Create Two Portfolio Pieces in 8 Weeks With Live Feedback
The last 10-20 percent of quality is what separates good artists from working professionals and mastering it is more attainable than you think.
Next cohort: ~July 2026 | 8 Weeks | Weekly Feedback | 2 Portfolio Pieces
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The April 2026 Cohort is Underway
Sign-ups for the Line & Color Intensive are currently closed. The April cohort is underway with 20 artists working through the 8-week process right now.
The next Intensive will start around July 2026. Sign up above to be notified early and get special pricing when enrollment opens.
8-Week Live Cohort
What is the Line & Color Intensive?
The Line & Color Intensive is an 8-week live cohort where you'll create two complete portfolio pieces, from initial thumbnails to final polish, with expert feedback at every stage.
You'll master the professional 4-step illustration process (thumbnailing, construction, line work, color) by applying it twice: first on a manageable character piece, then on a complex multi-character scene.
Each week includes focused exercises, asynchronous feedback with draw-overs and paint-overs, live Q&A sessions, and real-time process demos showing exactly how to turn your ideas into professional illustrations.
The Intensive
Getting the last 10-20 Percent Right
Figuring out how to create images with depth, dimension, and a high level of polish is what unlocks many doors as a professional artist.
The line and color style has a huge range of uses. From comic books and graphic novels to concept art and keyframe illustrations, from book covers to trading cards, from animation to game art.
What makes this style so powerful is its versatility.
You can create living, breathing worlds with simple flat color and clean lines.
Or... you can combine lines with painted backgrounds. Creating hybrid line styles. Echoing the classic animation styles of Ghibli or Classic Disney.
You can work fast for production or slow for cover-quality pieces.
One of the biggest challenges though, is creating illustrations with a high level of detail and polish. Making sure you can take your image from an idea to an image with depth and dimension and a sense of finish and polish.
Most intermediate artists who are trying to get to a professional level with their art struggle to get the last 20 percent of detail working properly.
Keyframe Illustrations
Creating Keyframe style illustrations is one of the most exciting art jobs out there. This kind of polished work opens many doors.
The Process
Master the Professional 4-Step Workflow
The same process professional illustrators use for comic covers, keyframe illustrations, and concept art. Simple to understand, challenging to master.
Idea & Thumbnail
Plan and perfect images that move your audience and communicate effectively.
Construction
Solve all technical problems before the visible stages. This is where real improvement happens.
Line Work
Focus on motion, expression, texture, emotion. Getting your story into the line work.
Color & Rendering
Define the style and mood. Flat color or full rendering. You decide.
The 8-Week Structure
Two Portfolio Pieces. Simple First, Then Complex.
Master the 4-step process on a character illustration (Weeks 1-4), take a 1-week break to finish and rest, then apply it to a complex scene (Weeks 5-8), with bonus Week 9 for final polish.
The mid-course break prevents burnout and gives you time to finish your first piece without pressure.
The 8-Week Structure
Watch how the cohort is structured
Weeks 1-4: Character Focus
Build Your Foundation With Manageable Complexity
Your first portfolio piece focuses on a single character with environment so you learn the process without overwhelming complexity. Explore compositions through thumbnailing, build solid construction, create expressive linework, and choose your finishing approach.
Character with Environment
Single character with environment. The foundation for character-focused illustration.
Depth & Atmosphere
Focus on foreground, middle ground, and background to turn a simple character illustration into something special.
Effects & Texture
Special effects and tonal patterns. You can play around with a lot of advanced effects, textures, ideas just through using a simple image.
Weeks 5-8: Complex Scene
Level Up With Multi-Character Narrative
Apply the same 4-step process to a complex multi-character scene with detailed environment, atmosphere, and narrative. This is where you prove you can handle high-level illustration challenges.
Multi-Character Action
Even just adding a couple of characters and having them interact can make a huge difference.
Story & Atmosphere
Focus on telling a story or a scene with atmosphere to take your work to the next level.
Strong Color & Narrative
Combining illustrative quality with a complicated composition and narrative.
What You Get Each Week
Assignments, Feedback, Q&A, and Community
Weekly Exercise Videos
Short, focused 1-2 hour sessions explaining the assignment, key concepts, and what to focus on at each stage.
You Create
Work on your assignment at your own pace throughout the week, posting progress and asking questions as you go.
Asynchronous Feedback
Submit your work and receive detailed draw-overs and paint-overs with specific guidance on what to refine and why.
Live Q&A Sessions
Weekly livestream where you can jump on and ask questions live. Recordings available if you can't attend.
Real-Time Demos
Watch Tim work through the same assignment in real-time, fully narrated, showing mistakes, problem-solving, everything.
Community Arena
Post your work, get feedback from peers, share inspiration, ask questions in dedicated chat area for real-time help.
Professional Results
Strong composition and clean execution create professional-quality portfolio work.
Your Instructor: Tim McBurnie
Tim McBurnie
Professional Artist & Instructor
Professional Experience: I've worked as a professional artist for almost twenty-five years, as a comicbook artist, illustrator & concept artist. I've helped launch several successful Kickstarter campaigns My client experience includes:
- Editions Delcourt
- Gunfire Games
- Animal Logic
- Blur Studios
- Blizzard Entertainment
- Wizards of the Coast
Teaching & Community: Over the past thirteen years, I've taught hundreds of 8-week and 12-week intensive classes through Concept Design Workshop and CG Society. My tutorials have been published on multiple platforms since 2009. I'm the founder of the Drawing Codex and the host of the Visual Scholar Podcast. I run the Drawing Codex community which helps people find their creative rhythm and make more art as well as build sustainable artistic careers.
Current Work: I'm currently working on building the Drawing Codex and Mighty Artisan into the best places to hang out and learn art as well as developing a series of new graphic novel pitches.
Portfolio Highlights
