Illustration & Animation Certificate 206 Hrs

The Illustration and 2D Animation Certificate program at SUNY Westchester Peekskill Center for the Digital Arts builds foundational skills in illustration, character design, and animation using tools like Adobe Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere, Procreate, and TV Paint. In 206 hours, students create a professional portfolio. This is an in-person program. Students must register for the entire program at the time of registration; a payment plan is available.

For details, visit www.sunywcc.edu/illustration-2d

Application required: www.sunywcc.edu/peekskill-apply-arts

Program tuition is $2,422!

To register, contact SUNY Peekskill Center for Digital Arts at 914-606-7300

or email carmen.marrinan@sunywcc.edu

For non-credit scholarship opportunities see, https://www.sunywcc.edu/apply-enroll/financial-aid/scholarships/scholarships

Course Catalog:

Foundations of Illustration (30 hrs)

This class delves into the essential principles of Illustration and the art of creating compelling visual narratives. Students will gain expertise in project management, compositional design, figure drawing, anatomy, and perspective. In this creative journey the use of traditional tools is encouraged, while also harnessing industry-standard software to create a polished digital portfolio. The objective is to enable students to produce portfolio pieces that meet professional standards to secure freelance or industry-based opportunities. This class will be in-person with bi-weekly critique sessions to foster a collaborative and growth-oriented learning environment.

CE-DGART 2160PE Thurs., Sept. 11-Nov. 13, 6:30-9:30pm.

Storyboarding: Drawing for Animation (30 hrs)

This class focuses on sequential storytelling in animation, commercials, and feature films. Discover how to dynamically move point-of-view to emphasize moods and action to help unfold stories visually. Using creative shots to guide the audience's attention to important details that move the story forward. Students will develop storyboards using lecture descriptions, short stories, and scripts. In the journey industry-standard software will be used as well as traditional tools to create and organize content across multiple mediums. The objective is for students to produce a collection of professional storyboard pieces that can be used to secure freelance or industry-based opportunities. This class will be involved in-person assignments, culminating in the creation of a final printed portfolio.

CE-DGART 2161PE Sat., Sept. 13-Nov. 15, 9:30am-12:30pm.

Character Design: Building Worlds (24 hrs)

In this class, students immerse themselves in the art of character and world design. They will focus on creating concepts for comics, animation, video games, and feature films. The journey will involve constructing a five-point cast of characters to breathe life into new stories. Students will explore techniques for visually conveying their emotions, personalities, outfits, equipment, weapons, and poses important to the characters. Furthermore, they will create key locations that define these characters and the world they live in. Throughout the course, students will develop engaging biographies, unique with descriptive details. Students will harness industry-standard software such as, Procreate and Photoshop to refine and organize creative assets. The ultimate goal is to create a portfolio that empowers students to pursue freelance opportunities and thrive in the industry. The class format will be in-person lectures, culminating in a final project where students compile polished work into a print-ready portfolio for presenting to potential clients.

CE-DGART 2162PE Thurs., Nov. 20-Jan. 29, 2026 (skip 11/27 & 12/25 & 1/1/26), 6:30-9:30pm

Comic Illustration (30 hrs)

This class focuses on the fundamentals of sequential storytelling in comics and graphic novels. Discover how to move stories forward using the power of compositional flow. Students will develop short stories, create character sheets, environments, scripts, and professional comic pages. In the journey industry-standard software will be used as well as traditional tools to design content across multiple mediums.The objective is for students to produce a portfolio of sequential comic pieces that can be used to secure freelance or industry-based opportunities. This class will be in-person with bi-weekly critiques.

CE-DGART 2163PE Sat., Jan. 3- Mar. 7, 2026, 9:30am-12:30pm.

Animation 1 (40 hrs)

The student will gain a solid understanding of the foundations of animation; which can be used in any kind of moving art such as 2D animation, 3D animation, stop-motion, and motion graphics. The course will be focused on traditional animation since it provides a hands-on understanding of the basic techniques of animation. Students will learn how to determine timing and spacing of a drawing and how it affects the outcome of an animation by studying different kinds of subjects such as a bouncing ball, falling leaves, and walk-cycles. Animation 1 is for those who want to start a career in animation but is not limited to those who want to sharpen their skills as an animator. By the end of the course, students will have created a short 15 or 30 second animation.

CE-DGART 2164PE Sun., Mar. 15-June 7, 2026, (skip 4/5 & 5/10 & 5/24) 9:00am-1:00pm.

Illustration and Animation with Procreate (12 hrs)

This course will guide students with an interest in digital painting and animation from grasping the Procreate interface to mastering advanced techniques. Students will explore the basics of drawing, sketching, and painting using different brushes and textures. This class will cover various aspects such as canvas properties, brushes, alpha lock, clipping masks, animation, and other topics. Students will build new portfolio pieces with Procreate combining illustration and 2D animation.

CE-DGART 2166PE Thurs. May 7-28, 2026, 6:30-9:30pm.

Animation 2 (40 hrs)

Students will dive deeper into what brings animation to life adding to what they have learned from Animation 1. This course will have students investigate pre-production animation techniques such as layouts and backgrounds, character design and acting, sound and special effects. As the course progresses, students will move from pre-production to post-production including editing, color and visual effects, and rendering final projects for presentation. Using the new tools taught to them, students will create their own short 15 to 30 second animation.

CE-DGART 2164PE Sun., June 14 - Aug. 30, 2026, (skip 6/21 & 7/5) 9:00am-1:00pm.