Illustration Mentorship
Portfolio & Career Development
Your art and career guided by groundbreaking artists: George Pratt, Sterling Hundley, Dale Stephanos, and John English
Your art and career guided by groundbreaking artists: George Pratt, Sterling Hundley, Dale Stephanos, and John English
You receive direct, personal critique from four of the most accomplished working illustrators in the field. They look at your specific work, speak to your specific goals, and push you where your career needs to go.
Every student receives individual feedback from the instructing artist. Not a rubric, not a TA. Your work, their eyes, every session.
These aren’t educators who used to work. They’re active professionals whose clients include NASA, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, and TIME… right now.
Critique alone won’t launch a career. This course covers portfolio positioning, client targeting, branding, and outreach alongside the craft.
Each instructor brings their own career, their own aesthetic, and decades of hard-won industry knowledge. You work and career, guided by their full attention.
Painter · Graphic Novelist · Eisner Award Winner
George pushes students to think about atmosphere, narrative, and genuine point of view. His career spans gallery painting, graphic novels, and editorial, and he brings all of it to your work.
Illustrator · Painter · Concept Artist
Sterling’s guidance is conceptually rigorous. He doesn’t just evaluate what you made and helps you understand the thinking that should drive your art and how to build a lasting visual identity.
Editorial Illustrator · 2025 Artist of the Year (Massachusetts Center for the Arts)
Dale brings a working editorial illustrator’s perspective to every critique. What clients actually respond to, what makes a portfolio competitive, and how to build a practice that sustains a real career.
Illustrator · Painter · Concept Artist
John built this program around the belief that serious artists deserve serious mentorship. His critiques reflect both his commercial career and years of understanding what actually moves students forward.
Portfolio Development is heavily focused on reviewing student work and career strategies.
Homeroom:
Saturday Zoom Meeting (3 hours)
Study Hall:
Wednesday Zoom Meeting (1-2 hours)
Topics: Study Hall is an optional weekly resource. Group critique, assistance on homework and general support by VAP mentors from each program.
Discord:
Post progress, ask questions, connect and network with fellow classmates, while gaining insights from VAP mentors throughout the week.
Homeroom:
Saturday Zoom Meeting (3 hours)
Study Hall:
Wednesday Zoom Meeting (1-2 hours)
Topics: Study Hall is an optional weekly resource. Group critique, assistance on homework and general support by VAP mentors from each program.
Discord:
Post progress, ask questions, connect and network with fellow classmates, while gaining insights from VAP mentors throughout the week.
Guest Speakers:
Saturday & Sunday Zoom Meeting
Students meet both Saturday and Sunday for two separate Guest Artist events. Guest artists will present work, share process, and technique via demonstration and on occasion will provide group critiques to select students.
Study Hall:
Wednesday Zoom Meeting (1-2 hours)
Topics: Study Hall is an optional weekly resource. Group critique, assistance on homework and general support by VAP mentors from each program.
Discord:
Post progress, ask questions, connect and network with fellow classmates, while gaining insights from VAP mentors throughout the week.
Because of the support and guidance from the mentors, I had artwork accepted into the 64th Society of Illustrators Annual and started receiving paying commissions from real clients.
Erin Ruffino
The quality of teaching here exceeds anything I experienced in my MFA program. I’ve never felt more motivated, energized, and in love with the business of illustration.
Sydney Kysar
I owe all my advancement and improvements in my work to this course.
Ocean Salazar
World-renowned artists and directors visit this class every semester.
Portfolio Development is the third course in the Illustration Program and it's the perfect course for advanced students who have begun to build out a portfolio. The course is a 10-week long workshop to continue building and polishing your portfolio to prepare it for the industry.
We recommend this course for students who have already attended Ideation & Visual Storytelling or for artists who are already working at an advanced level.
We recommend against jumping straight to Portfolio Development, but for some advanced artists, this is feasible. We recommend booking a portfolio review here, but there is no technical requirement to attend a more advanced course.
The Mentorship program is a "get out of it, what you put in" experience. That being said, our courses are structured to accommodate individuals with a busy schedule. We recommend setting aside a minimum of 3 hours for your live course and 2 hours to complete assignments and course work. We highly encourage students to commit more time if their schedule allows.
We encourage students to attend the livestream whenever their schedule permits, however, this is not required nor is it essential to fully benefit from the personalized coaching and mentoring offered by this course. Every class we host is recorded and available on-demand after the broadcast. You will still receive personalized feedback on work submitted before the livestream.
Yes! This course is designed truly as a mentorship course. Your mentor will review work you submit for the course and provide feedback during or after class to help you progress, improve and develop your skills and portfolio.
Yes, all classes are available for download during your enrollment as a mentorship program student.
We recommend students enroll in only one mentorship course per semester. We highly recommend taking mini-courses, such as Color Theory or Figure Drawing in addition to Mentorship courses.