Brain Food & Learning Resources for Storyboard Artists

So I had the immense privilege of going to a fancy school, but in some ways, I’ve learned even more about storytelling and filmmaking from generous creators in the animation community — who often share their knowledge for free! For all of this, I am so grateful and hope to keep paying it forward… Turns out, you don’t have to pay the big bucks to get a job in animation!

Here are some of my favorite (budget-friendly) resources! I’m personally verrrrry partial to learning good filmmaking/storytelling. Some better folks out there have compiled resource lists that more comprehensively cover drawing/design skills, linked towards the bottom of this page!

I hope these may inspire and nourish you along your own journey, as they have done for mine :)

Youtube Channels for Filmmaking:

Thomas Flight
Wolf Crow
Accented Cinema
Like Stories of Old
Every Frame A Painting
Lessons from the Screenplay
The Closer Look
Anno Cinema
Acolytes of Horror
This Guy Edits
Today’s Sequence (Zesung Kang)
Dwooman
Lindsey Ellis
Your Movie Sucks

⭐️ I’m a junkie!!! Whether you’re just starting out, or you’ve spent years making movies already, these creators provide so much to sink your teeth into. Most of these channels talk about real techniques & storytelling principles that you can immediately use in your own work, while a few of them focus more on the meanings & philosophies behind these stories. What better way to enjoy your morning coffee, than to listen to some smartypants talk about movies? :)

Youtube Channels for Animation:

Toniko Pantoja
Nic Parris
Ethan Becker
Kevin Molina Ortiz
Mike Koizumi
lemoncholy
moderndayjames
Thomas Romain
Alaine Babayan
Spitfire Storyboards (Blender 3D storyboarding)
BaM Animation
The SPA (Sergio Pablos Animation) Studios
Gobelins, L’Ecole de l’image (Paris, FR)
Rise Up Animation

Books on Filmmaking & Storytelling:

Story, by Robert McKee
Film Genre for the Screenwriter, by Jule Selbo
The Visual Story, by Bruce Block
In the Blink of an Eye, by Walter Murch

⭐️ I can’t tell you how invaluable ALL these books are. These are some great takes on the “big ideas” of storytelling, methods, and vital questions to ask yourself as you brainstorm… Some of these were first published decades ago, and there’s a reason why they’re still recommended today!

Books for Animation, Storyboard, Drawing:

The Animator’s Survival Kit
Framed Ink
Master Shots, Vol. 1, 2, 3
Timing for Animators — A great resource to improve your pose choices as a board artist!
Drawn to Life, Vol. 1&2, by Walt Stanchfield
Figure Drawing: Design and Invention
The Art of Animal Drawing, by Ken Hultgren
Drawing Perspective: How to See It & How to Apply It
Various Japanese action pose books like this (eBay)

Free Online Figure-Drawing & Pose Reference Libraries

bodiesinmotion.photo
line-of-action.com/practice-tools/figure-drawing/
reference.sketchdaily.net/en

figurosity.com/quick-poses — 3D character pose library, randomizer studying tool
http://referenceangle.com — 3D head reference
https://x6ud.github.io/#/ — 3D animal skull reference

Sakuga Booru — online database of sakuga sequences from anime

Mentorship Programs

Women in Animation (Mentorship is free, but membership in WIA is $25-$50/yr)
Story for All Mentorship
Rise Up Animation
Animation Story Group

Non-Degree Classes for Animation & Storyboard ($)

The Concept Design Academy (Pasadena, CA)
Art Center Extension (Pasadena, CA)
Project City (fka. Rad How To School) (online)
Steve Ahn’s Action Storyboard Workshop (online)
Dave Chystlek’s Story Whisperer

Free Classes Online

Sergio Paez’s StoryboardArt.org (Intro class is free, and other workshops $$ a la carte)
Khan Academy - Pixar in a Box

Expo’s and Meetups

Lightbox Expo (Pasadena, CA)
CTN Expo (Burbank, CA)
DesignerCon (Anaheim, CA)

And some amazing individuals who have compiled their own resource master-lists, or who are constantly sharing their wisdoms online — Thank you!

Beacons of Knowledge!

Ellen Su — Talks + Animation Revolution Blog
Kaitrin Snodgrass
Jim Mortensen
Ben Juwono
Dwooman
taco1704 — South Korean-based anime anatomy shorthand
Manga Materials — anime-styled anatomy shorthand
Thinking Animation (Angie Jones)

Makers of AWESOME Resource Master-Lists!

Marie Lum (@PuccaNoodles)
Abby Lee (@ebbigal)
Natalie Nourigat
Andy Cung
FloobyNooby
Travis Marks
Reading list for Pixar Interns