In the ACX Kids class Illustration, taught by artist and illustrator Michael Horowitz, students turn their drawings into fun and engaging images that communicate a mood, a feeling or an idea. 

Students explore drawing and image making through short- and long-term projects. They also experiment with different problem-solving methods, while working with media ranging from crayons and pencils to watercolor and acrylics. 

“My basic goal is to introduce a project that can inspire creative solutions, no matter the student's skill level,” Horowitz says. “And there are no wrong outcomes.” 

Horowitz says the class urges students to achieve a clarity of their ideas through simple storytelling and the exploration of art materials, from concept to finished work. 

“Students are encouraged to brainstorm and help each other,” he says. “With class critiques that accentuate the positive, I see growth in student skill level and confidence,” he adds. “Wonderful friendships develop as artwork is being created.”

For examples of student work, visit the gallery here.

Drawing the human figure is important training for all artists. In the ACX Kids class Drawing the Clothed Figure, taught by artist Gabriella Carboni, students learn about form, proportion, shape, composition, the human skeleton and simplification. For inspiration, students study art created by everyone from the Old Masters to contemporary artists. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while teaching remotely, Carboni has reworked her lessons, and uses different online sources for figure drawing poses.

“I’ve been using online videos of compiled, timed poses,” she says. “I’ve incorporated film stills. This has been an exciting approach. It gives students the opportunity to choose a pose, rather than everyone drawing from the same pose. It allows me to include very detailed costumes and backgrounds, which is fun for the students, with images from movies such as Mary Poppins, Little Women and Night at the Museum. At the end of the term, we have a critique. Students choose their favorite piece and share a photo, and everyone is given a chance to discuss the work. This has been a great opportunity for students to share work, create conversation and show support for their peers.”

ACK-011 01
Sun 1:00PM–4:00PM
Feb 28 - Apr 18
Steven Weissman
0.0 Units $275

Learn step-by-step essential skills and techniques involved in comic-strip creation and comic book production. Develop your ideas from rough sketches to thoughtfully composed drawings, rendered in ink. Add tonal values by applying adhesive screentone—a favorite technique employed by manga artists. Have fun while engaging in improvisational, timed and collaborative exercises and spend time perfecting your own personal style.

Alumna Gail Howland (BFA 04 Photography and Imagining) teaches ACX Kids classes Photography and Photography Book Workshop with an eye toward exploration, imagination and discovering the incredible possibilities of making a photographic image. 

Traditionally, in her Photography class, students learn about imagery and composition, basic printing processes and how to print from their own negatives in a traditional black-and-white darkroom. In the Summer class Photography Book Workshop, students examine the power of photography to tell stories by creating a personal art book of images based on a theme that sparks interest and inspiration.

So when her Spring 2020 Photography class switched to being taught remotely, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the darkroom became an online video chat room, and she and her students quickly adapted to outside-the-box forms of creating and communicating. 

“How oddly wonderful that this time of crisis has necessitated new ways of engaging students online for our classes,” says Howland. “Our kids are so smart and savvy with technology. I would have never believed that a black-and-white lab class could be translated to a great online studio like this.”

After one particular portrait shoot, without being prompted, students started sending her their images through links in their online video chat or to her ArtCenter email. “None of them required any assistance from either me or their parents,” she says. 

As students look around their homes and neighborhoods for savvy solutions to assignments, and connect online with their communities and the world at large, ACX Kids faculty are approaching teaching remotely with the same passion for innovation and making. Howland, who has photographed for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Architectural Record and other publications, says a creative skill set can inform the rest of a child’s life as both a creative and a human being.  

“Taking an art class should be as essential as taking a math or science class because it teaches you how to build a perspective,” she says. “Giving young people the tool kit necessary to forge their own creative point of view is truly gratifying.”

ACK-015 01
Sun 1:00PM–4:00PM
Feb 28 - Apr 18
Delbar Shahbaz
0.0 Units $275

Investigate personal and shared space, especially in relation to yourself and your friends. Use cardboard, glue and paint to construct one project that reflects your world from three different perspectives: the near (things we touch), the middle (the spaces that hold us) and the far (the settings we live in).

ACK-008 01
Sun 1:00PM–4:00PM
Feb 28 - Apr 18
Nas Oh
0.0 Units $275

Product designers invent and design the things you buy: watches, bicycles, shoes and even toothbrushes. Learn how to come up with original ideas, create real products and then bring them to life. You'll learn industrial drawing techniques, concept development and visualization skills.