Brian Hladin - 2nd Year Life Drawing

Brian Hladin is a Visual Artist and a Figure Drawing Partial Load Professor in the renowned BAA Animation and Post Graduate Digital Character Animation Programs at Sheridan College in Oakville, Canada. He also teaches Drawing based courses at the Ontario College of Art and Design University, Canada’s largest Arts University, and has taught at many other institutions including Seneca College. He comes to teaching having worked for many years as an Illustrator / Layout Artist / Art Director for numerous magazines and advertising agencies. Other work includes yearly guest lecturing at Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore and visual art done for exhibition and commission.

Klaas Hart - 1st and 2nd Year Life Drawing

Klaas Hart has worked as a teacher and a fine artist for the past 16 years. He studied drawing, painting and anatomy at the Ontario College of Art and Design, graduating in 1993. He went on to study in the Netherlands, where he worked with renowned Dutch artist Henk Helmantel in 1999-2000. Along with life drawing and anatomy instruction, colour theory and painting technique are also part of his teaching repertoire.

Seeing painting as a form of traditional storytelling, his art deals with narratives that explore myth, psychology, and allegory in painting. His work has been exhibited in North America and Europe, and in 1998 he received the Mayor's Purchase Award in Toronto.

“Working with the motivated and talented students at Sheridan College is rewarding experience. It’s encouraging to be able to share my experience with students, knowing they will build on it and take it in new directions. In a world where art is becoming more difficult to define, at Sheridan we find real knowledge transfer going on that is directly applicable to an industry. In this sense art is alive and well.”

Klass's website

Maury Whyte - 1st Year Story, 4th Year Mentor

A 1977 graduate Sheridan's Classical Animation Program, Maury has experience in almost every facet of animated film production. Working as Director, Animator, Designer, Storyboard Artist and/or Writer, he has created content for more than 200 productions ranging from TV commercials to feature films. Joining Sheridan's faculty in 1988, Maury taught in both the Classical Animation Program and the International Summer School of Animation. Working as part of the team that revised Sheridan's animation curriculum when the program switched from Classical Animation diploma to the BAA - Animation.

Michael Hitchcox - 2nd Year Painting

Michael A. Hitchcox is an experienced artist in both the fine arts and commercial animation background field. Having worked for Nelvana as a background supervisor, he’s worked on over 50 animated series both traditionally and CG , including Beetlejuice, Magic School Bus, Dog City, Gargoyles, Blazing Dragons, George Shrinks, Rescue Heroes, Babar, Franklin, My Pet Monster and Care Bears.

Michael has also worked for Studio B Productions, painting colour keys for a variety of productions and was a guest background artist in 1995 and 1997 to help train artists in the BG department and helping to develop the original concept for the BG style of the God Rocks made-for-video series and other studio projects at Chelsea Roads Productions.

Michael has taught color and painting technique courses for the Con-Ed program at Sheridan College and has developed an on line Fundamental painting and Background course for WebCT, hosted by Sheridan College. At present, he is instructing background painting using both traditional and Photoshop methods for the second year BAA animation course at Sheridan.

Michel Hannan - 1st Year Animation, 4th Year Mentor

Michelle Hannan worked as an animator, illustrator and designer for the children's interactive software division of Vivendi Universal Games, Inc. including working on storyboarding, backgrounds, character design, animation and inking and composting, as well as working as Interactive Artist, Web 7 Children’s Interactive Developer, Animator, Illustrator, Designer and Textile mapping artist for Vivendi Universal Games, Inc.. Her other work includes time as a Project Producer for Fisher price for After the Beanstalk, Warner Brothers' Quest for Camelot and Animaniacs game pack, Western Town, Castles, Big Action Garage and the Davidson title, Kid Phonics. Before joining Sheridan, Michelle was a visiting Full Time Professor of Animation at Loyola Marymount University.

Peter Emslie - 2nd Year Character Design.

Peter Emslie is a career cartoonist and caricaturist, always with a bent towards humourous illustration. His work may be seen on many children’s books for Disney, Dreamworks Animation, Rankin-Bass and Random House.

Peter has worked for Disney’s merchandising division, illustrating Disney characters for various them park collateral material and continues to work for Disney in addition to teaching Character Design at Sheridan.

Peter's website and blog.

Rob Corbett - 2nd Year Performance

Rob Corbett teaches acting in the animation departments of three separate colleges; he is a graduate of Sheridan College, The University of Waterloo and is currently working toward his masters in Creative Writing at UBC. He has been on the directorial team of the Stratford Festival and is a produced playwright. In addition he is a much sought after motivational speaker and workshop leader.

Stephen Barnes - 4th Year Mentor

Stephen Barnes is a graduate of the Classical Animation program at Sheridan College and is an instructor at Sheridan, a Director at Max the Mutt Animation School and a Animation Supervisor at Pipeline Studios. Stephen has worked on Disney's Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., and Geri's Game for Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, CA. His independent works have been screened theatrically in over 15 countries, winning awards in the Berlin International Film Festival's Kinderfilmfest, CBC's Telefest, and the 8th Chicago International Children's Film Festival, among others. He has sat on the selection committees for both the Ottawa International Animation Festival (1996) and the Ontario Arts Council Awards to Artists (Film & Video, 1994) and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Animated Image Society (1991-1995)

Tony Tarantini - 3rd Year Layout

Tony Tarantini is currently working on a Master Degree in Animation Studies and holds a Bachelor of Design, a communication and Design Honors Diploma, Illustration and numberous certificates. With more than 20 years of creative and management experience, Tony has worked with producers and directors on editing scripts and story ideas, supervising development, revisions and approvals of storyboards, produced storyboards, designs, art directing, assembled animatics and story reels, assisted at recordings, postproduction, editing sessions and coordinated department’s workflow in collaboration with Production Management. His work can be seen on Meta Jets, Magi-Nation, George Shrinks, Redwall, Timothy, Franklin , Mythic Warriors, Ewoks, Care Bears, Johnny Quest, Babar, My Pet Monster, Little Rosie, Beetlejuice, American Tail, Dog City, Rupert, Magic School Bus, Tales From The Cryptkeeper, Eek the Cat, Neverending Story, Sticking Around, Little Bear, Blazing Dragons, Dog City, Birdz, Sam and Max, Ace Ventura, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast.

David Quesnelle - 3rd Year Animation

David Quesnelle has worked for Nelvana as Senior Animator on productions such as Ewoks, Carebears 2, My Pet Monster, Babar, Beetlejuice, and Dog City. His credits for Walt Disney Animation Canada include Senior Animator (Lead animation) of “Belle” and “Pocahontas”, production on Beauty and the Beast – Belle’s Enchanted Christmas, Little Mermaid II, Peter Pan II: Return to Neverland and Pocahontas 2: Journey to the New World, amongst many more. David freelances at a variety of companies, teaches, consults, mentors and volunteers at high schools and Artist communities.