Gerard Sternik Program Director
Gerard Sternik is a graduate of the Drawing and Painting Department at Ontario College of Art. He spent two years studying drawing and sculpture in Florence, Italy and four years studying anatomy in conjunction with the University of Toronto Department of Gross Anatomy. He taught Life Drawing and Anatomy at Sheridan College in the Classical Animation Department from 1996 – 2000.
Vince Peets Program Director/Instructor
Vince Peets’ professional experience as a storyboard artist covers animated TV series, feature films and TV spots in both Toronto and Los Angeles. He taught drawing for animation and storyboarding at Sheridan college in the Classical Animation Department from 1996 – 1999.
Bernadette PeetsProgram Administrator
A graduate of the Ontario College of Art, Bernadette majored in Drawing, Painting and Art History. She taught these subjects at Sheridan College in the Department of Continuing Education, Art Fundamentals and Visual and Creative Arts from 1996 – 2008. She has been developing her own art practice over the past 20 years in her Toronto studio. http://www.bernadettepeets.com/portfolio/
Chris Cherkas Instructor
Chris Cherkas successfully completed the Animation Portfolio Workshop back in 2002 and continued studying life drawing and anatomy with APW for the next five years. A graduate of Georgian College’s Fine arts program and of the animation program at Seneca’s Animation Arts Centre at York University in Toronto, Chris currently teaches Life Drawing for Animation and Drawing for Animation with the Animation Portfolio Workshop and works as a lead animator for Pipeline Studios Inc.
Jose Rivas Instructor
Jose studied in the Fine Arts Program at the University of Central Florida before enrolling in the Animation Portfolio Workshop and studying independently with Gerard Sternik. He then studied animation at Seneca’s Animation Arts Centre in Toronto. Having worked closely with Gerard Sternik and Vince Peets as a Teacher’s Assistant since 2006 and an instructor with the Portfolio Workshop International, Jose currently teaches Life Drawing for Animation.
Faisal Raja TA/ Instructor
Faisal is a former student of the Animation Portfolio Workshop. Have a look at his animation portfolio. He has taught as a TA and as a tutor with the APW since 2008. He’s taught classes in the Portfolio Workshop International and he presently teaches Life Drawing for Animation. Faisal currently studies animation at Sheridan’s Classical Animation Program.
Bahador Merpouya Instructor
Bahador was a student in the Animation Portfolio Workshop back in 1999 and again in 2003. He studied animation at the Seneca Animation Arts Centre and has worked in the animation industry in Toronto, Canada since that time. Among many other projects, his professional experience includes visual effects work on feature films “The Incredible Hulk” and “9″. Bahador is currently a Drawing for Animation instructor with the Animation Portfolio Workshop.
Myke Bakich Instructor
Myke completed the Animation Portfolio Workshop as a student in 2003 and was accepted into Sheridan’s Classical Animation Department that year. In 2007, he completed the 4 year Bachelor of Animation Degree Program at Sheridan. Myke’s professional experience includes working at House of Cool as a storyboard artist/designer and as a background artist at Cuppa Coffee. Currently, Myke is a storyboard artist at Starz Animation in Toronto. Myke has worked as an APW instructor since 2007.
Joshua Salmon-Miller TA
Josh is a former student of the Animation Portfolio Workshop. A graduate of Lincoln Alexander Secondary School in Mississauga, he completed the workshop in February 2011 and currently lends his talents, enthusiasm and experience to assisting the APW instructors with one-on-one work with new students.
Lisa Wang TA
Using the animation portfolio that she created in the APW, Lisa was accepted into Sheridan’s Animation Program where she is currently in her third year. Lisa not only assists in Life Drawing for Animation and Drawing for Animation classes in the Animation Portfolio Workshop, she also is part of the APW team of tutors with the Portfolio Workshop International. Have a look at Lisa’s blog.
Iris Ma TA
Iris studied at the Animation Portfolio Workshop in 2005 and was successfully admitted into the Seneca Animation Arts Centre at York University in Toronto. In 2009 she graduated from Seneca and is currently lending her talents and experience to the APW as a TA, while she works at developing her professional animation reel.
Shen-Howe Lee TA
Shen is a former APW student. He studied animation at Seneca Animation Arts Centre in Toronto. Have a look at his animation portfolio. Shen has worked as a tutor with the Portfolio Workshop International as well as a TA with the Animation Portfolio Workshop.