Welcome! Thank you for your interest in Furry Cartooning for Amateurs!Furry Cartooning for Amateurs is my (GabuMatt's) dream online cartooning course for adults where I combine Lynda-Barry-inspired drawing exercises with furry tropes. It was first taught from January to March 2026 in an inexpensive experimental format. I am now offering it again in summer 2026!The application for the summer class is now closed. If you'd like to be on my mailing list and potentially get early access to the next class's application form, please fill out the general interest form below. Thanks!Updated Jun 15, 2026

Summer 2026 Supplies List
Updated Jun 10, 20261. A composition notebook. Must be non-recycled paper! This works best with our supplies. College ruled.2. A pack of 4” by 6” notecards. Lined or not lined is fine - we are only using the non-lined sides.3. Some printer paper, 8.5” × 11”, about 20 sheets.4. Some mixed media paper/notebook, about 10 sheets are needed. 7” × 10”5. At least 2 black Uniball Vision pens, Fine Point. These are waterproof!6. Your choice of either at least 2 black PaperMate Flair pens or at least 2 black Tombow Fudenosuke pens, hard tipped. Both of these pens have variable line thickness! The Tombows are more archival and waterproof.7. Watercolors, a cheap set of 8 works fine for what we are doing.8. A watercolor brush that has a reservoir for water inside of it.9. Colored pencils, at least 8.10. A ruler.11. A number 2 erasable pencil.12. An eraser. The one on the pencil might be enough. You will be erasing about 3 pages of pencils.13. Access to Discord.14. Access to a camera (phone is fine) and good lighting for photographing your work.15. Access to a color scanner, just once, at the end of the class.

FAQ
Updated Jun 11, 2026Q: Who's teaching?Hi I'm GabuMatt, he/him! I'm a 29-year-old white gay guy from Cleveland, Ohio! Fursona-wise, I’m a blue border collie that digivolves into an orange alley cat. Career-wise, I'm an electrical engineer, but I’m slowly becoming a professional cartooning educator as well.I have taught comics making classes for youth through the non-profit Lake Erie Ink; I've co-organized and led cartooning activities for the Cleveland-based comics making group for adults, Comics in the Circle, for 5 years now; and I've led similar activities for my fellow furs at local fur meets and conventions including Furrest City, WPAFW, and soon, Anthrocon! As of this past winter, I’ve also started teaching furry cartooning methods through my online class!I officially joined the furry fandom in 2023, but I was furry-adjacent (read: a lurker) long before that. Discovering Lynda Barry's comics making methods in 2018 changed my life, and now my mode of art-making is creating drawing and cartooning situations.This video is a great example of me leading fellow furries in a drawing game!Q: What will I be learning?A: Activities will center around using a composition notebook and other cheap materials to get into Images. You and your classmates will learn quick processes to get your hands moving. We’ll start with simple drawing exercises, move to starting a diary comics practice, learn techniques with watercolors, use fast-paced prompts and constraints to write and draw, and finally make a one-page and a two-page full-color comic for optional participation in a class zine. Furry themes and tropes will be mixed in! There will be a ref-sheet activity, an optional Art-Fight-style homework assignment, and a game called YCH Boss.Q: Why “for amateurs?”A: My teacher Juan Jose Fernandez once taught an online class called Cartooning for the Rest of Us. It was a non-careerist approach to cartooning with many methods to make strange and lovely comics that weren't necessarily marketable commodities. I chose the word “amateurs” because this class will focus on drawing for the love of it and will not focus on making drawings and comics using skills that will help them sell (not that those two things are mutually exclusive).Q: If I'm a professional artist, can I take this class?
A: Yes! I'm confident you'll enjoy the exercises, homework, and community. The methods we practice might help you in your professional work too.Q: Who is this “Lynda Barry” you keep talking about? OwOA: Lynda Barry is a cartoonist who teaches at UW Madison. Her work is centered around the question, “what is an Image?” and she defines images saying, “anything we call ‘the arts’ is a container for Images, also any object that kids are attached to.” She teaches college students but also works with kindergartners. A great introduction to her work is her 12 page comic, “Two Questions" .Q: How will class work?A: Class will be every Sunday at 6:30 PM to about 9:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time from January 13th to March 3rd over Discord. You will not be required to turn your camera or microphone on, but for some activities, you will be recommended to share your work! Students often post progress shots in the voice channel chat during class. (I LOVE IT!) I am trying to replicate the effect of Lynda Barry's classroom at UW Madison on Discord. No one will be allowed to talk about the quality of other people's work there, good or bad. Even emoji reactions will be turned off! There will be no critiques in this class. You will also all be picking new names before the first day.This is all to serve the purpose of helping you write and draw. Lynda Barry uses similar rules to get college students who gave up on drawing in middle school to draw again. Something precious, lovely, and uncomfortable shows up. We are trying to get there together!!! The Discord will be exclusive to students in this Summer 2026 class, plus me and outsidewolves.Q: Will I learn how to draw better?A: A little! This class is about using the skills you already have. Some simple techniques for going further than stick figures will be taught. You will also learn some methods to trick yourself into drawing that will change your relationship to what appears.Q: So do I need to know how to draw already?A: You will need to be able to write and draw for three three-hour sessions (which is A LOT, even with a couple breaks!).You will also have to draw and write quickly, under time constraints, for many of the activities.Q: Can I draw adult content?A: Yes! This class is for adults only. However, this won't be the focus of the class, and you will be required to spoiler it when sharing it in the Discord. Adult content is a major part of furry for many of us (including me!), but not for all of us, so this is how I’m balancing that.**Q: What supplies do I need? Do I need to buy any textbooks? **A: You need the very specific supplies from the supplies list! There is no textbook. All recommended, optional “readings” between classes will be shared over the Discord. I do recommend purchasing or checking out Making Comics by Lynda Barry regardless!Q: Can I take the class for free?A: If you are experiencing financial hardship, you may enter a raffle when applying for the class. I'll raffle off 5 seats on Sunday, June 28th at the latest.Q: Is there homework? Are there grades? How much work is this class?A: Yes, there is homework! Expect to be drawing a few hours a week outside of class! However, all of the homework is optional. You will get a lot out of the exercises during class, but even more if you do the homework assignments. You’ll also get to share and connect more if you do the homework. There are no grades. There is no critique at all, actually. All you will get from me is an encouraging, “GOOD!”Q: Is it okay if I miss a class? Or multiple?A: Yes! You’ll get less out of that week, but I will record recap videos to cover the things you missed. If you can’t make our class time ever, I don’t recommend taking the class.Q: How many people will there be?A: 23 maximum students. This will allow us to turn our cameras (optionally) in Discord.Q: Do I have to be a furry to take this class?
A: No, but you should consider becoming one! :3c At the very least, be prepared to be drawing anthropomorphic animals, and you will have to design a fursona or a furry OC during the course of the class.Q: Will I get to meet other furries?A: YES! You’ll have eight weeks to get to know your fellow students and me over the class Discord server, with channels to chat; share homework, exercises, and other drawings (including daily prompts); voice channels accessible all the time, and an open text chat during class for all your quip-slinging needs. Every class will have sharing time, something I can guarantee now that I’m moving class to Sundays and adding an hour to each session.
Q: When is the outsidewolves guest lecture?A: Probably the 5th session, August 9th!

Furry Cartooning For Amateurs Summer 2026 Syllabus
Posted Jun 10, 2026
Subject to change

Session 1: Building Blocks
Jul 12, 20261) Welcome!
2) Drawing with our eyes closed
3) Ivan Brunetti Style
4) Attendance Cards
5) Faster, Faster Ivan Brunetti
6) Introduction to Compbooks
7) X Diary
8) Looking at furry art for 30 seconds each.
9) Review class rules.
10) Homework: daily X-Page diary
11) In recap video: Professor Espresso AKA GabuMatt’s experience in making comics

Session 2: Our Innate Storytelling Ability and the Four Panel Beat
Jul 19, 20261) Attendance Card
3) Looking at drawings/art.
4) Homework drawings and experience sharing time.
5) Doodle Monsters / Doodle Furries
6) Furry, This Is Your Life
7) Four Box Diary
8) Sharing time
9) Optional homework: nightly Four Box Diary

Session 3: Introducing Color and Characters!
Jul 26, 2026
1) Attendance card with color
    a) Introduce watercolors, using red yellow and blue
3) Looking at drawings/art
4) Homework sharing time
5) Timed quick ref sheet
6) Coloring the ref sheet and listen to a reading
7) Optional homework: Art Fight Battle Royale
8) Also optional homework: remake the ref sheet on the mixed media paper
9) Also optional homework: find comic panels or other lineart to copy next week in class

Session 4: Copying, Memes, and Fanart
Aug 2, 20261) Attendance Card
2) Homework sharing time:Art Fight Battle Royale results and finished ref sheets
3) Looking at drawings/art
4) Copying panels, drawings from other people’s comics, art
5) 6 Different Species meme
6) Coloring and listening to Lynda Barry, Furry Studies Recordings, Two Old Furry Fans, or Ines Estrada
7) Optional homework: faster than you think you can comics

Session 5: OUTSIDEWOLVES GUEST LECTURE + YCH Boss
Aug 9, 2026
1) Attendance Cards
2) Homework sharing time.
3) Looking at drawings/art
4) Outsidewolves’s AKA Redacteur’s guest lecture!!!
5) YCH Boss, a drawing game
6) Short introduction to the 2-page comic format
7) Optional homework: go to a cafe and draw for at least an hour
8) Optional homework: bring little figurines/trinkets and/or trading cards to next week, at least 2, no more than 20. 6 or 7 is good.

Session 6: One Page Comics: Fiction and Non-Fiction
Aug 16, 2026
1) Attendance Cards
2) Homework sharing time
2) Review Frame (non fiction)
3) Characters + Constraints + Chaos = Comics (fiction)
4) Setting up a 1 page comic
5) Begin penciling the 1 page comic
6) Looking at drawings/art
7) Explain the class zine
8) Optional homework: Finish inking and coloring your first 1 page comic (a lot of work!)

Session 7: Work Session and Democratic Class Zine Creation
Aug 23, 2026
1) Attendance Cards
2) Homework sharing time
3) Formal discussion and vote on final details of class zine
4) Work session for the zine
5) Sharing time
7) Looking at drawings/art
8) Homework: finish 2 page comics

Session 8: A Comics Reading + A Furry Rave
Aug 30, 2026
1) Attendance cards
2) Live comics reading: students read their comics to the class (optional)
3) Zine editing progress report, submission deadline
4) Furry Rave Class Photo activity
5) Sharing time
6) Goodbye!

TBD - Zine Release Party