You have to stand in the waiting area (I think each session is 20 - 25 min?) and once they count people to tables, they close off the area - we usually go when we see 2 or 3 families in the waiting area...
They have a rotation of Disney artists (the one that we worked with was doing pooh, and dd wanted to do stitch, he said if we came back - we could do stitch! There werent that many people - maybe 5 familes - I think it holds 20 people? not a whole lot anyway)
The artists have a pad of characters, and I think they try and keep them rotated so people get a different character all day??? They use a projection screen and help you step by step -
and NO ERASERS!!
(that's why you can see the circles and lines on the pic I posted on page one)
they load the show at the top and bottom of every hour......technically its a 20 min class.....the artists are certified to draw certain characters (prolly if they have drawn said character perfectly about 500 times or so haha) so it depends on which artist you get......ask nicely for a preferred character and see what they say....
its really easy to make sure you're the first in the room, take the class, and then scoot out when its over and get back in line asap.....we did that 3 classes in a row once...
OH! and the BEST secret! Sometimes, if not all, they give their own drawings away!!! Sometimes its for answering a trivia question right, or others, you just have to be the first to ask nicely.......I knew this secret, and when I realized that one of our animators was AMAZING, I made sure as SOON as the class was over I raised my hand and asked for his drawing.....its such a GREAT souvenir....
OH! and another great thing.....if you do it early in your trip, you can have the characters sign your drawings of them! They LOVE IT!
Do you have to have any artistic talent? I can barely draw a stick figure! I would really like to do this but am afraid that it will just look horrible!
Is it suitable for a 6 year old boy? Thinking it would be a nice break from the May heat and we're doing DHS 2 days due to SWW. But don't want him to get too frustrated...is it like tracing with a light box? or do they have "cheats" for the younger kids?
My Stitch looked like he had been run over by a truck - but it was fun! The teach it with basic shapes and simple lines - so it is pretty easy for anyone to follow - no guarantee on the results though
Thats awesome they left you a towel Eeyore! See, thats the magic!!
Im curious if anyone has done this drawing class and had it come out horrible? I can't draw anything but a stick figure and even that can turn out bad! Are there any others like me, but were able to actually draw a decent character from this class?
I've only done this once, at DisneyQuest. We drew Donald. Given that I've been drawing Disney characters since I was under ten and I went to art college to study 2D animation, I may have had a slight advantage. But no, you don't need any precious art training to enjoy this activity. The instructor will just walk you through how to draw the character using simple shapes (lots of circles) step by step. If you don't feel like you have any artistic talent and you expect to come out of the event capable of rendering a perfect Stitch (who is one of the harder characters to draw), you may be disappointed. However, if you go in willing to learn and to laugh it off if your Mickey comes out looking a tad smooshed and your greatest hope is that you might know a little more about drawing a Disney character than you did when you came in, then you'll likely have fun.
I don't know if the instructors mention this, but if you do the one at DHS with eraser-free pencils rather than the computerized one at DisneyQuest, you'll want to try to make your initial lines very light. That way, any mistakes you make will be harder to see and easier to correct. Once you've got the drawing looking reasonably good, you can darken up the good lines and leave the mistakes in light pencil.
I haven't been on the animation tour since my one visit after the studio closed. I don't think I could handle hearing the CM say "They used to make animated movies here" again.
Is it suitable for a 6 year old boy? Thinking it would be a nice break from the May heat and we're doing DHS 2 days due to SWW. But don't want him to get too frustrated...is it like tracing with a light box? or do they have "cheats" for the younger kids?
They teach you to draw one shape/line at a time. It really is kind of simple - they don't just throw the drawing of the character up there and say "go". Do some turn out bad? My Jim Cricket looked like an almond with a top hat - yes, they sometimes go bad. Are there cheats for kids - not really. It's not a light box - just a pencil and paper and you draw what the Disney guy draws.
My DS6 did get frustrated. We ended up buying a step-by-step book in the gift shop for him to practice more at home. DD8 loved it! And, there were all ages in there - grandparents/young children. And it's free!! and air conditioned!!
We have done this only once??,how that is I do not know. We drew Micky that time,I rember that they go so fast and It kind of felt rushed.Now I know why,there Is a ton of PEOPLE behind us thats why!! but I loveed to draw as a kid so this should of been right up my alley.Well we will be going back this year and maybe a few times!!
Also notice with my picture - its the only one I deemed worthy of taking a picture! (and you can see the starting lines)
Also, for the kids, all the school libraries (and public libraries) have "Learn to Draw: books - Barnes and Noble has them as well - I remember buying a Lion King one for when the boys were little -
and when we were at Disney our first trip with DD - she picked out a learn to draw kit - Minnie Mouse (again, after this experience)
(and ITA that it is hard to hear that they "used" to do movies, when we took the boys we got to watch the animators work on MULAN!)