The Kubert School - Curriculum

Curriculum

All classes at The Kubert School are mandatory. Students cannot drop classes and if they fail one class, they fail the entire year. There are ten classes a week, two classes a day. Each class is two hours and forty-five minutes.

First Year

• "Introduction to Animation" teaches the fundamentals of traditional hand-drawn animation. Students learn to produce simple animations, including a walk cycle. Taught by Doug Compton.
• Production I" teaches basic Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, color theory and computer lettering. Taught by Fabio Redivo (A Wave Blue World & Archie Comics).
• "Humor & Caricature I" teaches how to caricature humans, as well as production of humorous comic strips. Taught by Rod Ollerenshaw and John Hazard.
• "Design I" teaches fundamentals of design. Assignments typically include character designs and ad layouts. Taught by Alec Stevens.
• "Lettering" teaches comic book lettering, in both dialogue and sound effect fonts. Taught by Hy Eisman (Popeye, The Katzenjammer Kids), John Hazard, and Rod Ollerenshaw.
• "Basic Drawing I" teaches the fundamentals of drawing, including lighting, rendering, composition, and perspective. Taught by Tom Mandrake").
• "Layout I" teaches the fundamentals of layout and composition. Taught by Bob Hardin.
• "Figure Drawing I" is a life drawing class, typically featuring a live nude male or female model. Basics of human anatomy are also covered. Taught by Joel Tidey.
• "Methods and Materials I" teaches use of various tools used for comic production, including inking with brushes and crow quill pens, Duoshade, scratchboard, Dr. Ph. Martin dyes, and more. Taught by Mike Chen and Kim DeMulder.
• "Narrative Art I" teaches the production of finished sequential art, from thumbnail to rough layout, to penciled pages, and sometimes finished inked and/or lettered pages. Actual sequential pages usually make up about 10% of the assignments for this class. Taught by Fernando Ruiz.

Second Year

• "Narrative Art II" continues the lesson on sequential art. Actual sequential pages usually make up about 50% of the assignments for this class. Taught by Andy Kubert ("X-Men," "Batman").
• "Basic Drawing II" teaches intermediate drawing skills, and expands upon the foundations taught in First Year. Taught by Kim DeMulder, Alec Stevens, and Tom Taggart ("Doom Patrol").
• "Layout and Design I" teaches computer production, including computer lettering (Adobe Illustrator), computer coloring (Adobe Photoshop), and page production (QuarkXPress). Recently taught by Gabe Bridwell ("Noble Causes"), Rick Cellano (a.k.a. "Rickman") and Dwayne Ferguson (a.k.a. "Hunter Wolf," a.k.a. "Storm," a.k.a. "Fergie" a.k.a. "Muddy Mae Suggins") ("Hamster Vice").
• "Humor & Caricature II" continues caricature lessons and production of humorous comic strips. Taught by Bob Hardin and Mick Posch.
• "Human Figure I" is another life drawing class. This one goes more in-depth into human anatomy. Taught by Ian Dorian and Ravindra Rana.
• "Advertising Illustration" teaches production of advertising material, such as posters, CD covers, and T-shirts. Taught by Shelby McPherson.
• "Color Illustration I" teaches color theory and how to produce paintings in such media as acrylic paint and watercolor. Taught by Toby Cypress ("The Tourist," "Rodd Racer").
• "Methods and Materials II" teaches painting methods such as acrylic paint, watercolor, and airbrush. Taught by Doug Axmann.
• "Story Adaptation" teaches how to take a story from a medium such as novels or poems, and adapt them to comic book format. This class is generally referred to as the "second narrative class" of JKS Year Two. Taught by Michael Kraiger.
• "Business of Cartoon Art I" teaches how to market oneself as an artist, and how to look for and secure jobs. Taught by Darren Auck, former Marvel Comics editor.

Third Year

• "Humor & Caricature III" continues caricature lessons and production of humorous comic strips. Taught by Brian Buniak.
• "Advanced Techniques and the Development of Style" teaches advanced techniques in art, including composition, layout, design, and rendering. Taught by Ian Dorian.
• "Human Figure II" is another life drawing class, and teaches advanced human anatomy. Recently taught by Kim DeMulder.
• "Sequential Art" is the third Narrative Art class, and actual sequential pages make up roughly 90% of the assignments. Taught by Joe Kubert ("Sgt. Rock").
• "Layout and Design II" has a focus on website building, and learning Macromedia Dreamweaver and Macromedia Flash. Taught by Rick Cellano, Dwayne Ferguson (a.k.a. "Muddy Mae Suggins"), and Gabe Bridwell ("Noble Causes").
• "Sketching and Layout" typically contains all manner of commercial art assignments, including sequential art, posters, logo design, and more. Finished artwork is usually not necessary for a grade. Taught by Irwin Hasen ("Dondi").
• "Business of Art II" continues the lesson on marketing oneself as an artist. Taught by Darren Auck.
• "Writing" teaches how to write scripts for comics, and how to develop characters and plots. Taught by Michael Kraiger(a.k.a. MK Dubious).
• "Color Illustration II" continues the lesson on color theory and painting. Oil painting is typically introduced this year. Taught by Toby Cypress and Ravindra Rana.
• "Methods and Materials III" continues the lesson on painting. Oil painting is also covered in this class. Taught by Doug Axmann.