Want To Watch The HTFYA Livestream?
May 16, 2 p.m. MT
The livestream is free for anyone to join on our YouTube channel.
Want more? Members can watch all the previous livestreams and access the complete lessons in the dashboard.
Not Sure How To Fix Your Art?
Ever had the feeling that something is off about your illustration, but not quite sure what? We've all been there! Sometimes it helps to get another point of view. Every month, we'll be taking submissions from our students and demonstrating how to improve.
This is your chance to see how a pro would do it!
Current & Upcoming Prompts
GODZILLA: THE CHILDREN’S BOOK
This month, you will design the front cover of a book about Godzilla for children. Be creative, have fun, and come up with something unexpected. Remember, that story is king! Any size of illustration will work, but remember that this is for the cover of a children’s book. Have fun designing the book title. Upload your finished illustration to the forum by June 1st, 2024.
HELPFUL COURSES:
- Visual Storytelling
- Unique And Appealing Character Design
- Creative Composition
IT WAS A FOOD TRUCK LIKE NO OTHER! AND HER CUSTOMERS LOVED IT!
For this prompt, you will create an interesting visual story that fits the text provided in the prompt. Ask as many questions as possible to develop story ideas. These could include what kind of food truck it is, what kind of being “she” is, what planet it’s on, why her customers love it, what time of day it is, how many people or animals or creatures are there, is the food running out or abundant, what time of year it is, is there one customer who hated it? Your illustration can include little side stories but maintain one main focal point. Your finished illustration can use any format. Upload your finished illustration to the forum by July 1st, 2024.
HELPFUL COURSES:
- Visual Storytelling
- Effective Vehicle Design
- Creative Composition
SAM WOKE UP TO FIND THAT NOTHING MADE SENSE. SHE WENT OUTSIDE AND EVERYTHING WAS WEIRD! BUT EVERYONE WAS ACTING LIKE IT WAS NORMAL!
This is a chance for you to tell a visual story well beyond the prompt! Don’t get tempted to try to illustrate too many concepts in your image. Write a creative story within the prompt. Try to write a story that is funny, sad, exciting, etc. Here’s an example: The family is sitting down to a dinner feast on a huge table full of ice cream sundaes, all kinds of candy, donuts, cotton candy, cookies, cakes, cup cakes, brownies, pies, etc. Your finished illustration can use any format. Upload your finished illustration to the forum by August 1st, 2024.
HELPFUL COURSES:
- Developing Great Visual Stories
- Visual Storytelling
- Creative Composition
How To Submit Your Work
Anyone can submit their work for a chance to get it "fixed" by one of our instructors. Here's how to submit:
- Create something cool based on the monthly prompt.
- Click the button below to submit. You'll be taken to the SVSLearn Forum, where you can find the submission thread for the upcoming livestream. Please note you will need a free Forum account to post.
- Click on the thread and hit "Reply" to add a JPG of your artwork to the post (please only post your final version).
- Be sure to submit by the 1st of the month for a chance for your work to be selected.
- Join us on the third Thursday of the month to see whose work made it to the HTFYA livestream!
Please only submit if you are OK with our judges potentially critiquing and altering your work during a public livestream on YouTube, which will be recorded and added to our website.
We do not own the rights to your work, you do! But we reserve the right to publish your work on our online platform SVSLearn.com, and its associated email list and social media.
About the Instructors
Illustrator/Cartoonist Jake Parker
For the last 19 years Jake has worked on everything from animated films to comics to picture books. For several years he worked for Reel FX and Blue Sky Studios on such projects as Horton Hears a Who, Rio, and Epic. He is the creator of the popular Inktober drawing challenge. Jake currently works as an illustrator and cartoonist on children's books and comics. He works out of his home studio in Arizona.
Illustrator Extraodinare Lee White
Lee White is a children's book illustrator based in Colorado. He has been illustrating books for the past 20 years and has over 30 titles to his name. His latest book, This Pretty Planet, was released in November 2020. He also teaches all his painting secrets at SVSLearn.com and workshops around the country.
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Illustrator Will Terry
Will Terry has been a freelance illustrator for 26 years. He got his start working for magazines and newspapers in the Washington D.C. area. His early clients include publications such as Time, Money, WSJ and ads for Sprint, Pizza Hut, Fed Ex, and Master Card. He has illustrated about 30 children’s books for a number of publishers, including Random House, Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, and Penguin. When he's not mountain biking, hiking, or snowboarding he works out of the svslearn.com office in Provo Utah.
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