[fongmingyun]

Hey, I just moved to the Los Angeles area, but since I'm working as a TD (read: I write scripts and mess around in UNIX all day), I'm still looking to brush up my art chops. However, since it's a full-time position, I can only take classes at night, and I sometimes have to work Saturdays.

A lot of threads here contain reviews of full-time art schools. But I was wondering if anyone had experience with part-time stuff, especially in the Los Angeles area. Which classes did you take? Were you happy with them? Did they cut into your schedule? How was your instructor? (THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT~) Was it very free-thinking or very technical? Did you take an online course, and was it helpful.

I've been looking at Gnomon, LAAFA, REDNGIN, the Animation Guild (Local 839) and CDA, its partner 3Kicks. I've considered online courses at ConceptArt.Org's The Art Department, but I highly prefer classes on-location.

My interests lie in the 2D, concept area (especially character, creature, and environment), or 3D before it has to move (modeling, sculpting, texturing but not rigging or animation) .

[WStaple2]

www.futurepoly.com

This is Seattle based campus, but they are gearing up to do online courses in the very near future. I am a current student in the Professional Course and its been quite the eye opener. Check'm out, there a great network source for industry leads also.

[burning_chrome]

Why in the world would you take online art classes if you're living in L.A.? Seriously, you can throw a rock and probably be able to hit 3 or 4 industry pros or near pro students on any given day and time teaching in-person somewhere relatively close and fits into your schedule somehow.

I can't speak for Gnomon, RedEngine, or Animation Guild, but I have taken classes at LAAFA, ConceptDesign Academy and 3Kicks Studio.

Bottom Line for LAAFA: Horrendous front-office management. The popular instructors remaining get packed with students, and trust me, the teacher/student ratio can certainly be a nightmare. Still, if you're interested in LAAFA, my top recommendations would be Kirk Shinmoto (Figure Drawing), Rey Bustos (2D/3D anatomy) and Mark McDonnell (Costumed Quick Sketch). And if Marshall Vandruff drops in for workshops, anything that man teaches is pure gold.

Concept Design Academy: top end instruction, well-maintained studio environment, and courteous management. I've taken Analytical Figure Drawing with Kevin Chen and Creature Design with Jared Marantz and both were excellent classes. For each of my classes I received a detailed syllabus and weekly homework assignments to set the progressive nature of a 10 week course - I believe that all of CDA classes have a set structure/lesson plan and online blog for student homework, Q&A, class resources, etc.

3Kicks: I took both Gesture and Anatomy Drawing with Charles Hu and I cannot recommend him enough to people. Fantastic instructor who works his butt off teaching all over SoCal because he loves his craft and always does it with a smile and absence of ego. Gary Meyer for Perspective Drawing was fantastic as well, I just wish I had been a better student for the subject matter. And although I take Richard Morris' Advanced Figure Drawing class at another location, he's unquestionably the best tonal figure drawing instructor in L.A. (and his painting and head drawing classes aren't too shabby either).

[WStaple2]

Considering NOBODY had answered his question, I offered what I knew from my area that might be able to help him.

But I'm glad to see your displeasure with my answer got you to offer up other possibilities. They may have been obvious to you, but to him.... Well thats why he posted here in the first place.

[fongmingyun]

Yay! Answers!

Thank you, WStaple - I had been considering online art courses, but I know that kind of instruction isn't as helpful for me. (I've tried it before, and it wasn't helpful I was really hoping it would work - it's a great idea.) Also, the price tag on the classes is pretty good. So, thank you. If it comes down to it, I'll definitely look into these.

burning_chrome, your advice is great! I am very glad you cited specific classes and instructors. Thank you. I've heard very positive reviews of CDA. I will be taking a workshop there this weekend. I tried to get into Kevin Chen's class this season, but it was full. ;_;
Instead, I am taking a weekly figure drawing class with Karl Gnass offered at my workplace. It's really good, and nice that it fits into my lunch break, but it's not particularly intense since we are limited to two hours. I would recommend him if you are looking to take more courses since he has a very cool "focus on the story" principle (which helps tech-y people like me loosen up a bit).