Sketching Techniques Specialization

Marco Mazzoni’s passion for drawing began at the age of five, when he would sketch on any piece of paper he could find while waiting for his father to finish work at the paper mill. Experimenting with the boundaries of fine art has been a passion of Marco’s since he was a student. His artwork tells a compelling story, drawing inspiration from Sardinian mysticism and the plants and animals he sketched as a child.

Marco’s recent achievements include working on an illustrated version of the Hans Christian Andersen classic Poucette for the French publishing house Albin Michel Jeunesse, where he takes the reader on a captivating journey through his use of color and texture. His work is also exhibited in galleries and museums across Europe and North America.

Alex Hillkurtz was born in England and grew up in California where he is a renowned storyboard artist for feature films, television, and commercials. His film credits include Argo, Almost Famous, It’s Complicated, and many others. Alex currently lives in Paris with his film editor wife, Tiffany, and enjoys discovering the hidden corners of the city that sketching and painting allow.

He uses the language of cinema to compose his images, moving beyond what one sees and depicting what he wants others to see. He believes that in our overly crowded lives, sketching and painting invites us to move at a more deliberate pace, giving us a true sense of place, where unexpected stories are revealed.

Mattias Adolfsson has been working as a freelance illustrator for over eleven years. While working as a graphic designer in the computer games industry, he started sharing his work on social media, where he began his successful career in illustration.

His long list of clients includes Nickelodeon, Disney, Dreamworks, Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and other important animation studios. He has also illustrated for magazines including The New Yorker, The Hollywood Reporter, and The New York Times.

Mattias has created a variety of illustration work in areas like product design, for baby clothes brand Atelier Choux Paris, record sleeves, as well as an art commission for the largest hospital in Sweden.

Sarah van Dongen is a Dutch illustrator based in Amsterdam who is passionate about telling stories. She began her studies in comparative literature but enrolled in the MA in Children’s Books Illustration in Cambridge, UK after realizing she wanted to pursue a more creative career.

Sarah’s illustration work can be found in children’s books, stationery, newspapers, and magazines across the globe. Her clients include Flow Magazine, Adobe, Tiny Owl Publishing, and Ragged Bears Publishing, among others. Sarah enjoys exploring themes like gardens, food, social interactions, mental health, and her childhood. She doesn’t shy away from subjects like insecurity, loneliness, and loss, she expresses them in her sketches to help make these feelings more comprehensible.

Laura McKendry is an illustrator and artist based in London, UK, who is renowned for incorporating unusual tools and materials into her watercolor and ink-based pieces. Her work can be found on greeting cards, wrapping paper, homeware, and fine art prints for clients like Artko, Impress, Jaccart, Laura Ashley, Papyrus, WHSmith, and Waterstones.

Her book cover illustration for André Alexis’ novel Fifteen Dogs was nominated for the V&A Illustration Awards in 2016. She also teaches short courses on drawing and illustration at Central Saint Martins and the University of Arts London, and runs online workshops that focus on finding ways to unlock creativity while perfecting creative techniques.

Lapin is an urban sketcher based in Barcelona, Spain. As a young boy, he remembers accompanying his father—an airplane technician—to his workplace to draw planes and imagine their stories. His three passions remain the same to this day: aviation, paleontology, and drawing.

In 18 years, he has filled over 200 sketchbooks, published 30 books, and was named the official air and space painter for the French Army in 2019. He’s a member of the Urban Sketching Community since 2008 and teaches Illustration Masters students at Elisava in Barcelona, as well as his own urban sketching workshops. His clients include the French Army, Air France, the City of Barcelona, Le Parisien Magazine, PlayStation, Heineken, Marks & Spencer, Aigle, Peugeot, Porsche, and Formula One.

Felix Scheinberger is passionate about expressing his visual ideas fearlessly and helping others do the same. Since studying Illustration Design at HAW in Hamburg, Germany, Felix has created artwork for magazines, publishing houses, newspapers, and even techno clubs, including the KitKatClub in Berlin.

As an author and illustrator, Felix has published books such as; Dare to Sketch, Watercolor Sketching, Illustration, Drainting, and Hedo Berlin. He also gives workshops and lectures at the Münster School of Design.

Sorie Kim is a freelance illustrator and instructor based in Los Angeles, US with a passion for sketching animals, plants, and imaginary creatures. While traveling the world, Sorie Kim started documenting her days in a sketchbook. Realizing she’d found her true passion, she made a promise to always work in what she loved most and hasn’t stopped since.

Sorie Kim is currently teaching Foundation Sketching and Advanced Sketching at Brainstorm School and gives workshops at Dreamworks Animation while working on her personal projects and commissioned artwork.

Tom Fox is a figure drawing instructor and storyboard artist who has worked in the animation industry for more than ten years. He studied zoology at university but, frustrated by the lack of practical skills involved, decided to take up drawing alongside his studies. He spent the next five years honing his craft through short courses and online resources and has worked for Universal Studios, Aardman Animations, The BBC, and Axis Animation.

As well as working as a professional storyboard artist, Tom focuses on reducing complex subjects like perspective and anatomy into an easy-to-follow process for teaching online.

Don Kilpatrick III is an American artist, illustrator, and educator based in Detroit. He received his bachelor’s degree in illustration at Utah State University, and went on to receive a master’s in the same field at Syracuse University. He is currently the department chairman in the Illustration Department at the College for Creative Studies.

Don is also a freelance artist and part of the collaborative project the Detroit Wood Type Co. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States, and has been featured in publications like Fortune, the L.A. Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Other notable projects include designing the Olympic medal for the Winter Games in 2002, as well as designing murals for the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.