As a kid, growing up in a tiny town north of Montreal, Jay spent most of his time at the library. He was using every last comic book, graphic novel and book on Illustration to teach himself to draw. Commander Mark on PBS’ Secret City was a big help too. There weren’t any classes for Cartoon Drawing…yet! As he got older he found the odd community class here and there, but they were always level based… Level 1, Level 2, Level 3… then what? The classes were done but he wasn’t done practicing and learning. Why couldn’t Cartoon Drawing classes be more like karate, yoga and music? A never-ending discipline routed in the repetition of principles and foundations that make great character designs, backgrounds…Worlds!
Watching his own daughter grow as an artist, he was reminded of his early days at the library and with the support of his loving family and amazing friends, Cartoon Coach was launched 10 years ago, on a sunny Saturday morning in the lobby of the Red House Music Academy in Toronto. A handful of kids soon turned into many more and Cartoon Coach moved over to Gravenfeather on Queen Street West and then a year or so after that found a comfy home at Artscape Youngplace. Then the pandemic hit. Despite the fear and chaos, Cartoon Coach quickly pivoted and like many educators took to zoom to teach classes online. What could have been the collapse of Cartoon Coach turned into teaching classes not only on weekends but throughout the week as well as internationally. Students joined from across Canada, the US and even Europe. Cartoon Coach was not only teaching kids, but teens, adults and even a few grandparents joined the roll call. Cartoon Coach currently offers 16 classes live online per week with aspirations and a strong determination of opening up a cartooning community hub where classes will be offered in person as well as online, lending a helping hand to students far and wide who love to draw cartoons and who wish to expand their never-ending artistic wings.
