The Complete Animation Portfolio Bundle
2026 - 2027 Application Year
So, you want to get accepted at a top animation school?
So did we, and we wish that it could have happened sooner. Instead each our tutors did introductory art programs that allowed us the time and training to develop our skills before re-applying to Colleges and Universities multiple times.
The goal of this program is to give you these skills and knowledge in a more concise and targeted way, and also delivered in a way that doesn’t require you to relocate to take an intro art program at a College. We want to train you so that you can make that winning portfolio sooner, and get accepted at your top animation programs.
All of our tutors studied Animation at Sheridan College’s fantastic Bachelors program, but we have experience working with students making portfolios for a wide range of different animation schools, such as Seneca, CalArts, SVA, RISD, The Animation Workshop in Denmark, and Gobelins in Paris.
Truthfully, regardless of which animation program you’re applying to, the fundamental drawing and design skills are universal. We hope to convince you that no matter what, it is far cheaper and more effective to study with us than other portfolio preparation programs at Colleges.
Our annual Animation Semester program offers a variety of ways to study with us that are distinct from our individual classes and mentorships. You can sign up for just some of the options, or save more with the full bundle.
If you want to get our perspective on your work before you decide, feel free to take our Free Portfolio Assessment to have us review some of your current artwork, or simply set up a Call with us to discuss the different options.
Details
When?
Our Complete Animation Portfolio Bundle begins each year in October. It spans from October to late February, finishing approximately when the Sheridan College Animation portfolio is due. All sessions are held in a secure Zoom room online — internet access is critical.
What does the Base Bundle it consist of?
5 Months of Animation Lectures (1 per week)
5 Months of Life Drawing Sessions (1 per week)
5 Months of Animation Workshops (1 per week)
Student experience presentations at top animation schools around the globe (The Animation Workshop, Gobelins, Sheridan College, CalArts, and Emily Carr University.
A 2-hour Group Life Drawing “Choosing” Session to pick your best life drawings closer to the portfolio due date.
Lifetime Access to all of our Video Courses (35+ hours of video content)
Every lecture, life drawing, and feedback session is recorded for any student who isn’t able to attend live on Zoom.
Why take this program?
We feel that this program provides the perfect balance of value for students whether they are currently in their final year of high-school with a busy schedule, or in a gap year between education, or pivoting from a different post-secondary program to study animation instead. We have taught this program for many years now, and we adjust it each year to better accommodate our students’ busy lifestyles.
The intent of this program is to provide you with plenty of opportunities to listen to empowering, informative lectures from a variety of different teachers to provide a well-rounded point of view towards developing your skills to create a successful animation portfolio. Some will be focus more on high-level concepts or methodologies towards creating an incredible portfolio, some will assist you in a direct, applied way in how you approach your artwork.
We have taken great care to provide a blend of both listening, studying, and then applying the principles and ideas repeatedly. We also wanted to provide weekly opportunities for our students to attend life drawing sessions live with us, since attending life drawing classes in-person is an increasingly difficult opportunity for many to find.
We created this program together because it’s the program we would have wanted if it was available.
What will the weekly schedule look like?
Organization & Accountability
One of the biggest additions to the program this year is that we have added some great ways for students to track their portfolio progression. Our instructors will be able to view this task list as well, ensuring a transparent flow of communication from our students’ artwork to every instructor.
This will allow us much greater knowledge of what to emphasize for each individual student in the one-on-one sessions especially (Version 3 or 4). We have also created a general priority list that can be modified to accommodate each program that they will be creating portfolios for.
Flexibility
All of these sessions will occur in the evening EST to accommodate North American and some western European time zones, however, ALL sessions will be recorded and be viewable anytime the student is able to review it. It is ideal for those that are currently attending high-school, College, University, or those who work during the day.
If your time zone won’t allow you to be live with us, you can still submit your artwork for the Live Group Feedback Sessions prior to the start time, and it will still be reviewed during the recorded session even if you’re not able to be present.
Watch Garth demonstrate our new systems to ensure our instructors are aware of our students’ progress through their numerous portfolios.
Versions
Enrollment is now open!
Our most popular annual program returns for the 2026 - 2027 application year! Click here to arrange a payment plan.
This year it’s better than ever, including:
Version #1 Includes
5 Months of Weekly Animation Portfolio Lectures (Sunday evenings EDT)
5 Months of Weekly Life Drawing Sessions Online (Monday evenings EDT)
5 Months of Weekly Hands-On Animation Workshops (Thursday evenings EDT)
A 2-hour Group Life Drawing “Choosing” Session to pick your best life drawings closer to the portfolio due date.
Lifetime Access to all of our Course Lecture Videos (4-Week and 8-Week Courses).
Version #2 Add-Ons
5 Months of Group Feedback Sessions allowing for TWO artwork submissions for review each week
Version #3 Add-Ons
Upgrade for Group Feedback Sessions allowing for FOUR artwork submissions for review each week
4 x One-on-One Feedback Sessions with Instructor of Choice (Up to 1 hour in length)
Monthly Summary Sessions designed to keep students on track with personalized guidance
Version #4 Add-Ons
All of above
Upgrade to 12 x One-on-One Feedback Sessions with Instructor of Choice (Up to 1 hour in length)
Monthly email or call with parents to give an overview of how their teen is progressing through the portfolio work, and with support tailored to each student.
50% discount on additional programs enrolled in within 6 months of enrolling.
Start Date: October 1, 2026
Enroll By: September 30th 2026 (midnight)
This allows those keeners to begin early in our Summer program (starting in July), and continuing into our regular October - late February Complete Animation Portfolio Bundle.
Complete Animation Portfolio Bundle 2026-2027
Version #1 Includes
5 Months of Weekly Animation Portfolio Lectures (Sunday evenings EDT)
5 Months of Weekly Life Drawing Sessions Online (Monday evenings EDT)
5 Months of Weekly Hands-On Animation Workshops (Thursday evenings EDT)
A 2-hour Group Life Drawing “Choosing” Session to pick your best life drawings closer to the portfolio due date.
Lifetime Access to all of our Course Lecture Videos (4-Week and 8-Week Courses).
Version #2 Add-Ons
5 Months of Group Feedback Sessions allowing for TWO artwork submissions for review each week
Version #3 Add-Ons
Upgrade for Group Feedback Sessions allowing for FOUR artwork submissions for review each week
4 x One-on-One Feedback Sessions with Instructor of Choice (Up to 1 hour in length)
Monthly Summary Sessions designed to keep students on track with personalized guidance
Version #4 Add-Ons
All of above
Upgrade to 12 x One-on-One Feedback Sessions with Instructor of Choice (Up to 1 hour in length)
Monthly email or call with parents to give an overview of how their teen is progressing through the portfolio work, and with support tailored to each student.
50% discount on additional programs enrolled in within 6 months of enrolling.
Frame by Frame Summer Classes
The goal of Frame by Frame is to dive into 2D animation head-on. There will be a series of classes every week of the summer that will guide you through the principles of animation through a range of different exercises. Every assignment will also have a scalable level of difficulty — making them adaptable for those who’ve never animated before as well as for those who’ve cracked open the seal on animating some scenes, and who are looking to brush up their skills. Leave this summer with some of your animation portfolio pieces completed!
Here is a summary of the skills you’ll be developing through the program:
Developing a solid foundation of applying squash and stretch (and not just with bouncing balls!)
Understanding the power of a good keyframes
How to pose your characters in ways that work for animation
Applying S and C curves
Understanding and applying the principles of animation such as follow through and secondary action
How to make your animation communicate different weights
How and when to apply smear drawings
How to polish your animation to a professional level
WHEN:
Begins July 1st to August 26th
FREQUENCY & FORMAT:
• 1 Lecture / Demonstration every Wednesday for 2.5 hours (9 classes total)
• 1 Asynchronous Feedback Session submitted by Sunday evening each week (9 feedback sessions total)
• Optional* — for extra support, you can upgrade to the option with 3 × 1 hour feedback sessions live with the instructor (must be booked during the summer)
* - These one-on-one feedback sessions are included for free with this bundle.
To arrange a payment plan, use the contact form here.
Q&As
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Yes! Please refer to the costs provided for each program option above to see the maximum # of payments we accept for each version of this program.
We do not charge any additional cost to pay with a payment plan.
Contact us below to arrange your payment plan.
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This is our most frequently asked question, and our answer is always: we cannot guarantee anything, but what we can do is:
give you consistent feedback on your artwork
keep your work schedule on track
give you a sense of accountability
answer any questions you have along the way
give you an accurate sense of what is expected of you as a candidate to be accepted
encourage you to meet our fellow students, who you might eventually be friends with in the program!
We also don't make guarantees because you are the critical ingredient in this equation. Do you do the assigned work on time? Do you ask questions? Do you show up with more than asked? Etc.
Your passion, and your hard-work are what guarantee you opportunities in life. 😊
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If you miss a class, whether it is a lecture, or a group feedback session, no problem! Everything is recorded online during the Zoom calls, and is then uploaded for all to view afterwards.
If you do not submit any work to be reviewed during the Group Feedback Session, or during the Life Drawing class critique, you will miss this opportunity. However, it is still extremely valuable to view others’ artworks receiving feedback, and we encourage all of our enrolled students to watch recorded feedback sessions whether they submitted work for review or not.
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We have written a blog post on this subject exactly! Please read it here.
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You can email us via our contact page, or you can simply book a call with us to chat on Zoom.
If you would like to send us samples of your work to see what we'd recommend, you can email hello @ theanimationtutor.com (without the spaces).
Arrange your payment plan.
hello @ theanimationtutor.com