]

MussoliniBikini-

The Pod location is 1212 West 8th Street, Kansas City, MO 64101. The housing is your responsibility, but contact me and I will help with some suggestions! I have a relator helping me find apartments and will post their suggestions in the next week.

As for the workshop (June 14-July 2nd) we have housing secured at a local collage for $27 per night for a single and $31.50 for a double.

Don't hesitate to send me a message, we are all really excited about the upcoming TAD program!

Thanks,

John

[treybryan]

MussoliniBikini-

great man, see you this summer as well,
please do not hesitate to email me with any questions you have about Kansas city.

[email protected]

-treybryan

[John English]

vlpbanner2c

Illustration Academy Faculty Announced!

The 2010 Illustration Academy is fast approaching - there are still spots available at both locations
- for more information and to apply visit www.illustrationacademy.com.

Now you can APPLY ONLINE to The Illustration Academy! Go to the Application Page and see how!
Also, make deposits and payments online!

VLP Members receive a $495.00 discount!

The full-time faculty and visiting artists for each location will be as listed below:

Kansas City
Faculty: John English, Mark English, Brent Watkinson, George Pratt
Visiting Artists: Gary Kelley, C.F. Payne, Anita Kunz, Jon Foster

Richmond
Faculty: Sterling Hundley, Doug Chayka, Josh George, Robert Meganck
Visiting Artists: Jon Foster, Anita Kunz, John English, and more to be announced.

We look forward to seeing you this summer!


John English Demo Online!

John English Landscape Painting is now online, listed under Demos and John English.

John really gets into his thought process in this video. After you watch this vid a couple of times,
you will want to have it playing in the background as you work so you can just listen to the
words and ideas.

PODS for TAD are being populated.

As time goes forward, the TAD Kick Off is growing near. June 17th is the Studio Kick Off of the
first TAD semester. Students from all around the country will converge in Kansas City for a three
week studio session. After that, some people stay in KC, and others will continue to Austin or
Richmond to start living the studio experience in their respective PODs. Studying online in the
Elluminate Educational Environment as well as taking part in a POD studio is the "hybrid" art
education experience that John English and Jason Manley have envisioned.

Additional Models Being Processed for VLP Figure Drawing.

We are continually working in the background to photograph models for Figure Drawing. Keep
posting those images, and keep drawing and THINKING! It never hurts to go back and watch
Mark's Figure Drawing Demos!

[Bill Koeb]

Hi John,

Looks like a great lineup this summer. Makes me want to attend as a student. Thanks for posting all those beautiful pieces of your dad's and the other photos from past sessions.

Bill

[John English]

Hi Bill-

Thanks for taking the time to say so! I hope to run into you sometime during the summer. Give me a call!

John

[J Love]

We're very excited to announce that C.F. Payne and Jason Manley have been added as Visiting Artists for Richmond!