The 2024 ToonSchool Awards

Greetings Toonschoolers and those who support them enthusiastically!

Welcome to the Annual ToonSchool Awards which Celebrate the ToonSchoolers’ Commitment to their Creativity.

The only true way for any Artist to get better at what they do is to just show up. At the Drawing Table, the Typewriter, the Pottery Wheel, the Piano, wherever Passion may lead them, and to keep on keeping on. Keep on practicing your Skill, keep on exploring your chosen Art Form, find its Secrets, push its Boundaries, and allow all of it to mingle and merge with your own Artistic Voice.

This is what Dedication to the Development of one’s work entails. It is the Commitment to attend weekly Art Classes, take part in Online Drawing Challenges, explore new Art Mediums, or spend hours on YouTube trying to get Human Anatomy right. It is the Time one sets aside to work on one’s Art.

I recently plucked a tinsel-covered Pearl of Wisdom from a Christmas Movie, “No Creative moment is ever wasted.”

How very true. All these Moments of Creative Commitment, whether it’s a 3-minute Doodle or a 30-hour Illustration, do inevitably add up and before you know it you can match on paper what you’ve imagined in your mind.

The ToonSchoolers who are honored this year did exactly that. They showed up. Not only for class but also for their Art, pushing their limits and exploring their Skills, especially in their own Creative Time.

Well done, Young Artists, your Commitment to the Development of your Artistic Skill reflects great credit upon you and you should be proud of yourselves and what you’ve accomplished this year. I know I am very proud of you, so you may as well join me.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has supported ToonSchool over the past 10 years. It has been a privilege to be part of your Creative Journeys. To quote Julia Cameron in her book, Letters to a Young Artist, “You have been one of my blessings. I hope I have been one of your opportunities.”

Until we connect again. May the Creative Force be with you!

V.

View the ToonSchoolers’ Gallery: https://toonschoolsa.wixsite.com/toonschool/gallery

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2024 Creativity Cup

The Creativity Cup is a virtual ToonSchool Award given annually -since 2019- to the ToonSchooler/s who have shown the most Artistic Progress during the given year.

Previous well-deserved recipients of the Cup were Reijn Swart (2019), Maxine Blom (2020), Yolé and Lana van Deventer (2021), Ruben and Simon Swart (2022) and Callen Davie (2023).

This year the Creativity Cup is once again awarded to the talented brothers from Mpumalanga, South Africa, Ruben and Simon Swart. I suspect there may be something in the water up North for both the brothers’ work took another significant leap forward over the past year.

Congratulations, Bros., your passionate and exceptional dedication to the development of your respective Artistic Skills is evident in your Artwork.

The Swart family will receive one month of ToonSchool Sessions during 2025 entirely FREE of charge.

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2024 ToonSchool Certificates

ToonSchool Certificates are Awarded to those ToonSchoolers who have attended more than 50% of this year’s Online Sessions.

Congratulations to the following ToonSchoolers who qualify for this Certificate:

01. Andries Botha

02. Callen Davie

03. Reghardt Ehlers

04. Arion Fraser

05. Nando Fraser

06. Joshua Kronenberg

07. Zoe Pelser

08. Emma Pretorius

09. Ruben Swart

10. Simon Swart

11. Kelso van der Walt

12. Arian van der Werff

13. Lana van Deventer

14. Yolé van Deventer

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2024 ToonSchool “Book” Prizes

The ToonSchool “Book” Prizes are awarded to those Individuals who have attended more than 80% of this Year’s Online Sessions.

Congratulations to the following ToonSchoolers who qualify for the Book Prize:

01. Callen Davie

02. Arion Fraser

03. Nando Fraser

04. Zoe Pelser

05. Emma Pretorius

06. Ruben Swart

07. Simon Swart

08. Kelso van der Walt

Each of these ToonSchoolers will receive the following self-compiled Documents from ToonSchool’s Body of Research on Comic Art.

• The Art of Inking, an 18-page PDF on Inking Techniques, Styles and Processes, Line Anatomy, Thick- and Thin-line Animation, a rather thorough Section on Spotting Blacks and more.

• Inking Materials, a 9-page PDF on the Art Supply Options that exist when working with Pen & Ink.

• Animals in Toonsil-Town. | Each Animal of the Day Segment sports a Section on the chosen Animal’s representation in Comics, Cartoons and Animation. The 19-page PDF showcases a Collection of the most popular and beloved Animal Characters in Comic Art.

• ToonSchool’s own Multi-Harmony Colour Wheel that was introduced during the recent Session on Colour Theory.

I trust you these Sources will serve you well in your Creative Excursions.

V.

All Certificates and Book Prizes will be delivered via Email, DropBox or WeTransfer before the Clock Strikes Twelve on New Year’s Eve.

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ToonSchool Sessions will commence in 2025 with FREE OPEN DAY Sessions on Thursday, 09 January 2025, at 10:00 CAT and 18:00 CAT, and on Saturday, 11 January 2025, at 10:00.

The Sessions are open to all, from those who wish for a sneak peek of what ToonSchool has to offer, those who want to start the New Year on a Creative Note, and those who want to dust off the Drawing cobwebs before the Illustrative year begins.

May the Creative Force be with you!

V.