Grind Before Glory is an art fundamental skill-building program designed to help students hit the ground running as they pursue their dreams of becoming professional artists.
“This program is designed to help people with a dream and the determination to pursue a career in the arts by developing strong foundational skills,” Grind Before Glory founder Michael Buffington explained.
Grind Before Glory is an artist development program taught by industry professionals and headed by Buffington, a professor, master curriculum master, and concept artist who has been in the video game/entertainment industry for over 20 years. Buffington’s most notable work was on Clone Wars for LucasFilm Animation.
Born in San Francisco, Buffington grew up with limited resources but was always surrounded by art, his father being a musician and his mother an aspiring artist. However, due to life and his circumstances, he couldn’t focus on art as a viable career until later in life. Once Buffington figured out that all he wanted to do was draw and create as a career, he became fiercely determined and applied for art school. Despite starting at a lower skill level and lacking access to art classes compared to his classmates, Buffington graduated at the top of his class, leading him to the career he has today.
The brand’s name is linked to Buffington’s story and belief that you have to work for what you want. Buffington wants prospective students to know that this program will take hard work and determination, but it will be worth it.
In addition to his experience in the industry, Buffington was also a full-time professor and department head for a large private art university in Northern California for ten years. During these ten years, buffing developed a concept art program (BFA, MFA) that ranked #1 in the U.S and #3 in the world in 2020. Grind Before Glory’s courses are based on the same educational philosophy that Buffington used to build that highly-rated program and are designed to be the first step on the path toward becoming a professional artist.
Buffington started Grind Before Glory out of a desire to elevate the voices of the upcoming young Black artists by providing them with the fundamentals that many art schools don’t focus on.
“90% of art schools in this country offer inferior foundational classes that do not prepare people for the industry. They overpromise and underdeliver. They focus on things like retention over skill building, which in my opinion is a huge mistake and a waste of the first two years.” Buffington explained
Grind Before Glory is a bootcamp-style program that focuses on what you should learn in the first year and half of art school — the fundamentals. This program will last 18 months and be broken down into (6) ten-week blocks, with three classes per block. The curriculum will cover drawing, digital drawing, sketching, painting, and more.
Grind Before Glory launches this month, with the first classes starting in early July.
Register with Grind Before Glory Today!
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