Anime Art Academy FAQs
If you have any questions that are not covered in the following FAQ's, please get in touch by email at [email protected] and our support team will be happy to help you!
Q: What is the difference between your different course types?
Please see the below image for an explanation of how our courses work here at Anime Art Academy.
Of course the best way to find out about our courses is to take a good look at the course pages for each, and see which study style suits you best!
Q: How much does it cost to study at Anime Art Academy?
One of the huge benefits of being an online service is that we can cut the costs considerably, making it much more affordable than a classroom-based course!
Our pricing varies from course to course, so please see the course information page here for specific course pricing.
Q: How many lectures does the monthly subscriptions include?
A: Both of our monthly subscriptions have a different numbers of monthly lessons, ranging from 2 to 4 lessons per month. Please check each individual course page for full details.
Q: I am on a subscription course, and can't see the next lectures yet. When will the next session be available?
A: To view the next lessons, students will need to wait until the next month of their subscription. Depending on the course you choose, either 2 or 4 new lectures will be made available every month.
Q: How long should I spend on each lecture?
A: Students on the subscription courses should spend at least a month studying each lesson session (sessions are made up of 2 to 4 lessons). This may feel like a long time, but thorough study is essential for steady and efficient progress.
Q: I want some help with my work. Where can I get personal feedback?
A: One of the things that makes our courses unique and great value for money is that they all include unlimited feedback from our professional Japanese lecturers, fully translated into English! Students can post their work, ask for personal feedback and advice from their teachers in the comments section of each lecture.
Comments/feedback guidelines: Please wait to receive a reply from your teacher before posting a new comment. We need to respond to all students fairly, so please avoid flooding the comment section.
Q: On the "How to Draw Manga and Anime: Premium" course, I have noticed that some of the lecturer's own guidelines and measurements deviate slightly from the lesson explanations. Why is this?
A: In the lesson videos, we often mention that certain guidelines and sections should be "exactly" equal distances, and there are two hash marks on some guidelines to visually indicate that the lines should be equal lengths.
However, our pros drawing examples in the videos sometimes tweak their guidelines a little to match the character they are drawing. When you get used to drawing characters and are more confident, adjusting the lines like this will help add variety and personality to your characters!
So why have we indicated them as totally equal? That's to give beginners a solid "standard equation" to work with. We understand that being told about or approximately can be confusing to many learners!
So whilst you are learning to balance your work accurately, it is recommended to first try measuring and drawing your guidelines very precisely. You can start tweaking and adjusting the balance to fit your own style as you get more confident!
Q: Do students get certificates upon graduation?
Students are free to stay with us for as long as they want to keep learning, and study at their own pace. This means there is no set "graduation" date, and certificates are not automatically handed out to students.
However, any students who have been with us for a year or more can apply for a personal progress check and assessment from our teachers. We will issue a certificate to show the results of this assessment.
We are also currently working on new "belt" system, (similar to karate!) as a way of testing and levelling our students.
Q: How does the payment cycle for the subscription courses work?
A: The payment cycle starts from the day you joined, not the first day of the month you joined. So if you joined on 20th June, your next payment would be on 20th July, not 1st July.
Q: After trying out the subscription course, I've found it's not for me. What should I do?
A: If you wish to leave a subscription course, please cancel your subscription within one month of the day you joined, to avoid being charged for the next month.
Remember, we offer two different subscription courses with very different teaching styles, so if one isn't for you, it's worth taking a look at the other! There are free taster lessons available for all our courses.
Q: How can I unsubscribe from a subscription course?
A: You are free to unsubscribe at any time from your profile page.
Simply log in to our site and click on your profile icon at the top right of the page to open a pull-down menu. From there you can select "manage subscriptions", and head to your personal subscription page. From that page, you can click "cancel subscription" next to the course you wish to cancel.
Q: What happens after unsubscribing? Can I still view previous course content?
A: After unsubscribing, starting one month from your last payment date, you will be unable to view previously unlocked course content.
Please be absolutely sure you have learnt everything you need to know from the available lessons before unsubscribing!
Note: the one-off payment courses give lifetime access to the lessons, so you will always be able to see them with no further payments.
Q: Is there any way to pause a subscription course, and re-join later?
A: Unfortunately, our system currently does not offer the option to "pause" a course.
However, if you do wish to take a break from one of our subscription courses, you may unsubscribe for a time and then subscribe to the course again later.
When you unsubscribe, be sure to keep your account active. Please do not delete your account. If you delete your account, you will be unable to re-join the course from the same point as you left, and will need to start unlocking the course again from Session One.
Also, please note that you will not be able to view lessons during the time you are unsubscribed from the course - lessons are only available to students paying the monthly subscription fee. You will only be able to access the lessons after re-joining.
If you originally joined the course using a discount or coupon code, this code will be rendered invalid when you unsubscribe, so when you join again, it will be at full price. Please keep this in mind when deciding whether you want to take a break from your subscription.
Q: I accidentally cancelled my subscription but I want to stay on the course. Can you reverse this for me?
We’re really pleased to hear you want to continue your artistic journey with us!
Unfortunately there's no way to reverse a cancellation on our end, but what you can do is just re-join the subscription course by repurchasing from the relevant course page. You will be returned to the point where you left off, with all the content that you have previously unlocked available to view.
Please make sure you use the same account, so that the system will know to return your progress to you!
Q: I'm a complete beginner! Is Anime Art Academy suitable for me?
A: Our courses are tailored to suit the needs of anyone from beginner to pro. We recommend starting off with one of our subscription courses, or with our first lesson pack if you are a complete beginner.
We understand that nobody wants to be thrown in at the deep end when learning something brand new!
So why not try our free taster course to see if our lessons seem right for you.
Q: My child is interested in joining Anime Art Academy. Are the courses suitable for children?
A: Our courses are all suitable for students of any age. In fact, we often find that our younger students pick up techniques fastest, and respond very well to feedback. One of our teachers here at Anime Art Academy won an award for his work at a famous manga magazine when he was just 17 years old, so there's no problem starting young and aiming high!
Our lectures are all video-based and involve a certain amount of self-study, so for very young children, we do suggest a responsible adult supervises and helps them out with the lessons and homework assignments.
Our How to Draw Anime and Manga' Premium course contains helpful resources that make it easier to follow along, so this would be a great option for younger students.
If you aren't sure, let your child try the first lesson for free, or enrol to our free taster course and see if it seems suitable.
Q: What equipment will I need to join Anime Art Academy?
A: All our students need to thrive on any of our courses is a pencil, paper and a passion for art!
However, if you would prefer to use digital media, you will need either a compatible smart device like an iPad and iPencil, or a tablet and drawing software on a computer. This is by no means a compulsory requirement of our course, but many of our students do prefer to go digital.
There are all kinds of free drawing software available online, and if you shop around, tablets can be relatively inexpensive too. For drawing software, we'd recommend SAI by SYSTEMAX - a great, affordable drawing software used by a lot of Japanese illustrators. There's a full English version available, and also a free 31 day trial version here at their home page.
If you want to go for a totally free option, Krita is a very popular choice. It's 100% free and open source.
You will see our teachers using Clip Studio Paint in the lessons, which is another purchasable software, but it does have a free trial available.
As for tablets, most of our illustrators use WACOM tablets. For the most professional results, you will need a tablet that reacts to pen pressure so that the pen will react like a real pen or pencil, giving you a variety of thickness in your strokes. The more expensive WACOM tablets can cost upward of $500 dollars, but there are plenty of more reasonably priced ones out there too.
We do not include lessons on how to use drawing software, so you will need to learn the basics yourself. There are plenty of tutorials available online so try making a quick search, or taking a look at the official website of your chosen tablet and software.
Q: Who responds to the comments in the lecture comment sections?
A: The comment sections are run by our translation team, who pass all comments on to our teachers and translate their replies.
This means you get to talk to real Japanese pros without worrying about the language barrier!
The translation process can sometimes take up to 48 hours, and comments posted on the weekend will be returned the following Monday. We thank you for your patience.
Q: Can I contact the lecturers directly by email?
A: Our email account is run by our student support team, so if you would like feedback from lecturers on your artwork, please use the comments section on our lectures rather than emailing us directly.
Any questions relating to your account, or to the course in general, can be directed to our email account, where our English-speaking staff will happy to help you.
Q: Where can I find out more about the Anime Art Academy teachers?
You can read more about our teachers on our About Us page!
Q: Do you offer a personal tutoring service?
A: Unfortunately we do not offer personal tutoring, only our online anime/manga drawing courses.
Our courses are made up of video lessons, and involve a lot of self-study, but we also offer professional advice and feedback in the comments section of each lecture, so it`s a great alternative option if you can't find a suitable tutor.
Q: What is your policy for refunds?
A: To request a refund, please get in touch via email within 14 days of purchase, and inform us of the reason for your refund request. We will assess your account and get back to you. Because digital content and services are non-returnable, please note that we cannot grant refunds to students who have watched more than one full lesson, or to students who have received personal feedback in the lecture comments section.
Moreover, please note that we cannot provide refunds for reasons that are not attributable to Anime Art Academy, such as individual or family matters.
We offer free sample lessons for each of our courses, and the title and contents of each lesson in the course are also available to view before purchase, so please take a look and be sure our lesson content and course style is right for you before joining, to avoid any misunderstandings.
[Refund policy updated 13th May 2021]
Q: Does Anime Art Academy have an Affiliate program? If so, how can I join?
A: We do! Becoming an Anime Art Academy Affiliate is easy - just follow the steps on our Affiliate page here for 40% commission from every affiliate purchase.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any questions that were not covered in the above FAQ's, please get in touch by email at [email protected] and our support team will be happy to help you!