Illustration Program — Course 1
Process: Skill & Craft
A 10-week masterclass that establishes fundamental skills for advanced illustration and visual storytelling.
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All the tools you need to accelerate your skills as an illustrator, painter, and visual artist.
Course Details
Your career as a successful illustrator begins here. Don’t just learn how the pros work, work with the pros. The ‘Process: Skills and Craft’ course—your first in the Illustration Program—is a hands on dive into picture-making and drawing.
Alongside an assigned mentor, you’ll explore the complexities of working with different media, applying color, drawing with shape, and controlling light. You’ll be joined by guest speakers with decades of combined experience drawing for the biggest names in the industry.
Class Time
Saturdays, 10am – 1pm PT
Length
10 weeks (23 Live Classes)
Delivery
Live & Online
Medium
Digital or traditional
Enrollment Now Open
Only 3 Seats Left
Mentor
Katherine Lam
Skill Level
Beginner / Intermediate
Feedback
Live & On-Demand
Homeroom Class
3 Hours on Saturdays
Price
$799 $1199
Semester Dates
Key Takeaways From The 10 Week Course
Week 1: Intros & Professional Goals
Homeroom:
Saturday Zoom Meeting (3 hours)
Topics: Student introductions, class goals, followed by discussion of image-making, composition, and assignments. Students receive first homework project: The Flat Assignment.
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.
Week 2: Drawing
Homeroom:
Saturday Zoom Meeting (3 hours)
Topics: Drawing from memory, life, and photography. Review and individual critiques of flat assignment progress.
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.
Week 3: Guest Speakers
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.
Week 4: Controlling Value & Shape
Homeroom:
Saturday Zoom Meeting (3 hours)
Topics: Understanding silhouette, value control with thumbnails.
Assignment #2: Criterion Collection Film Poster
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.
Week 5: Understanding Composition
Homeroom:
Saturday Zoom Meeting (3 hours)
Topics: Understanding composition and controlling shape
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.
Week 6: Guest Speakers
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.
Week 7: Creating Great Photo Reference
Homeroom:
Saturday Zoom Meeting (3 hours)
Topics: Creating photography reference with great lighting, posing, and costuming.
Assignment #3: Celebrity/Historical Figure Portrait
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.
Week 8: Guest Speakers
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.
Week 9: Using Reference to Make Great Images
Homeroom:
Saturday Zoom Meeting (3 hours)
Topics: The power of great reference and using reference in your work.
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.
Week 10: Exit Review and Demonstrations
Homeroom:
Saturday Zoom Meeting (3 hours)
Topics: Final reviews of work, critique, and demonstration
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.
Meet the Class Mentor Katherine Lam
Katherine Lam is an illustrator. She grew up in Maryland, went to school in Florida, and now lives in NYC. She likes drawing houses.
Her work has been in 3×3, Society of Illustrators, AI-AP, Communication Arts, Applied Arts, and Creative Quarterly. She has been featured in Photoshop Creative 166.
Clients include: The New York Times, New Yorker, NBCUniversal, Criterion Collection, Laundry TV, The Telegraph, Hollywood Reporter, Smithsonian Magazine, The Intercept, TED, Propublica, Amazon, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, The New Republic, California Sunday, Pop-Up Magazine, Spectrum Magazine, Believer, Times Higher Education, Outside, Outline, New Jersey Monthly, Sierra, Little White Lies, Editions Gallmeister, Milwaukee Magazine, Charlotte Magazine, Narratively, BUST, Telemedicine, Doctorish, Il Corriere dela Sera, and Dinardo Design
Award-winning Guest Speakers
Every semester, Visual Arts Passage invites 7 guest speakers to connect and share wisdom with all students. These industry leaders answer student questions, complete in-depth demonstrations, review work, and more.
UPCOMING GUEST SPEAKERS
Deputy Editor, Juxtapoz Magazine
What makes this Mentorship unique?
As a mentorship student, you will gain access to a vast wealth of resources to better your understanding and improve your skills. You will be paired with a high-caliber professional, who will be with you every step of the way.
Live Classes
Every class is delivered live and is fully interactive with lectures, demos, critiques, and guest speakers. Consider this your front row seat.
Connect on Discord
Study Hall
Guest Speakers
Learn-by-doing Assignments
Polish your skills and create portfolio-worthy art
Students are tasked on a weekly basis with a variety of skill-building exercises, real-world assignments, and projects to help refine and improve. Assignments include creating publishing art based on existing narratives, celebrity portraits, and poster art for a mock client such as The Criterion Collection.
Student Testimonials
Process: Skill & Craft was an excellent class that definitely helped get my brain thinking about drawing and illustration in different ways. I was pushed to try new techniques and materials as well as consider different approaches to ideation and illustration development that have proved useful in all my work going forward. I really enjoyed the projects and the opportunity to let loose in regards to my own process and style.
Payment Installments Available
Even though our courses are the best value, with the high caliber instruction and personalized mentoring, there are finance options available to make the mentorship program financially possible for as many artists as possible. Select Shop Pay or Affirm at checkout to view options.
