Dancing the Panther

Always Enrolling... Because you asked for it... Justine Mara Andersen's first ever ongoing online guided independent study group!

Stuck, get unstuck! 

Need coaching, get coached! 

Need ideas, get ideas, 

Seeking mentorship, get mentored!

Lacking technique, mastery begins here!

Do you lack inspiration, motivation, discipline, style and technique?

It's not your fault. I did not come across all this on my own, I had mentors. I'm here to mentor you, and give you what I got from my mentors. 

P. Craig Russell taught me how to think, design and find elegance.

Val Mayerik taught me how to work, research, and get to it.

Frank Thorne taught me how to live and love life

Jeffrey Catherine Jones taught me that I was good.

John Workman taught me to keep going. 

Dan Adkins taught me the finer points of inking.

Jim Steranko taught me about timing, rhythm, and just how much can be seen and shown.

When you learn from Justine, you aren't just learning from her, but from Craig, Val, Frank, Jeff, John, Dan and Jim.  Through her, her mentors become your mentors! Her lineage becomes your lineage.

People always ask me... "Where do you get your ideas?"

A friend of mine used to say, "I go to the idea place" But where is that place?

It's through the wardrobe, the blackhole, on the pages and in hidden corners. It's in the act of daily drawing.

Ideas are the gems hidden in sacrifice and discipline.

"Where do I get my ideas?" you ask... another teacher told me that the muse only speaks when the pencil is moving. 

How did I get so much work done?

I had mentors, and now, here, you can be mentored, pushed, taught, and inspired by master comics and fantasy artist Justine Mara Andersen. Be part of her lineage, a lineage that goes back to Wally Wood!

So many artists have to learn discipline, learn to actually do every day what they say they want to do.

Let's just get down to doing over dreaming.

In this interactive group we will discuss ideas, I will help you develop your ideas, and will give practical exercises, sometimes for everyone, sometimes custom exercises suited to each student's needs. 

This will be wholly different from Justine's formal classes, in this community you will have access to her teachings day in and day out, access to Justine's brain, ideas, wisdom, loving criticism and encouragement. AND you will have access to a growing community of students!

THIS is the experience so many of you have asked for!

ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?

The Barefoot Justine experience begins NOW! So get on the right thing!

Course curriculum

    1. Introduction and Class Group Link

    1. Mara - Inks Video

    2. Mara Page by Page Video Playlist (multiple single page videos)

      FREE PREVIEW

    3. Inking Masters Video Series (5+ Videos)

    1. The Grand Guignol - Horror - Ideas

    2. Anatomy Study Ideas

    3. In Defense of Eros and Fantasy Video Playlist (2 videos)

    4. Narrative Anatomy Ideas (Frazetta vs Valejo)

    5. Bold Idea... COPYING!

    6. Ink Wash Exerise Ideas

    7. Big Ideas About the Role Of the Artist

    8. Idea: Everything I Know 1 of 2

    9. Idea: Everything I Know 2 of 2

    10. Idea: Creating An Alter Ego

    11. Idea: Giants On the Shoulders Of Giants!

About this course

  • $50.00 first payment, $20.00 / month onwards
  • 15 lessons
  • 2.5 hours of video content

Why this group? Because YOU, Justine's students have asked for it.

What have they asked for? Access to Justine, her special blend of teaching style, a little mysticism, a lot of direction, pounds of encouragement, and the truth, truth enough to keep you going. 

Here you will have access to a living master!

  • Justine is and has been a working artist, Her work includes: Barbarella cover artist, DC Comics inker, independent comics creator, Dungeons & Dragons and Lucasfilm artist, all at your service and here to teach. 
  • Justine's spent years learning how to help students find themselves.
  • Join other struggling classmates as we learn together how to stay motivated.
  • Justine will provide exercises, open-ended assignments, lectures, and will leave you time to create your own masterpieces. 
  • Justine will give lively critiques and advice.
  • And ONLY because YOU asked for it! Want help inking? We'll do that. Want inspiration? We'll work on that. Need motivation? We're here for you, all of us in this group will be here for you. 


(image by Justine)

* And you can rest assured SAW's and Justine's methods have been tested and proven on students for years. 

* So, congratulations, now, at last, you know exactly how to keep that fire in the belly burning. 

Now YOU can dance your panther!

Pricing options

Price is sliding scale after sign-up fee

What Justine's students have said-

“I have to say I deeply appreciate your style of teaching- both encouraging and growth oriented. I feel like I have made more progress in your class than any drawing class I've ever taken, frankly. Thank you.”

Student

Charl Elias

“I just wanted to say thank you so much for a wonderful, eye-opening class. I've learned so much during my time in this class and I feel I've grown so much as an artist! Everyone I know face-to-face who's seen my work from the class thinks that I've improved vastly from where I was before studying your lessons. As I said before, it's an honor to study under your guidance. You are an amazing artist and great person to work with. The lectures have been great, in terms of technical skill-building, art history, and your thoughts and opinions; but also your kindness during the class has been wonderful.”

Student

Jules Jackson

“I'm so glad I chose to spontaneously jump into this class on a friend's recommendation (a day into the start of class, too!) as it was a super-rewarding experience. You cats have something special here, I hope to catch another class soon. I've pretty much sworn off on at least one other comic-tutoring site, since this one offers a superior experience.”

Student

Scott LeMien

WHAT TO EXPECT

This is an ongoing online independent study group.

Justine will check in at least every couple days, and does respond to every post. And not just Justine, but fellow students. 

Justine will help you develop your projects, master your technique, or simply help you find your idea place.  It's out there! More importantly... it's IN there!

Plenty of video lecture content in "Justine's Idea Place."

As the program continues Justine will add lectures, and in sharing the stuff that inspired her she will inspire you. 

Justine will give out assignments, some general, some customized to the development of the individual student. 

This will be just like having Justine as a mentor, year-round. 

And... as more and more people sign up, your community of support will grow. 

Expect Justine's loving criticisms and guidance as well as her encouragement. 

Expect spontaneity... and MORE!

Any more questions, email [email protected]

Yes, I want to go to The Idea Place

Sign up now. $50 sign-up fee, $10-$40 monthly sliding scale after that

Instructor(s)

Instructor Bio:

SURPASS YOUR LIMITS.

Hey, I'm Justine, and I've been with SAW from the beginning. Before SAW I was a veteran pro... but before that, I, presumably, like you, had no idea where to begin. I had ambition, hunger, desire, but no focus, no discipline, no chops, and worse, no mentors. I knew what I wanted, but I also knew how lousy I was and how little I knew, and worse, that no one at college was qualified to help me learn what I really needed to know.

The worst part was, I was so ignorant when it came not only to art, but to comics, that I was drowning in my own naivete. I didn't know where to begin...

Then I met my mentors, P. Craig Russell, Val Mayerik, Dan Adkins, Jim Steranko, Frank Thorne, John Workman, and Jeff Jones. At first it was brutal, I was immediately confronted with the shameful realization that I didn't know a damn thing bout drawing, nor about comics, and I suddenly felt an urgent need to get it together and get down to the hard work of learning the hard stuff, of learning the discipline of setting aside the fun stuff to focus on fundamentals.

Then, for decades, I worked 60 hours a week, I made a lot of sacrifices, and did every damn thing my mentors told me to do. In that time, I completed 4 published graphic novels for Fantagraphics, inked for DC Comics, Image Comics, and created hundreds of illustrations for WOTC/Dungeons & Dragons, as well as for Lucasfilm, and countless more images for numerous clients in a wide range of projects from ballet stage design to animation.

It's my philosophy that most of my students have set the bar too low for themselves, that they have no idea just how good and how BIG they can become as artists, if only they make wise conscious choices.

What I excel at is saving my students time and suffering. I learned it the hard way so my students don't have to. Of all the gifts I have, perhaps the one I am most proud of is my ability to take complicated concepts and distill them into something I can pass along to my students. My students not only learn from my successes, but my failures, and if you learn from me, you are not only learning from me, but you will be learning all my mentors taught me.

Through me, they and my own life lessons will all be teaching you together, and not just how to draw good comics, but about how to prioritize, set achievable goals, and how to avoid temptation and learn the discipline it takes to become great rather than merely good.

My website is barefootjustine.com

Justine Mara Andersen

Drawing and Inking Maven