UPDATE: The Kubert School no longer includes many of these materials when purchasing a correspondence course. They must be purchased separately.
If you are wondering what is included in the Kubert School Correspondence courses, I don’t blame you one bit. The price is… pricey… and the materials description before purchase is vague. So let me clear it up for you. The Joe Kubert correspondence course materials are listed on an “art supply checklist” upon purchase and read as follows:
- 5 sheets 2-ply bristol (pre-ruled)
- 5 sheets tracing paper
- 1 mechanical lead holder
- 2 extra leads (3H)
- 1 magic rub eraser
- 1 #2 brush, Raphael
- 1 white paint brush, Loew-Cornell
- 1 T-square
- 1 Ames guide
- 1 triangle
- 1 jar: Pelikan Ink (black) 1 fl oz
- 1 jar: bleed proof white, 1 fl oz
- 1 Speedball pen holder
- 1 crowquill holder
- course book
- course video
There are also bagged pen points:
- 1 B-5 Speedball nib
- 1 B-6 Speedball nib
- 1 #102 Hunt nib
- 1 #108 Hunt nib
- 1 #512 Hunt nib
Kubert Correspondence Course Materials in Detail
Here is a quick review of the Kubert Correspondence Course Materials. The materials are shipped in an elaborately detailed box. The course book is large, and is about 11″ by 17″. Also included are several instruction sheets, a shipping envelope, and a piece of cardboard to keep the art work from bending while shipping. The cost of shipping the artwork is not included, and must come out of your own pocket. Many of the materials have custom printing on them, and say “Joe Kubert’s World of Cartooning”. The say pictures are worth a thousand words, so take a look at the pictures of the course materials below:
The Kubert Correspondence Course Video
When you purchase the course, you get a DVD. Some of the content will be the same, regardless of the course you choose. There are drawing demonstrations on each DVD.
The quality of the DVD is somewhat low. The disk itself looks as if it were made on a home computer. The DVD menu looks like it was made from a DVD recorder you would buy in an electronics store. It is obviously a VHS video that has been converted to DVD. Here are some screenshots, including Kubert telling you to put this video into a nearby VCR for easy reference.
Bonus Materials
Occasionally, the Kubert School will have a sale and offer a bonus along with it. Sometimes that bonus is a facsimile sheet of pencil drawings to practice inking over. Here is one I received with my materials. I don’t know which comic it is from. Does anyone out there know the origin of this page? Please comment below.
I grew up near the Kubert school and took some summer courses with one of their teachers. I always wanted to go there! For years I’ve considered buying this kit. My question is, do you feel it’s worth it? Also, do they give you a certificate at the end? I know it sounds lame, but I would love to have a Kubert certificate hanging on my wall.
Great post!
There are no grades or anything. The main benefit is the feedback you get for your drawings. But little is written in feedback, or at least not enough to answer your questions. For $325, you get a book that is about 30 pages and art materials. And of course, you get five critiques. If you grew up near the school, I would recommend finding a way attend the school itself. That way, you can get more feedback from the staff.
I’ve also wrote a more detailed article here.
Unfortunately, you probably will never read this response due to the fake email you gave 🙂
The page is from Avengers Vs X-Men.
Thanks. Yes, it is from Avengers vs X-Men issue 12. Good catch.
If you could only choose 3 books from the correspondance course which 3 would it be? (might be buying some used ones) Thanks so much for sharing!
STORY-GRAPHICS
PENCILING
INKING
HORROR
HEROES AND SUPERHEROES
VILLAINS AND SUPERVILLAINS
Etc, etc?
For sure, the number one most helpful is the course on Inking. The video especially is very specific and it tells you everything you need to know. The second course I would recommend is Penciling, which he is also very specific in the video. I think these two courses were probably the first ones that he made since they were both apparently taken very seriously. As for the other courses, I don’t think any of them are that great in providing professional advice. The only course I haven’t done is Story-Graphics, although I do have the book and video, just haven’t paid for the critiques needed to complete the assignments.
Thanks!
I decided on Inking, Penciling, and Horror (for the curiosity and specifics of it lol)
I would normally get story-graphics too,but I have a lot of Eisner books and others specifically abot the art of sequential story telling, so opted for something diff.