The Drawing Academy: Portfolio

Do you have great drawing skills and need the help to improve your portfolio? TDA Portfolio is the best preparation to apply for our Bachelor's degree programmes! 

Type and duration

Foundation course, (10 weeks)

Course dates

6th of January - 14th of March, 2025

Course fee

DKK 17,000                            *(Former students of The Drawing Academy's semester courses and Visuel HF get a DKK 2000 discount)

Application deadline

21 October, 2024

ECTS

The course is not accredited with ECTS credits

What you will learn

The course comprises a series of workshops covering topics relevant for bachelor programmes at The Animation Workshop and similar institutions. Typically, we organize one class for each of the three bachelor lines (Character Animation, CG Arts, and Graphic Storytelling). However, if there are fewer applicants, we will devise flexible solutions to ensure that everyone can still concentrate on disciplines relevant to their own portfolio.

Each workshop includes lectures, assignments, and individual feedback sessions, providing participants with a comprehensive understanding of portfolio requirements. This setup allows everyone the opportunity to create the drawings necessary for their portfolio. In the weeks leading up to the admission deadline, you will have dedicated time to focus solely on completing and optimizing your portfolio, with personalized feedback from your primary instructor.

While classical drawing is not part of the course curriculum, you will have access to all-TAW open life drawing sessions.

As a student of TDA Portfolio, you will have access to a workspace dedicated to this course 24/7, where you can work and relax with your fellow classmates.

Please be aware that for the CG Arts class, it is necessary to bring a computer capable of running Blender. Ideally, this should be a laptop that you can take home with you. For the Character Animation and Graphic Storytelling classes, it is recommended to bring a laptop, iPad, or a similar device for digital drawing. However, it is possible to take the course without these devices.

Ready to apply?

CV, letter of motivation and portfolio

When applying to the course, you will be asked to upload the following in the application system:

CV (school/education and, if relevant, work experience), Letter of motivation, max. a half A4 page. (Please write which BA-line you would like to apply for), Portfolio (show 10-20 observational drawings, of which a minimum of five should be of a live model. You can also upload sketchbook drawings. Please note: we would like to see drawings of observations from life, not drawings from photos. (Please upload a pdf or a link to an online portfolio)

 

Apply before October 21

You will receive the result of your application shortly after the application deadline.

Apply here

Need more information?

  • Shortly after you have been accepted into The Animation Workshop/VIA University College, you will be contacted by the school’s Housing Coordinator with specific housing information. You can choose to:

    • apply for a dorm room
    • make arrangements with private housing providers, for example shared apartments with fellow students

    The school itself has no accommodations. Our role is to provide various housing options and help create contact between housing providers and new students and to assist with language barriers if necessary. If you have questions about housing or need language assistance, please contact taw.housing@via.dk.

    Dorm rooms

    Dorm rooms in Viborg typically cost between 2500-3500 DKK (250-470 EUR) per month depending on size and whether you are willing to share facilities. Utility expenses, like electricity, internet and heating, are often paid separately and cost around 600 DKK (80 EUR) per month.

    The dormitory Camp Logos is located across the street from the school and houses many of our students. Rooms at Camp Logos come with furniture, a bathroom and a small kitchen. You should bring your own pillow, duvet and kitchen utensils.

    Merkur Kollegiet (The Merkur dormitory) is located in a newer residential area in Viborg's eastern district, 3.8 km from The Animation Workshop. All rooms are furnished with a bed and a desk, and all have cable TV and free internet access. Each room has a storage room.

    Shared apartments

    The cost of private rooms in shared apartments varies depending on size, location and other factors, but they are not drastically different from the cost of student accommodation.

    It is our experience that the majority of our students prefer to move into a shared apartment in the city. Join our Facebook Housing group to team up with other students looking for roommates and new tenants for the apartments, they are vacating.

    These websites may also be helpful:

    • Danhousing (many large apartments in the city – suitable for sharing)
  • The school does not offer scholarships.

    It is not possible to get SU (public education support).

    The Animation Workshop/VIA University College (TAW) reserves the right to cancel the course should there not be enough participants

    Materials

    You will mainly be working with analogue drawing materials, but in some workshops, you will have the opportunity to work digitally, if you have your own computer equipment. While many students may want to create part of their portfolio digitally, except for a few computers for scanning etc. in the common areas, the school is not providing computers for the students in TDA Portfolio. Bringing a computer and a Wacom tablet is recommended but in no way mandatory.

    The Animation Workshop/VIA University College (TAW) reserves the right to cancel the course should there not be enough participants.

  • The Drawing Academy (TDA) is the drawing department of The Animation Workshop/VIA University College. At The Drawing Academy, we approach drawing as a craft with reference to baroque and renaissance masters, as well as to more recent artists working with representing and interpreting reality.

    During the courses at TDA, we train your ability to draw the human body and the world around it. We often draw a live model in a variation of both very short and longer poses depending on the purpose of the exercise. Many of the exercises aim at teaching you how to understand, draw and construct the actual shapes that objects, bodies, heads etc. consist of, so that you can work with values, tones and light. Other very important topics are movement and mood. In TDA Classical Drawing & Painting, we expand into the area of colours.

    At TDA, we are interested in giving you a deep understanding of form, construction and movement rather than how to make a nice and glossy surface. This understanding is relevant, not only for animation, but for all kinds of artistic disciplines. Thus, the semester course is an excellent base for further visual studies. It is also relevant for visual professionals wishing to improve their drawing skills.

    If your main area of interest is classical art, we encourage you to take a look at TDA Classical Drawing & Painting. For that course, some experience with classical drawing is an advantage. However, we also welcome students with limited classical drawing experience, if they are highly motivated to learn. For students of TDA Classical & Visual Storytelling Foundation, who wish to continue developing their classical drawing skills and learn how to paint, the course is well suited as a top-up course.

    Studying at The Animation Workshop

    You will study in a highly ambitious environment that cultivates an extensive international network of skilled professional guest teachers. You will also get access to many extracurricular activities such as inspirational talks by artists, illustrators and animators, evening life drawing, sports and social events.

Contact

Maria Skov Pedersen
  • Maria Skov Pedersen

  • Coordinator and Lecturer at the Talent and Skills Department
  • T: +45 87 55 49 44