A PLACE FOR ARTISTS WHO SIMPLY LOVE MAKING ART.
WELCOME TO THE ART CLUB!
Hello! David and Nick here!
We started The Art Club with one simple idea: professional art education should be affordable and accessible to everyone. We wanted to create a place where artists could learn, share, connect, and most importantly, enjoy making art.
We believe your success as an artist is not measured by your job title, the industry you work in, or how you make a living. It's measured by the joy you find in creating, the things you learn along the way, and the ideas you bring to life. To us, that's what being an artist is all about.
The Art Club is for everyone! If you're picking up a pencil for the first time or have been creating art for years, we welcome artists of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels. You don't need a portfolio, professional experience, or a career goal. Just bring your curiosity and a willingness to create!
We want to make art education as accessible as possible, which is why we offer free classes, community events, portfolio reviews, and opportunities to connect with professional artists. We believe everyone should have the chance to learn, get inspired, and be part of a creative community without worrying about the cost. Our goal is to create more opportunities for artists to come together, share their work, and grow alongside one another.
The Art Club is independently run and artist-driven. Every time you purchase a course, you're directly supporting the faculty who created and teach it. Your support helps working artists continue sharing their knowledge, experience, and passion with others.
At the end of the day, we just want to help people make more art, learn new things, and have fun doing it. We're building this community for people who love creating, and we hope you'll feel right at home here at The Art Club :)
Thanks for being here! We can't wait to see what you create!
David Perez & Nick Leysens
Co-Founders, The Art Club
David Perez is a husband, father, and character designer with over a decade of experience in animation.
Throughout his career, he has worked with studios including Disney, DreamWorks, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, Sony, and Netflix. His work includes serving as the first concept designer alongside Jon Favreau on Disney’s new Oswald, working on Hotel Transylvania 5, and serving as Lead Character Designer on DC Super Hero Girls with Lauren Faust.
David has also had the opportunity to learn from some of the artists who shaped the industry. He worked with Andreas Deja as an animator on Mushka, trained in 2D animation under Mario Menjivar, and was mentored in character design by Joe Moshier and Craig Kellman.
Teaching and giving back have become an important part of his career. David shares free art and character design lessons on YouTube at @dzine555, teaches through The Art Club, and is the author of Character Design Essentials, a 100-page visual guide to the fundamentals of character design.
Hailing from the Midwest, Nick Leysens is a designer, storyboard artist, illustrator, and animator with over a decade of experience working across television, film, tech, and commercial projects.
Throughout his career, Nick has had the opportunity to work with nationally recognized studios and clients, including Nickelodeon, Warner Bros., Titmouse, ShadowMachine, Miley Cyrus, Duolingo, Cinemax, Fox, and Adult Swim. His animation credits include Animaniacs, Looney Tunes, BoJack Horseman, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Simpsons, Baby Shark's Big Show, Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus, Clone High, and much much more.
He spent five years teaching at the collegiate level at the Cleveland Institute of Art and continues to mentor graduate students through the MFA program at the School of Visual Arts.