Drawing Classes and Workshops
Do you want to bring FORCE drawing to your college, company, or drawing group? Send me an email at [email protected]
I want to meet you and your group of artists to inspire them with FORCE!
Live Demos
Watching an artist work reveals their process and physical actions to create. Michael demonstrates and discusses his thoughts while drawing, revealing what it takes to draw with FORCE!
Individual Instruction
Every artist attends the workshops with different skill levels and emotional challenges. Michael will work with individuals to inspire them to their next level, breaking through their current state.
Group Critiques
Learn from your peers through group critiques. Michael will discuss the challenges the artists have and how to solve them. Chances are that many share the same issues and thus gain insight by witnessing solutions that will help themselves.
FORCE Basics
The foundation workshop inspires you to see, analyze and draw the model through an understanding of FORCEFUL function. Feel what it is like to draw the figure as though you were driving a race-car! Exciting demonstrations, individual and class critiques drive curiosity and learning of FORCE, Form and Shape design in this two day, intense workshop. Discover FORCE in the world around you while also learning the secrets to shape design and tips and tricks to create depth on the page.
FORCE Anatomy
A perfect compliment to the FORCE Basics Workshop, we now look at how each region of the human body functions relative to the entire figure. Learn to see anatomy through a new understanding of how it works. During the two days you will learn all the surface anatomy, how muscles relate to each other through FORCE and how to efficiently draw the anatomy to express FORCE and sustain the figure’s energy.
FORCE Character Design from Life Drawing
This provocative workshop pushes the Basics Workshop to the next level. Learn numerous methods that help develop your own opinions about what you see and then how to draw them. FORCE enables the ideas to stay functional and dynamic! Learn about the Bounding Box, abstract shape design, pushing drama, character and storytelling. You will leave this workshop with the confidence to state your visual opinions with clarity and appeal!
FORCE Animal Drawing
FORCE exists in all living things. This workshops shows you how to see and understand FORCE in animals. Hosted in your local zoo, Mike takes students on a FORCE journey through the different types of mammals from plantigrade to ungulates showing you how to efficiently draw them through the FORCE Animal Shape. Each locomotive mammal type will be discussed individually to comprehend their differences. This fun and exciting workshop will give you the ability to draw all mammals with FORCE and dynamism!
FORCE It!
This personal and motivational lecture shares Michael’s life experiences as an artist. You will learn how his numerous tools in FORCE drawing have supported his life while he discusses candid stories that will leave you ready to take charge of your life and see in new found ways.
"I want to give you a HUGE thanks to yesterday's lecture.. it was really wonderful & the animators received a lot of benefit from it.Ā I feel like you really taught us a lot of great techniques, and personally I really got a sense of what I could do to help our poses read much stronger.Ā I especially liked the discussions on force (AWESOME!) and watching you draw over our poses to see what your thought process was.Ā It was incredibly inspiring to see your work, I found myself often glancing over at your quick drawing and going "oh crap!" and then working harder to discover the lines I wanted.Ā I really feel like the animators progressed quite a bit yesterday, even those of us who aren't the best at illustration. :) Oh, and just so you know.. the animators were already asking when you'd be back for more. :)āØThanks so much for putting so much thought and energy into the class, I really appreciate it!"
Jason Schliefer
Lead Character Animator
"After you lectured we spoke and I said I appreciated you putting yourself out there for us and talking about things that are greater than drawing, but I wanted to stress again just how much I felt that was important. Lots of kids look up to great artists as having always been great, and your life story was very uplifting and humanizing. I know some people were only looking for drawing techniques, but what you told everyone was so much better. With any luck, at least one person in the audience felt like 'hey, I can do this' after you talked aboutĀ believingĀ in yourself and how far just believing has taken you. You're the first lecturer I've truly thanked for sharing, and I look forward to the book if you decide to publish one based on this lecture."
Nicole R
FORCE It! Lecture Attendee
"Today, I was expecting a demo of your methods. The information that you gave today, however, was as equally important as any instruction. I am still reeling from the mixture of personal anecdotes and candid real-world experiences. It was extremely informative and I feel as though it addressed many questions and fears that we as animation students face. I can't stop talking about it to my wife."
Carlos N
FORCE It! Lecture Attendee
"Thank you ever so much for coming and working with me in your drawing workshops this last week. I learned a lot and am already seeing a vast improvement in the movement of my drawings and how I see things in general. Your talk Wednesday night was eye opening and actually connected a lot of dots for me I've picked up from other people and a few books I've gone through, specifically in how my thinking can affect my reality (If you haven't heard of or looked into Dr. Caroline Leaf and/or "Latent Power of the Soul" by Watchman Nee I definitely recommend them). Again, thank you so much for taking the time to come work with us at Amarillo college and wish you the best in all your endeavors."
Paige G
FORCE Basics and FORCE It! Attendee
"Honestly I came into that first session thinking that I might learn a few things about drawing, not that I would understand myself much better, and have almost a world view change. It's pretty amazing to think about the past three days I spent learning from you and know that out of my whole college career, the person I learned the most from is you. I'm sure we'll meet again in the future, I will be near the top of the industry someday. I'll know that it's "your fault" I've rekindled my drive for my passion, animating and modeling. I'm the curly blonde hair guy that was at pretty much every session. You've helped me realize a lot of things in my life.Thank you so much."
Lucas H
FORCE Basics and FORCE It!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, he has hosted FORCE Workshops across the United States, Italy, Poland, China and Japan.
For the drawing workshops, it is recommended to stay under 30 participants. For the FORCE It! Lecture, there can be as many participates as the venue can hold.
This varies per situation. There are typically two methods to figure out cost. In the first one, we figure out a rate for the entire workshop and the institution itself pays. In the Second, the artists pay a per seat rate for the workshop or lecture. Email [email protected] to further discuss pricing.
