6 weeksDrawing for Fun
A relaxed, welcoming class for artists who simply enjoy drawing. Weekly themes and creative prompts, with room to explore your own ideas. No experience necessary.
Starts Jan 5 · TuesdaysSlowLine Art Room offers live online animation drawing classes and traditional animation training for teens and adults, taught in small groups by animation educator Steff Farrar. You build real skills at a pace that fits your life.
Look for the coral dots. Each one hides a little animation fact.
Illustration by Steff Farrar
SlowLine is an educational experience built around the simple belief that anyone can learn the art of traditional drawing and classical animation when they're given the right instruction, encouragement, and the freedom to learn in their own way, at their own pace.
Through affordable, professional-level training, SlowLine invites aspiring artists to discover that drawing and animation aren't simply talents you're born with, but skills you can develop, explore, and master.
Whether pursuing a creative career or learning for the sheer joy of it, each student decides how far they want to go. Our role is to help them discover just how far they can go.
SlowLine starts with you: what you want to learn, what you already do well, where you get stuck, and how much time you have. Then you and Steff choose the next step together.
Classes meet live online on a set day each week. You can work with pencil and paper, or draw digitally when the course allows it. This is not a full-time school. Take one course, take a break, or come back and take it again.
SlowLine is designed with neurodivergent learners in mind, which creates a learning environment that works for all learners, especially teens and adults. If you love to draw, you belong here.
Teaching is learner-centred, designed to meet you where you are and customized to help you level up at your own pace.
Fine-tune your portfolio for animation college, or take college-level animation classes one step at a time.
Multi-week courses with set dates and a weekly meeting time that can fit around a home learning plan.
Sit in on a SlowLine introductory meeting to meet Steff, learn more, and have all your questions answered. These meetings are offered every two weeks.
Steff works with organizations that support artists. Reach out to talk about referrals or a group course.
Mentorship is available one-on-one or in a small group for artists and graduates who want help finding a job.
Everyone is welcome here
Each course runs for 6 to 8 weeks, with one virtual class per week, lasting 1 to 2 hours. Hourly private lessons and personalized mentorship are also available.
6 weeksA relaxed, welcoming class for artists who simply enjoy drawing. Weekly themes and creative prompts, with room to explore your own ideas. No experience necessary.
Starts Jan 5 · Tuesdays
8 weeksTwo weeks each with four core disciplines professional animators use: figure drawing, character design, perspective and background drawing, and storyboarding.
Starts Jan 6 · Wednesdays
6 weeksLearn one-point and two-point perspective while drawing buildings, objects and simple environments, and build the base for background design.
Starts Jan 4 · Mondays
8 weeksLearn how memorable 2D characters are designed for animation and games, from shape language and silhouettes to model sheets, then design your own.
Starts Jan 7 · ThursdaysStudents advance through progressive classes based on demonstrated skill readiness. There is no set time to complete a levelled class. Each level builds on the one before it, and students are given the time and space they need to meet the criteria for each level.
SlowLine offers a variety of drawing courses related to animation. After completing a course, you can advance to the next level, revisit the same course, or explore a different discipline.
One 6- or 8-week class doesn't mean you have met every criterion. Keep building until you master the level and are ready to move up, just like swimming, piano or martial arts.
Classes have a minimum of three and a maximum of six students, for more hands-on learning and more personal feedback. Private 1:1 lessons are also available.
Classes make room for short, playful drawing: circle warm-ups, thumbnail gestures, and breaking a pose down into simple shapes. These are pages from Steff's own sketchbook, done the same way students do them.
Artists warm up by tracing the same circle over and over, making each one more perfect than the last and keeping the line thin and even. It may look like scribbles at first, but the circles get tighter and rounder with practice. That control helps keep consistency across all drawing disciplines.
Circle warm-up
Thumbnail gestures
Breaking a pose into shapes
Steff has worked as an animator, studio owner, producer, curriculum designer, teacher, and mentor. She helped build a college animation program from an empty room, and spent more than five years teaching and working exclusively with over 100 neurodivergent artists preparing for careers in animation and visual effects.
Through her experiences, Steff came to believe that an artist's potential shouldn't be limited by how they learn, by working within a set study timeline or schedule, or by where they hope to take their skills. She created SlowLine to offer the kind of professional-level art education that respects the individual, adapts to their needs, and lets them decide what success looks like.
“All artists deserve the opportunity to discover what they're capable of without being defined by how quickly they learn, how much money they have, or how well they fit into a traditional classroom or career path.”
“What really stands out is her leadership style. She creates a warm, supportive environment where the team feels looked after.”
“She has provided countless opportunities for students, uplifted each of them with personalized education material, and has opened door after door.”
“Steff stands out for her warmth, empathy, and remarkable patience as a mentor and teacher.”
“What stood out to me was her ability to reconcile the numbers game with her compassion for the individuals she was helping. I cannot recommend her strongly enough.”
“Steff talked with me often about what she could do to support me. She was always looking for workshop opportunities and industry discussions for artists to join. The respect and compassion for us was sincerely felt, and I know many of our artists would agree that Steff wasn’t just a boss, but a true leader and mentor.”
Yes. Every class is taught live online by Steff on a set day and time each week. Each course page lists the dates, the weekly meeting time, and the time zone.
Nope. There are classes for every artist level. Some classes do have prerequisites, and each course page lists them.
No. SlowLine welcomes anyone who wants to learn to draw or animate. Classes are built to work for people who learn differently, no diagnosis required.
Students can use pencil and paper or a digital tablet. It is entirely up to you. You do need a decent internet connection, a camera and a microphone.
No, but it can be. SlowLine is a set of separate multi-week courses. You choose one, finish it, and decide what comes next, including taking it again. Students are free to take as many classes at once as they like, to build something like a full-time program if they wish.
Yes. SlowLine opens in January with the four courses listed here, and more courses will be added over time. Check back for new disciplines and levels.
Start by joining Steff live for an introduction to SlowLine meeting. She will answer questions, talk with you about your interests, look at your skills, and help you choose the right class. Since classes are skills-based, Steff wants every class to be the perfect fit. Intro meetings are held every two weeks, and all are welcome. Then choose your course and select Enrol Now.
Not sure where to start? Join Steff at an intro meeting, held every two weeks, and she will help you find the class that fits. Have a question first? Send her a note and she will write back.