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Course Description

Instructor: Robert Lence

Offered in Summer and Fall.

CalArts' Visual Storytelling Portfolio Development Workshop is an eight-week online intensive designed to equip you with the tools necessary to achieve clear and engaging storytelling in your work. Some topics will include: character and specificity, composition, layout, staging, gesture, clarity, and fundamentals of storyboarding. Through various assignments, you will observe from life as well as film, work within the parameters of a "script", utilize your own original stories, and create strong story-driven work for your portfolios.

Assignments will vary from literal to abstract and will push you to break down stories into their simplest parts. Quality of drawing is not the focus in this course, but rather efficiency and clarity in drawing. Use of real media for assignments is not required but highly encouraged. Lectures to include demos, film clips and examples from art and media.

Portfolio Development Workshop class sessions and critiques are not live streamed. You are free to access the class materials each week at your convenience. You will work on your assignments on your own time and upload them to the class module on Canvas, a CalArts online learning platform, by a set deadline. At the end of the week, the instructor will give you direct feedback on submitted assignments with video critiques. Lectures and video critiques are pre-recorded.

Prerequisites

  • You must be 14 years old or older to take part in this workshop.
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Enroll Now - Select a section to enroll in
Section Title
Portfolio Development Workshop in Visual Storytelling
Type
Online
Dates
Sep 29, 2025 to Nov 28, 2025
Delivery Options
Online-Asynchronous  
Course Fee(s)
Tuition non-credit $1,100.00 or $250.00 deposit Click here to get more information
Section Fees
Adobe Creative Cloud $250.00 Optional
Section Notes

For an example materials list, click here.

THIS COURSE IS ACCESSED THROUGH CANVAS

The Canvas platform provides an instructor-led learning experience where all coursework is completed asynchronously with feedback being delivered in the form of recorded critiques. This allows students to access the course content and complete the work at their own pace with set deadlines. Class sizes are small, allowing students to get to know one another through their artwork, and engage with faculty and peers through discussion boards. The instructor is available to respond to student questions through Canvas messaging.

Most Canvas online courses qualify towards a CalArts Certificate.