From now to Sept 5th ART GYM is offering a 20% Back to School Sale! (Automatically applied if you sign up before September 5th)

It works because it’s a safe and fun environment to try new things, celebrate the wins, learn from the ‘mistakes’ (there are no mistakes in art). It’s a chance to draw and grow with a cosy community of art makers.

Meet your instructors:

Katie Stack and Adam Ming.

Over the past few years Katie and Adam have illustrated a combined 18 books (and counting), won awards, and worked across a wide range of illustration projects for corporate and private clients.

Drawing from decades of teaching and education design backgrounds. The duo will take turns leading you in fun skill building workshops, that challenge and inspire.

When are the live sessions?

Art gym is typically on a Wednesday at 11:30 am est / 4:30 pm bst / 11:30 pm myt”

Here’s what your Membership gets you:

The Monthly Pass

If you’re not sure about taking a membership for the whole year, you can try a monthly pass for only $35/m, this will let you dip into the library of 29+ workshops plus attend the month’s live session.

Subscribe now

The Annual Membership

Sign up for an annual membership and gain access to a new live session each month plus the growing library of worshops including all previous 29 workshops.

If you want to grow together with our community of arthletes and enjoy the 40+ hours of drawing workshops at your own pace, this membership is for you!

Instantly unlock these workshops

1. Drawing Animals

2. Drawing Faces

3. Drawing Emotions

4. Drawing Poses

5. Drawing Environments

6. Mixing and Matching Art Materials

7. The Shape of Everyday Things

8. Ink Styles

9. Coloring Styles

10. The Power of Contrast

11. Reflection Quilts

12. Anthropomorphic Animals

13. Texture Library

14. Letter Shapes

15. Character Consistency

16. Dynamic Sports Poses

17. Thumbnails Workshop

18. Graphic Drawing

19. Drawing Dogs

20. Bugs at a Party!

21. Spooky Art Gym

22. Drawing Shoes

23. Reflection Quilt 2025

24. Drawing Trees

25. Encounter with Style Part 1

26. Encounter with Style Part 2

27. Colour Swatching

28. Start Making Comics

29. Mixing and Matching Materials 2

Try before you buy with these FREE Art Gym mini workshops.

Our next LIVE workshop is on September 9nd, and is titled “The easy way to discover drawing characters” - Paid Subscribers RSVP here

Maybe you’ve been sitting on the fence?

From now to Sept 5th ART GYM is offering a 20% Back to School Sale! (Automatically applied if you sign up before September 5th)

Subscribe now

We hope the sale will encourage the fence sitters you to join our cosy community of art makers. And if you’d like to try before you buy, we’ve put together

Looking forward to drawing with you!

Katie and Adam

Technically, your goal is to experiment with art materials during the workshop, but the underlying goal is to forget the outside world and just focus on your art and only your art for one hour. You deserve this dedicated time to create art for yourself.

If you want to start reserve some time in your schedule for art making, this workshop is perfect for you!

What You’ll Do in This Workshop

Katie and Adam begin this workshop by encouraging you create messy art with a limited set of materials, and they will explain why limiting your materials can actually unlock creativity.

Then you will dive right into the exercises: drawing various prompts, each with a new set of limited materials. Here is an example from Katie’s sketchbook:

You will discover new ways to combine materials, unlock interesting texture techniques, and most importantly… since you will be repeating prompts over and over, you will get lost in the creative process. You will have a chance to create art without overthinking how you’re drawing.

Whether you experiment in your sketchbook all the time or you wish that you were someone with a regular sketching practice, this workshop gives you an exercise that you can do again and again with any prompt, making it perfect for your future sketchbook practice.

By the end of the workshop, you’ll have a 10 sketches, 1 hour of meditative drawing time, and community of artists with whom you can share your work.

Art Gym Members can watch the replay above, or if you’re not a member yet, click the button to join:

Subscribe now

Workout Plan

Use the chapter markers below to jump to any section:

1. 0:00 - Welcome and materials prep

2. 13:00 - Exercise 1

3. 37:00 - Exercise 2

4. 58:30 - Exercise 3

5. 1:13:00 - Share & Community

Total runtime: 1 hour 27 minutes

Art Gym Gallery

After the workshop, you can share your work in the Art Gym Gallery. We often re-post work from Arthletes, and we would love to feature your art! Here’s the gallery link:

Mixing & Matching Materials Gallery

Find the right Art Gym Membership for you

The Monthly Pass.

With the monthly pass you can join us live for this session plus get access to 30 other art gym workshops hosted by Adam & Katie, covering a whole range of drawing and illustration skills. Perfect if you want to Binge watch or just want to get into this specific workshop.

The Annual Pass.

The annual pass gives you a front row seat at 12 new Art Gym workshops, a new one every month. Plus you unlock access to all the previous workshops to view at your leisure (That’s over 50 Hours of Art Education!) It’s a gym membership you’ll actually use in a cozy community that gently challenges you to grow.

Extra Time.

Extra time is for anyone who can’t get enough of Art Gym. After each session, Extra Time Members are invited to stay back for a little chat where we discuss or wins and challenges. It’s the perfect time to ask a question about your art practice or about being a freelance illustrator, otherwise sit back, keep working on your art and enjoy the conversation.

There is an Art Gym membership that is right for you! If you need a little more convincing, Katie and Adam have put together a little sampler so you can get a taste of the best of Art Gym. Watch it here.

See you inside!

Katie & Adam

Already Subscribed? Join us for the next Art Gym!

We hope to see you at our next workshop. See the topic and date here.

Tip: Bookmark that page to stay up to date on all future sessions!

Related Workshops:

Create Mixing and Matching Materials Part 1:

Read more

Read more

It’s a really creative name right?

We believe clear is better than clever, jump in for a refresher with part 1 and we can’t wait to see you for part 2

Join us in Mixing Materials Part 2 on the 5th of August 11.30AM EST, and if you have an ‘Extra Time’ membership, you can join us for a 30 minute chat after, where we will take you behind the scenes of our lives as freelance illustrators.

See you soon!

Katie & Adam

Read more

The first was a way to quickly gather perspective from your day and use this current moment to collect inspiration, memories and ideas and turn them into a comic strip. Out life experience is a powerful and precious wellspring of creative gold and the first comic strip we did helped us sift for that goal.

The process is relaxing and richly satisfying. It’s also repeatable and encouraged daily.

The second comic we made was an exercise in turning the minded gold from our daily life into characters and adding settings that completly transform life situations into fictional stories

If you want to start making comics today, this workshop will show you how!

Find the right Art Gym Membership for you

The Monthly Pass.

With the monthly pass you can join us live for this session plus get access to 30 other art gym workshops hosted by Adam & Katie, covering a whole rage of drawing and illustration skills. Perfect if you want to Binge watch or just want to get in this comic session.

The Annual Pass.

The annual pass gives you a front row seat at 12 new art gym workshops, a new one every month. Plus’s access to all the previous workshops to view at your leisure (That’s over 50 Hours of Art Education!) It’s a gym membership you’ll actually use in a cosy community that gently challenges you to grow.

Extra Time.

Extra time is for anyone who can’t get enough of Art Gym. After each session, Extra Time members are invited to stay back for a little chat where we discuss or wins and challenges. It’s the perfect time to ask a question about your art practice or about being a freelance illustration, otherwise sit back, keep working on your Art and enjoy the conversation.

There is an art gym membership that is right for you! If you need a little more convincing, Katie and Adam have put together a little sampler so you can get a taste of the best of Art

See you inside!

Katie & Adam

Read more

After our Comics Workshop, Katie and Adam alongside a few members of Art Gym had an Extra Time Chat where we talked about all the opportunity that is out there, and how we need to make time for them.

We talked about staying calm when overwhelmed, and about how to go about reaching out to potential clients,(the importance of research) we might have talked about a couple of other things as well, here’s the recording:

Read more

Adam has always wanted to draw comics, but didn’t know where to start.

I mean there’s a lot to figure out isn’t there? What will you write about? Does it need to be funny. Who is going to be the main character? Do I need to create a style first.

What even IS a comic?

In Art Gym: Start Drawing Comics:

Adam will show us a method that you can use to start immediately and repeat daily to capture your bet ideas. Then we will show you how to turn those ideas into sequential art (comics) in a fictional world.

Along the way Katie and Adam will discuss the comic sensibility that Adam applies across all his work, from how to make characters come alive, express emotion and move through time to tell stories using 6 specific comic transitions.

Join Adam & Katie, Live on Zoom at 11.30AM ET on the 1st of JULY (TODAY!)

Find the right Art Gym Membership for you

The Monthly Pass.

With the monthly pass you can join us live for this session plus get access to 30 other art gym workshops hosted by Adam & Katie, covering a whole rage of drawing and illustration skills. Perfect if you want to Binge watch or just want to get in this comic session.

The Annual Pass.

The annual pass gives you a front row seat at 12 new art gym workshops, a new one every month. Plus’s access to all the previous workshops to view at your leisure (That’s over 50 Hours of Art Education!) It’s a gym membership you’ll actually use in a cosy community that gently challenges you to grow.

Extra Time.

Extra time is for anyone who can’t get enough of Art Gym. After each session, Extra Time members are invited to stay back for a little chat where we discuss or wins and challenges. It’s the perfect time to ask a question about your art practice or about being a freelance illustration, otherwise sit back, keep working on your Art and enjoy the conversation.

There is an art gym membership that is right for you! If you need a little more convincing, Katie and Adam have put together a little sampler so you can get a taste of the best of Art Gym.

Subscribe now

PS: Once you’re signed up remember to RSVP here, to get the latest Zoom Link.

What is swatching?

Swatching is a technique for experimenting with art materials (whether digital or traditional) that typically involves making small marks, or swatches. You can swatch for the purpose of exploring color, texture, etc… or you can swatch materials so you have a reference while you’re working. Here are some examples of swatching Katie has done:

Swatching is a great way to practice and build confidence with new art materials, and it’s a productive way to experiment and learn new ways of working. It’s a perfect exercise for new artists, and it’s a foundational part of the workflow for many professional artists.

So join us in this workshop to create your own color swatches!

What You’ll Do in This Workshop

Katie and Adam begin this workshop by talking about different types of swatching (see the images above as a preview of this). Then Katie will share a bit about how you can research pigments, and how that can help you pick colors that work together.

After this discussion, you’ll receive a swatching template so you can create your own color palette. You will use only 3 tubes of paint to create a cohesive palette with 12 different colors. And the beauty of this exercise is that you can use it again and again with different colors.

Whether you use paint all the time or you’re curious to learn more, this an exercise that will lead to discovery of new and interesting ways to use color in your future work.

By the end of the workshop, you’ll have a unique and cohesive color palette. And you’ll have an exercise that you can return to time and time again.

Art Gym Members can watch the replay above, and if you’re not a member yet, click the button below to join the community:

Subscribe now

Workout Plan

Use the chapter markers below to jump to any section:

1. 0:00 - Welcome and materials prep

2. 7:00 - Discussion: Types of Swatching

3. 16:00 - Discussion: Picking Colors Based on Pigments

4. 26:00 - Workout Time! Swatching a Cohesive Color Palette

Total runtime: 1 hour 12 minutes

Art Gym Gallery

After the workshop, you can share your work in the Art Gym Gallery. We often re-post work from Arthletes, and we would love to feature your art! Here’s the gallery link:

Add your art to the Swatching Gallery

Membership and benefits.

Art Gym publishes a new live workshop every month.

Strengthen your art muscles with monthly, skill-based workouts!

When you subscribe to art gym you will get instant access to this workshop PLUS

• Upcoming live workshops

• Every workshop Art Gym Workshop we’ve ever hosted (30+ workshops!)

• All the galleries (30+ galleries!)

• A community of artists committed to their practice (100+ artists!)

Live workshops are scheduled every month, and replays are available for past sessions. Pick the right membership for your art workouts:

• Monthly — $25/month | 1 monthly workshop + all replays

• Annual — $125/year | 12 monthly workshops + all replays

• Founding — $220/year | Everything in Annual, plus monthly Extra Time: a post-workshop huddle to discuss our creative wins and struggles as a community.

Click this link to Join Art Gym

See you at the Art Gym! 💪✏️

Already Subscribed? Join us for the next Art Gym!

We hope to see you at our next workshop. See the topic and date here.

Tip: Bookmark that page to stay up to date on all future sessions!

Related Workshops:

Create a Texture Library:

Read more

This is the extra time on the back of the paint swatching Art Gym. session which was chaotic fun! I hope you’re caught up with that one. We talk a little bit about Adam’s journey, and what to put on your website as an artist. And other things, enjoy.

Read more

1. Drawing Icons

2. Drawing Poses

3. Drawing Dogs

4. Drawing Graphic Shapes (This one)

In the latest one, we practice drawing graphic shapes, which is a useful style in so many industries. From publishing to surface Design and Editorial. Get the full workout here.

Andd…

To give this community something extra, we’re introducing a founding tier called Extra Time. Extra Time is a post-workout huddle with your instructors, where you can continue drawing, ask deeper questions of the instructors, but also discuss the challenges and opportunities in the business of freelance illustration, which is the business Katie and Adam are in.

We did a pilot version of Extra Time, where we talked about quitting our jobs to become illustrators and the idea of 1000 true fans. We’re making this pilot huddle available to you, for free as a sample, but only for 2 days.

Watch the Extra Time (Replay)here. (We have recordings of everything in case the timing of the workouts doesn’t suit you)

We’re giving you these free workout samples and a taste of extra time for free. So you can decide if you would like to be a part of this drawing community.

You have 2 days left to decide.

The Extra Time replay will remain free for 2days

And we have an offer for you over these 2 days: if you take the annual subscription of Art Gym, which gives you access to 12 New Live workshops over the course of the year, we will manually upgrade you to be part of the Extra Time Huddles too. A place where we can process the highs and lows of growing as artists together.

Bring your challenges, questions and wins.

You will be enrolling just in time for the next Live Artgym workshop in 2 days. Where we will be cracking out the paints to explore colour! (Plus a super quick way to build a colour palette in Procreate.)

Sign up before 3 June and get a free upgrade to the Art Gym: Extra Time Huddle (Save $95)

Subscribe now

FREE Drawing Dogs, mini Workout

In this mini workout Katie walks us through what to think about when you think about drawing dogs. And the best part is this way of noticing will actually help you draw any four legged friends

Enjoy

Some participants of the full workshop, immediately offered their email list to do dog portraits and got a bunch of sales, just off the dogs drawn in this workshop.

Share your work in this chat/galley

If you’re interested, here’s the full workout that inspired this Art Gym workout. (Members Only)

Tomorrow we’ll be sharing another FREE Mini Workout, learning to draw graphic shapes

Stay tuned!

Katie & Adam

3 Days left to save $95 on EXTRA TIME

Extra Time is the new Art Gym founding tier.

Founding Members are given a special link that lets them attend an Extera Time huddle right after the main workout, where Katie And Adam discuss topics proposed by our members,

Get an Annual Subscription $125 — and we will automatically upgrade you to Extra Time. Worth $220, but only if you subscribe before the next Art Gym Workout on June 3rd

GET an upgrade worth $95 by enrolling as an annual member of Art Gym today!

If you’re NOT currently enrolled to ArtGym, look out for the next FREE mini workshop tomorrow.

See you Tomorrow!

Katie & Adam

AND remember to, sign up for the next Workout June 3rd 11.30am EST where we explore colour by hand with Katie and Adam will share a method for building a colour palette with Procreate.

Share your work in this chat/galley

And if you enjoyed that workout, Art Gym Members get the Drawing Dynamic Poses workout here!

Tomorrow we’ll be sharing another FREE Mini Workout, to break down drawing DOGS

Stay tuned!

In the meantime, we’d like to announce some changes and what it would mean for everyone.

It’s GOOD NEWS!

1. Annual Subscription $125 now includes ALL previous workout recordings (a library of 28 skill training workouts with new workouts added monthly, that’s 50+ hours of workouts to build your skill.)

2. Founding Tier is now called EXTRA TIME - which includes everything in the paid tier PLUS: After each drawing sessions founding members will huddle together with Katie and Adam in conversation about working as illustrators, how they got here, current challenges and opportunities, and topics that members can suggest.

   This 30 minute conversation will also be recorded. If you’re currently a paid subscriber, you can watch a pilot episode here

The extra time subscriptions is normally $220, however if you’re an annual subscriber before June 3rd, we’ll automatically upgrade you at no extra cost on June 3rd.

GET an upgrade worth $95 by enrolling as an annual member of Art Gym today!

If you’re currently subscribed monthly and enjoy the sessions, we highly recommend upgrading to the annual plan, it brings down the cost of each live session to $10.42/m , and if you count the recorded sessions it’s $0.32 Per workshop

Plus: If you are an annual subscriber before the next Art Gym on June 3rd, We will manually upgrade you to be part of EXTRA TIME, this applies to existing nd new monthly annual subscribers. (Upgrading from monthly to annual only requires you to pay the difference)

If you have a question about skills, techniques or Katie and Adam’s journey send us an email, and we might pick that as a topic for a future Extra Time Huddle.

If you’re NOT currently enrolled to ArtGym, look out for the next FREE mini workshop tomorrow. And if you choose to enrol as an annual subscriber before June 3rd, we will upgrade you to Extra Time along with everyone else.

More Soon!

Katie & Adam

AND remember to, sign up for the next Workout June 3rd 11.30am EST where we explore colour by hand with Katie and Adam will share a method for building a colour palette with Procreate.

Share your work in this chat/galley

And if you enjoyed that workout, Art Gym Members get the full Drawing Icons Workout here.

Tomorrow we’ll be sharing another FREE Mini Workout, that will give you the tools to bring your character poses to life!

Stay tuned!

In the meantime, we’d like to announce some changes and what it would mean for everyone.

It’s GOOD NEWS!

1. Annual Subscription $125 now includes ALL previous workout recordings (a library of 28 skill training workouts with new workouts added monthly, that’s 50+ hours of workouts to build your skill.)

2. Founding Tier is now called EXTRA TIME - which includes everything in the paid tier PLUS: After each drawing sessions founding members will huddle together with Katie and Adam in conversation about working as illustrators, how they got here, current challenges and opportunities, and topics that members can suggest.

   This 30 minute conversation will also be recorded. If you’re currently a paid subscriber, you can watch a pilot episode here

The extra time subscriptions is normally $220, however if you’re an annual subscriber before June 3rd, we’ll automatically upgrade you at no extra cost on June 3rd.

GET an upgrade worth $95 by enrolling as an annual member of Art Gym today!

Subscribe now

If you’re currently subscribed monthly and enjoy the sessions, we highly recommend upgrading to the annual plan, it brings down the cost of each live session to $10.42/m , and if you count the recorded sessions it’s $0.32 Per workshop

Plus: If you are an annual subscriber before the next Art Gym on June 3rd, We will manually upgrade you to be part of EXTRA TIME, this applies to existing nd new monthly annual subscribers. (Upgrading from monthly to annual only requires you to pay the difference)

If you have a question about skills, techniques or Katie and Adam’s journey send us an email, and we might pick that as a topic for a future Extra Time Huddle.

If you’re NOT currently enrolled to ArtGym, look out for the next FREE mini workshop tomorrow. And if you choose to enrol as an annual subscriber before June 3rd, we will upgrade you to Extra Time along with everyone else.

More Soon!

Katie & Adam

After the drawing workshop we took some time to have a conversation about our paths into illustration 5 years into the journey. We share the steps and ‘missteps’, and answer some questions form Arthletes.

We talk about building a creative career through consistent little steps.

What does “coloring style” mean?

It’s the way you add color to your artwork! It’s just one piece of your overall style, and it can make such a big difference in the overall feel of your work. By testing out new ways of adding color, you can discover exciting and fresh ways to extend and grow your art style.

What You’ll Do in This Workshop

Katie and Adam begin this workshop by talking a lot more about style and coloring style. During the discussion, Katie shares some insight and trends from the Illustrator’s Exhibition at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

After studying the award-winning work, you’ll receive 4 prompt slides with the most delicious looking cakes, which you’ll get to draw.

The twist is that you’ll draw each cake twice, so that you can color it in two different ways, like this:

looked at the same reference image for both of these drawings, but she used different coloring styles for each one. Isn’t it so interesting to see them side by side? This exercise will help you discover ways to grow your style and add more variety to your artist toolbox.

By the end of the workshop, you’ll have at least 6 sketches of cakes, all in different styles. There are 3 bonus prompts, too, in case you want some extra dessert. 🎂

Art Gym Members can watch the replay above, and if you’re not a member yet, click the button below to join the community:

Subscribe now

Workout Plan

Use the chapter markers below to jump to any section:

1. 0:00 - Welcome and materials prep

2. 6:00 - Discussion: What is style?

3. 13:00 - Study: Award-winning work from the Illustrator’s Exhibition at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair

4. 19:30 - Workout Time! Drawing cakes + exploring coloring styles

5. 1:08:00 - Bonus Prompts

6. 1:39:00 - Gallery share: Arthletes show their work and reflect

Total runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes (including sharing)

Art Gym Gallery

Share your work in the Art Gym Gallery!

Here’s some work by , , and

Want your art featured in the gallery? Join the next live session or watch this replay and submit your work. You can showcase your art here:

Add your art to the Cake Style Gallery

Membership and benefits.

Art Gym publishes a new live workshop every month.

Strengthen your art muscles with monthly, skill-based workouts!

When you subscribe to art gym you will get instant access to this workshop PLUS

• Upcoming live workshops

• 12 workshop recordings

• All the galleries

• A community of artists committed to their practice

See you at the Art Gym! 💪✏️

Live workshops are scheduled every month, and replays are available for past sessions.

Monthly — $25/month

Annual — $125/year (equivalent to $10.42/month — you save $175 vs paying monthly)

Click this link to Join Art Gym

Already Subscribed? Join us for the next Art Gym!

We hope to see you at our next workshop. See the topic and date here.

Tip: Bookmark that page to stay up to date on all future sessions!

More tasty cake studies by !

Related Workshops:

An Encounter with Style Part 1:

Or, want to explore coloring style a bit more? Here’s our original workshop on this topic:

Read more

The were many moments where style clicked for me momentarily before going into a state of flux, I’m going to recount a few.

One day I heard a voice in my head or had a very strong thought. And it said…

“You need a style!”

And for some reason I just agreed.

I had been working in different styles for more than 35 years, and it was spreading me thin, because I was finally thinking of getting work as an illustrator, it seemed to me that this was an important step.

I kind of instinctively knew you can’t pick a style the way you pick a pair of shoes.

And I knew the reason I needed a style was to build a recognisable body of work.

To that end I gave myself two constraints.

I would only work with a fix set of materials and colours. The rule was black and yellow, black for lines and shadow and yellow as a tone.

That was my shortcut to instant style, I made 100 pieces in that style.

And my first book deal came from 2 years later out of the blue for someone looking for that style.

My second encounter with perfect style was writing an artist statement.

It was a short thing, in fact here it is…

“I make witty and energetic illustrations with a comic sensibility”

That line became a compass, the line was born out of a piece of work I made that I liked, and so I tried to describe what I liked about it in active tense. This time I was giving it a different kind of constraint, focusing on voice rather than physical limitations.

My third encounter with style, was when Lilla Rogers and Zoe Tucker picked up my work for a review and they told me what was working and what wasn’t working.

I made a decision that I would differ to their taste.

The reason was, I knew style was an evolving thing that never stayed the same. But for my immediate purposes of getting published as an illustrator, the duo had decades of experience more than me, and rather than try to accumulate that level of taste myself trusting their taste, would at least get me hired/agented by them

I wasn’t compromising who I was, but I was limiting myself, so I could build faster.

In the next Artgym Workout

(Let’s start calling them workouts rather than workshops)

In the next Artgym Workout Gym workout, And Want to give you - your own fresh encounter with style. We’re going to be drawing a subject in two styles, and I don’t know if we’ve shared the subject yet, but it’s something that is going to be fun to draw but also so useful for a variety of purposes from personal to professional.

In the workshop we will be asking and answering all the style questions. Adam and Katie sometimes agree and at other times have differing views and questions about style, and this session is going to be packed full of nuggets while we discuss these views as we draw.

Got a question about style? Leave a comment.

Leave a comment

We will specifically be drawing in your current style and one ‘other style’.

And it will be a chance for you to build more clarity and confidence around your own style, but it’s also a time to play and have fun in good company.

You can share your work at the end if you like or just learn from others sharing, you’re going to love it.

Subscribe now

If you’re thinking — Urgh another thing to sign up for, I get it and sometimes it can feel like that.

Here are some other wast to think about about it.

• It’s drawing with friends

• It’s getting coached every step of the way

• It’s healthy recreation and you’re going to leave with a big smile and lots of work to show for it.

• It’s picking up the exact skills that Katie and Adam are practicing themsleves

• It’s committing to specific times to actually practice with accountability rather than accumulating ‘knowledge’

Most people who join Artgym say they’ve never filled as many pages in their sketchbooks or on lose pages of tracing paper and other materials as they do when they are in an Artgym workout.

Try it for a month at $25, Or if you pay annually it’s only $10 bucks a month. Both options include 12 Replays, and there’s an option to get even more if you want to get ALL the workouts.

Subscribe now

Here are a few more Reasons to enroll for Artgym:

Maybe you have a lot of information when what you really need is a coach

Maybe you lack a regular practice that helps you grow

Maybe you don’t have a space or reason to try new techniques and approaches

Maybe you feel stuck and not growing

Maybe you have unanswered questions about making art

Maybe you don’t have anyone to give you helpful feedback about your art

Maybe you have no one to encourage you to make art

Maybe you want your art to be looser and more playful

Maybe you don’t know what your style is

Art Gym isn’t a course with a backlog and a guilt spiral. It’s one live session a month, you show up, you draw, you leave better. No homework. No catching up. The only thing you miss by not coming is the conversation you could have had.

Katie has taught for more than a decade and Adam has been designing educational content for almost that long. And we work to pack as much into every workout, but delivery it in a light casual way, where you learn by doing and from catching little nuggets of conversation, rather than a lecture.

There is nothing like it in terms of the experience, or the outcome.

If you follow along you will leave every single session with some version of ‘Wow, I did that!?’

Sign up so you can join us for the next one and have an encounter with your style, it’s a cozy non judgemental, safe environment for you to grow.

Enroll now and we’ll see you on the 21st of April for your Encounter with Style!

Adam & Katie

Not a lecture about style or a draw along session.

An encounter; meaning you leave the workout with actual drawings, actual discoveries, and at least one moment where you look at something you made and think I didn’t know I could do that.

What You’ll Do in This Workshop

You’ll study three of the most commercially successful illustrators — and draw tigers informed by each of their styles. Then you’ll build a paper mannequin of a tiger from cut shapes, pose it, and use everything you’ve learned to draw a final tiger in your own style.

By the end you’ll have at least four tigers. Each one different. Each one yours.

Here’s a look at all the tigers arthlete drew during the workshop.

She worked with a variety of materials including collage, ink, and paint. How fun to use all those materials in just one hour!

Now Rachel has 4 different styles that she can use when drawing tigers or when she’s not drawing tigers… the beauty of this workshop is that it applies to any subject!

Subscribe to catch the replay so you can sketch with new styles, too:

Subscribe now

The Three Illustrators

Eric Carle — painted paper, texture, collage. He selects rather than creates. His hands work first, his eye chooses after.

Quentin Blake — loose expressive line, big paper, whole arm movement. What looks spontaneous might be the fifth attempt.

Oliver Jeffers — simple shapes, big brush, essential gesture. Constraint in one direction creates freedom in another.

Experience three of the most enduring styles in picture books — study, borrow, and combined to your own unique visual voice.

What Happens in the Room

Here’s what three participants said after this session:

Shipra arrived late — her toddler had just gone to bed. By the end she was drawing tigers that danced, inspired by Indian folk art traditions she grew up with. She said the session started tentative and ended joyful.

Jill discovered something she didn’t know she needed: animals with tiny feet. “I would have never known how much I needed that without this Art Gym.” She giggled through the whole session and left with drawings she loved.

Brenda tried butter paper for the first time and found herself in completely uncharted territory. “It’s like I was on a new machine — and tomorrow I’m going to hurt a new muscle.” That’s exactly what a good workout feels like.

Workout Plan

Use the chapter markers below to jump to any section:

1. Welcome and materials prep

2. Studying Eric Carle — texture and painted paper

3. Exercise 1 — painting tiger textures on butter paper

4. Studying Quentin Blake — loose expressive line

5. Exercise 2 — drawing a tiger in Quentin Blake style

6. Studying Oliver Jeffers — simple shapes and big brush

7. Exercise 3 — drawing a tiger in Oliver Jeffers style

8. The paper mannequin method explained

9. Exercise 4 — cutting and posing your paper mannequin

10. Exercise 5 — drawing your final tiger in your own style

11. Gallery share — participants show their work and reflect

Total runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes (including sharing)

Encounter With Style — Part 1: Drawing Tigers 🐅 CHEAT SHEET!

On Style

1. You can’t pick a style the way you pick a pair of shoes — it has to emerge from doing

2. “You can’t find your own voice without being influenced by other artists” - Lisa Congdon

3. Style has layers — the materials you use, the way you draw a line, and most importantly, the way you think

4. Finding the right material often unlocks your style — once the material feels right, the style follows

5. Your failed copies of other artists’ styles become your own style anyway

On Studying Other Artists

1. When looking at an artist’s work, note: the lines, the shapes, the colors, the textures, and the attitude

2. Quentin Blake works really big — moving his whole arm, not just his wrist — try it

3. Quentin Blake makes multiple attempts — what looks spontaneous may not be the first try

4. Oliver Jeffers recommends using a bigger brush — it forces simplicity and captures essence over detail

5. Eric Carle selects rather than creates — he makes painted papers first, then chooses shapes from them

On the Paper Mannequin Method

1. Break your subject into 7 simple shapes and cut them out with scissors

2. “Draw with your scissors” — the irregularities become part of the style

3. Pose your shapes before drawing — you’ll find poses you’d never imagine from your head

4. The inefficiency of working with paper is what makes it good — it slows you down in the right way

On Materials

1. Butter paper (baking/parchment paper) is slightly transparent — overlapping colors create depth automatically

2. Working with a limited palette forces interesting decisions — constraints create style

3. Spoiled brushes with hardened bristles create great texture

4. Leftover paint? Create texture papers — paint scraps become future collage material

On Working Loose

1. If you feel tight, work bigger — bigger paper, bigger brush, bigger movements

2. Things don’t have to be right the first time — do drafts, throw paper away, try again

3. The collage forces commitment — once you cut, that’s the cut. It removes overthinking

4. Flattening your digital layers can help you get into flow — fewer decisions, more drawing

5. “Make a mark and let that determine the next mark” — stop planning, start doing

On Sketchbook Practice

1. Set up your sketchbook with notes on one side, artwork on the other — three artists, six pages

2. Share your work even when you don’t like it — other people see things you can’t

3. Try something you hate — knowing what doesn’t fit you is valuable style information

4. The goal isn’t to finish — it’s to fill pages and pick up what works

Take It Further

Art Gym Gallery

Share your work in the Art Gym Gallery!

Here’s some work by , , and

Want your art featured in the gallery? Join the next live session or watch this replay and submit your work. You can showcase your art here:

Add your art to the Tiger Gallery

Membership and benefits.

Art Gym publishes a new live workshop every month.

Strengthen your art muscles with monthly, skill-based workouts!

When you subscribe to art gym you will get instant access to this workshop PLUS

• Upcoming live workshops

• 12 workshop recordings

• All the galleries

• A community of artists committed to their practice

See you at the Art Gym! 💪✏️

Live workshops are scheduled every month, and replays are available for past sessions.

Monthly — $25/month

Annual — $125/year (equivalent to $10.42/month — you save $175 vs paying monthly)

Click this link to Join Art Gym

Read more

RSVP to the next workshop here

Okay the secret is out.

At Art Gym each month, we don’t just pick a theme to draw, INSTEAD, we pick the theme as an excuse to give you some new skills.

And March is no different, this March the them is DRAWING TIGERS!

And we’re going to go all out.

There will be cutting…

Bring your scissors, and some baking paper, and coloured paper.

There will be painting…

Water colour and gouache or acrylic paints.

There will be drawing…

Bring your colour pencils and nib pens and ink.

We’ll test drive different styles, simplify references into simple shapes, and use those shapes to create poses from our imagination.

And did I already say we’ll be drawing tigers, we will be!

Remember you will need to be a paid subscriber, to join the workshop which will be held on Tuesday March 10 at 11.30AM EST

Subscribe now

If you’re already subscribed, RSVP here

In this workshop, and will lead you through a series of exercises to draw trees with unique shapes, texture, and personality!

In other words, there will be no more boring trees!

In this one hour workshop, you will begin by drawing what you think a tree looks like, and that way of drawing a tree will quickly become the one way you never draw trees again! (Dramatic? Maybe, but we do think the point will stick with you!) Next you will discover one skill that unlocks new ways of creating texture, and finally you will complete two exercises:

1. Planting a Forest

2. Drawing a Tree Portrait

It’s a jam packed workshop full of practical skills that can be applied to trees and to your future drawings of any subject.

Trees Before and After This Workshop:

Regular arthlete drew the trees below during the first bit of the workshop:

They’re really sweet trees and the colors are great, too! They are recognizable as trees, and they totally work.

But… because our goal is to push you and help you grow during Art Gym… look at the tree portrait below that Yumiko drew by the end of the session:

Wow 😍 Now that’s a super interesting tree! It feels so specific, like a real tree, not just like an “emoji tree” like one of these: 🌳🌲🌴

Instead, she chose a unique tree shape, colored it using her signature Neocolor pastels, and added extra texture.

Yumiko elevated how she draws trees just by doing the 2 exercises during this workshop.

Catch the replay to do these exercises, too!

Subscribe now

What You’ll Learn in This Workshop:

• How to avoid drawing “boring” trees

• A skill for creating unique textures for trees (or for anything you draw!)

• How to experiment with mark making to create more visual interest in your work

• How to set up your sketchbook for experimenting and play so you can sketch without expectations (that’s when the real discoveries happen)

The Benefits:

• Creating a texture library that you can use when drawing anything

• Setting aside time to make messy drawings, without any expectations (we spend time painting BLOBS in our sketchbooks during this workshop!)

• Time to connect with fellow illustrators in a supportive space

• Sharing your work in the gallery and getting inspired

Art Gym Gallery

Share your work in the Art Gym Gallery!

Here’s some work by and

Want your art featured in the gallery? Join the next live session or watch this replay and submit your work. You can showcase your art here:

Add your art to the Tree Gallery

Enroll in Art Gym

Strengthen your art muscles with monthly, skill-based workshops! Art Gym is for artists of all levels who want to develop and grow their art practice. Live workshops are scheduled every month, and replays are available for past sessions.

When you subscribe to art gym you will get instant access to…

• Upcoming live workshops

• 12 workshop recordings

• All the galleries

• A community of artists committed to their practice

See you at the Art Gym! 💪✏️

Click this link to Join Art Gym

Join us for the next Art Gym!

We hope to see you at our next workshop. See the topic and date here.

Tip: Bookmark that page to stay up to date on all future sessions!

Read more

Some trees Adam drew, our next workshop is all about drawing trees on the 4th of February 11.30am ET

You’re bad at drawing trees, I am too! (Adam speaking)

What we’re probably good at is drawing a cartoon or icon of a tree.

A lot of the time that’s the same icon we learned to draw in school. And maybe we got better and better at drawing that icon. As a result, we got worse and worse at actually seeing trees.

At least I did.

I’m 44, and only recently did I notice that trees were bigger than houses, that you could fit multiple houses inside the volume of a tree. To really draw trees not only do we have to pay attention to them, we have to forget or unlearn the ways we’re used to drawing trees.

And here’s the good news, by really looking, we are actually learning to embrace and take in the patterns of nature. I feel the designs of trees show us so much about how nature works.

I think we should look at trees every chance we get.

The trees here were drawn from my window, and one of those trees was cut down just a few days ago. I once took my girl on a walk and we saw a tree with a big ‘X’ drawn on it with a spray can.

The kid was 3 at the time. She asked about the ‘X’ and when she learned it meant a 10 story high tree would be cut down, she wailed uncontrollably.

I’m glad I made an image of a tree that has since been cut down.

I guess what I’m saying is look at trees, really observe them, and draw them while you can!

Adam for Art Gym

PS: Remember to sign up for this month’s Art Gym on Feb 4th 11.30am ET

And, if you missed it, here’s yesterday’s post about what we think about when we think about drawing trees.