Art Camp 504

Level up your drawing game with Art Camp 504! Each Sunday, we come together to learn new techniques, sharpen our sketching skills, and build our creative voice in a relaxed, supportive environment. We’ll cover everything from dynamic gesture drawing to shading, character design, and more. Whether you're sketching from life, diving into imaginative illustrations, or building your art portfolio, this class is all about developing confidence through consistent practice and peer support. We will be working primarily in pencil and dry mediums and will learn academic techniques to level up our drawing skills with a professional artist and professor - Akshita Monga.

All classes include warm-up sketching, short demos, and supportive group feedback. 

Tools needed:

• A4 or A3 sketchpad
• HB, 2B, 4B, 6B Pencils
• Eraser 

MEET THE INSTRUCTOR:

AKSHITA MONGA (she/her) is a realist and figurative artist, currently living and teaching in Barcelona, Spain. She’s previously trained as a digital artist and gone on to work as head illustrator for a youth magazine - arre.co.in creating relevant illustrations for write-ups and news stories. She’s also worked with writers and film-makers to create Children’s Story Books and Graphic Short Stories & Commissioned paintings. Akshita is currently working as an advanced oil painter and graduated from the renowned Barcelona Academy of Art, which is a traditional atelier school, training artists in 19th Century European Classical Art. Her works have been displayed at Nippon Gallery, Mumbai, India, Mrs. Toolips Gallery, Barcelona/Vienna, Guinizzelli Space, Barcelona and many more. We met Akshita through our graphic designer Maya Jevans, they were studying together at the Academy of Art in Barcelona. Akshita has been teaching virtual classes with Art Camp 504 the past three years, sharing her international expertise with our young artists! Check out her work here

Week 1: Portrait Foundations “Seeing Like an Artist”

• Introduction to proportions of the face and head
• Sketching facial features: eyes, nose, mouth
• Exploring expression & individuality in portraits
• Mini-assignment: Sketch a portrait from a photo you love 

Week 2: Light & Shadow “Shading for Form & Drama”

• Understanding value: light source, core shadow, highlights
• Hatching & shading techniques in pencil
• Sketching simple forms under different lighting
• Apply to a portrait: how light changes mood
• Mini-assignment: Still life or selfie with dramatic light

Week 3: Abstraction “Breaking the Rules on Purpose”

• Intro to abstraction in drawing: what, why & how
• Deconstructing a realistic drawing into shapes and lines
• Using abstraction to express mood or energy
• Mini-assignment: Reinterpret your Week 1 portrait abstractly

Week 4: Simplification “Less is More”

• How to reduce visual clutter while keeping clarity
• Shape-based sketching and contour drawing
• Sketching scenes or figures with minimal lines
• Mini-assignment: Choose a complex object and sketch it in 3 simplified styles

Week 5: Gesture Drawing “Sketching with Movement & Flow”

• What gesture drawing is (and isn’t!)
• Timed figure sketches for energy and rhythm
• Drawing from dynamic photo references
• Mini-assignment: 5 quick sketches based on dance, sports, or everyday motion

Week 6: Personalized Focus & Final Project  “Your Style, Your Subject”

• Each student selects a topic based on their interest (e.g. anime, fashion, realism, surrealism, animals, etc.)
• One-on-one guidance on how to apply course concepts to their personal style
• Time to work on final piece
• Final sharing + feedback session