This program is focused on a single project.

The online certificate program is more of an exploratory, tool-building, voice-finding program.

When you have some tools and a sense of your voice and project, then you are ready or this!

1. Do you want significantly more skills to be able to do comics "right"?
2. Or do you just want to make your graphic novel happen ?

*We put "right" in quotes because we believe everyone can make something stunning with what they have if they have the will and a support system.

The Year Long Certificate Program:When you really really want to up your skills to something more akin to what you see in the graphic novel aisle of the bookstore or library you go to. We teach an amalgam of skills including anatomy, landscape drawing, composition, color/value placement, character design, etc.

This will help you find your voice to create your own comics from start to finish.

After that, we often recommend the Graphic Novel Intensive for: Wisdom, project management, working skills, and mentorship- that's what the Graphic Novel program is about.

Of course your path may be different. We've had people do only one of them. We've had people do them in reverse order.

We're here to help you get YOUR comics made!

No! We understand (boy, do we!) how hard it is to START.

But you should have some idea of what the project is, and be eager to start. We will hold you accountable, but YOU have to do the work. Accountability, group discussion and critique is a lot of what this program is about.

We will ask you to show up, again and again and again.

The time commitment is entirely up to you. As with most programs of this kind, the people that get the most out of it put the most in. You have to find a rhythm that works for you. As for interacting in the group, you can get away with as little or as much as you like as well. There is at least one zoom call each week that generally runs for 2 hours and functions as an informal check in with instructors and peers. As the course progresses there are additional check in calls. We recommend spending 3 to 5 additional hours each week actually working on your project in order to make significant progress by the end of the 6 months.

We very definitely get people every year with full time jobs. In fact, most of our students fall into that category.

The time management about getting the work done is up to you, but the community and interactive learning experiences we provide are available at a multitude of times. 

For instance, we will have LARGE GROUP CALLS and SMALL GROUP MENTORING. The large group calls (for general questions and conversation and guidance) are 2 pm weekly Eastern OR 8 pm weekly Eastern. Additionally you can choose one weekly small group call (for working on your specific story with a cohort and mentor) and those calls are all across the board. Mornings, afternoons, evenings. 

Additionally, our community message board is open 24/7.

Again, the time management about getting the work done is up to you.

But yes, we do believe you'd be fine!

All the video components of the course materials are prerecorded. The community is open 24/7 and the instructors and mentors will be in it daily. Additionally, we meet weekly via Zoom. At least one instructor, sometimes two, will be on each of these, with one call per month featuring a professional cartoonist, editor or creator.

The LARGE GROUP calls will be weekly at 2 pm on Wednesdays and at least bi-weekly at 8 pm Eastern on Wednesdays. They are not mandatory and are recorded and archived. We will host additional weekly small-group mentoring calls , which will be scheduled once the program starts but tend to be Mondays and Thursdays and sometimes Fridays. It depends on how many students we have. But we always try to accommodate multiple time zones!

No, not in its entirety. We can only read short-story sized excerpts at the scale of this program.

Our main personal offering is an ability to help you see the whole project in context, the motivation and some strategy to work on it, and editorial feedback and critiquing help where needed.

If you want more in-depth feedback, or editorial services for the entire project, please look to our 1-on-1 consulting page.

There is no materials list. This course is for people working on something in a medium they are comfortable with. For people who are looking to change their practice, we can help them figure out the best materials to help them reach their goals.

One of the instructors will be in the discussion group at least every other day. The online community works best with investment from the cohort of students all working on similar problems and challenges together. Discussions range from issues of practice to direct feedback on work. We are excited to guide the discussions in important and valuable ways.

Totally. It’s part of the last month of the program. We will share examples, guide you through the process and give you access to at least one publisher on a live call.

Yes! Absolutely! We want to make sure this course is the right fit for you and for us. If we aren't already in touch with you, please email us, or use the MESSAGE US tab below, if you want to share what you want to be working on so we can make sure we can serve you.