Welcome to ThomasWorks, an internet space* for me, Thomas Bertling.

I'm originally from Germany, but have made my home in Los Angeles now for many years, where I live with my partner and child -- when we're not off traveling somewhere else in the world, which we love to do.    I enjoy problem-solving while using all the tools that I have as a product designer, an educator, a craftsman and most of all – a curious human that likes to learn new things!  

Design Educator

It is important to me to be a rigorous, caring, and inspiring mentor. I practiced this during my many years teaching at ArtCenter College of Design, where I taught perspective drawing and design concept development  at all levels.  Whether it was guiding first-term or graduating college students, training faculty, or showing industry professionals how to build solid foundational design skills, the most important thing was for the learner to come first. My teaching approach focuses on clarity and precision in communicating creative vision, because I believe the better we are at showing and/or telling the story of what we're imagining, the deeper understanding we can create with one another. 

Books

In our best-selling books How to Draw and How to Render from Design Studio Press, Scott Robertson and I created a reference compendium for the foundations of drawing and rendering. What a learner will find in these books reflects our combined years of teaching practice and collaboration from our former students that now work as professionals in many different design fields.  As you may imagine, these books may take some time to work through if you choose to use them to grow in your craft, but it's well worth the effort.  There is no limit to where your creativity, combined with what you find in these books – which is the best foundational knowledge we could provide – can take you!