ENROLLMENT FOR fall courses IS CLOSED
Enrollment for Spring semester opens in late november
Click Images to learn about each mentorship for the current semester
Scroll to the bottom for current semester calendar information & more
Scroll to the bottom for current semester calendar information & more
sequential art
George Pratt--Gesture & Atmosphere in Graphic Novels & Illustration--Saturday 3pm-6pm ET, starts Sept. 17th. Special guest: Shelly Bond, Editor of multiple Eisner Award winning comics
Jill Thompson--The Essentials of Comics and Sequential Art--Tuesdays 3pm-6pm ET, starts Sept. 6th. Special guest: Shelly Bond, Editor of multiple Eisner Award winning comics
narrative PORTRAIt
Greg Manchess--Portrait as Story—Saturday 10am-1pm ET, starts Sept. 10th. Special guest: Doug Alexander, Doug Alexander Gregory, Illustrator, Director, and Art Director
color & Oil Technique
Ray Bonilla--Impactful Light and Color in Oil Painting--Wednesday 12pm-3pm ET, starts Sept. 7th. Special guest: David Ethridge Owner/Curator Abend Gallery
ILLUSTRATION
Sam Weber--Conceptual Illustration--Friday 3pm-6pm ET, starts Sept. 9th. Special guest: Mike Thomas Owner and Creative Director at Creative Giant Inc., currently Art Directing with Wizards of the Coast
Winona Nelson --Gaming Illustration and Character Design—Monday 4pm-7pm ET, starts Sept. 12th. Special guest: Stephanie Cheung, Art Director, Wizards of the Coast
Winona Nelson--Gaming Illustration and Character Design--Thursday 11am-2pm ET, starts Sept. 15th. Special guest: Stephanie Cheung, Art Director, Wizards of the Coast
Cynthia Sheppard--Illustrating the Emotional Narrative--Monday 8pm-11pm ET, starts Sept. 12th. Special guest: Dawn Murin, Senior Art Director, Wizards of the Coast
Cynthia Sheppard--Illustrating the Emotional Narrative—Tuesday 7pm-10pm ET, starts Sept. 13th. Special guest: Dawn Murin, Senior Art Director, Wizards of the Coast.
Dan Dos Santos--Science Fiction & Fantasy & Book Covers---Thursday 7pm-10pm ET, starts Sept. 8th. Special guest: Rob Jones Co-Founder of and Art Director at Mondo
Scott Fischer & Greg Manchess Team Teach--Comic Covers, Book Covers & Dynamic Storytelling--Thursday 2pm-6pm ET, starts Sept. 8th
. Special guest: To Be Announced
Scott Fischer--Dungeons & Dragons Art---From Concept to Cover--Wednesday 1pm-4pm ET, starts Sept. 7th. Special guest: Kate Irwin, Senior Art Director for Dungeons and Dragons, Wizards of the Coast
Scott Fischer--Dungeons & Dragons Art---From Concept to Cover--Wednesday 8pm-11pm ET, starts Sept. 7th. Special guest: Kate Irwin, Senior Art Director for Dungeons and Dragons, Wizards of the Coast
Donato Giancola--Narrative Integration--Wednesday 4:30pm-7:30pm ET, starts Sept. 7th. Special guest: to be announced
DIGITAL SCULPTING AND PAINTING
Martin Wittfooth -- Blender from a Painter's Point of View -- Friday 11am-2pm ET, starts Sept. 9th. Special Guest: Nicola Verlato
Beginner Classes
Marc Scheff--Beginning Illustration--Monday 3pm-6pm ET, starts Sept. 12th. Special guest artist: Stephanie Law
Marc Scheff--Figure Drawing Boot Camp--Monday 11am-2pm ET, starts Sept. 12th.
Calendar Information for fall 2022
Classes will run for 14 sessions starting during the week of September 4, 2022.
There are some planned days off and our teachers are all working professionals who may need to travel for professional reasons. If they must miss a class they will notify everyone and add a class to the end of the semester.
Some days off are planned into the calendar:
-No classes on Monday, September 5th, US holiday: Labor Day
-No classes the week of October 17th (Iluxcon week)
-No classes the week of November 21 (Thanksgiving week)
-No classes from December 24th through January 2nd*
*Sometimes 14 classes fit in before December break but it is wise to expect them to go into January.
There are some planned days off and our teachers are all working professionals who may need to travel for professional reasons. If they must miss a class they will notify everyone and add a class to the end of the semester.
Some days off are planned into the calendar:
-No classes on Monday, September 5th, US holiday: Labor Day
-No classes the week of October 17th (Iluxcon week)
-No classes the week of November 21 (Thanksgiving week)
-No classes from December 24th through January 2nd*
*Sometimes 14 classes fit in before December break but it is wise to expect them to go into January.
class times
All classes meet live. All class times are listed in US Eastern Time--the time zone of New York City. This time zone observes Daylight Saving Time. For international students it is wise to look up how Daylight Saving Time may influence class time.
Mentorships
The core of SmArt School is our mentorship program. These are highly interactive small groups working for 14 weeks with a renowned artist who also brings a high level industry professional into class to review student work towards the end of class.
Course Audits
Course audits have also become a popular item. In a course audit an artist watches a full mentorship as an observer. Learn more about course audits here.
Perks.
We are an artist-run school. We understand the need for creative community. So we do all kinds of extra things to broaden student's educational opportunities, professional contacts, and publicity.
- Every student who enrolls in a full mentorship also gets a FREE Course Audit. It's almost like getting two courses for the price of one. You get to watch another course for free. More about course audits here.
- Every student who completes a full mentorship beyond the beginner classes also has the option to have a free portfolio on the Alumni Portfolios page.
- All alumni with portfolio pages can also join competitions where industry professionals, such as Art Directors or Gallery Directors, review alumni work. The competitions are free for alumni.
- We also have an Alumni News page where we broadcast the successes of our alumni.
- We also regularly broadcast alumni achievements on our Instagram Check it out! It has lots of fun work by emerging and established talent.
Tuition
- $495 to audit a mentorship--this is and observation only class. For more information about course audits click here.
- $1050 Beginning Drawing with Marc Scheff, full mentorship, includes FREE audit of another full mentorship (a $495 value).
- $1595 Beginning Illustration with Marc Scheff, full mentorship, includes FREE audit of another full mentorship (a $495 value) and a special guest visit by an artist.
- $2500 All full mentorships beyond the beginner level, includes FREE audit of another full mentorship (a $495 value), a special guest visit by an an arts professional such as an Art Director or Gallery Director, plus a portfolio page with free entry into SmArt School Art Prize competitions.
- $2765 Team Teach. Two instructors, a maximum of 12 students in the class, four hours of class each session. Includes FREE audit of another full mentorship (a $495 value), a special guest visit by an an arts professional such as an Art Director or Gallery Director, plus a portfolio page with free entry into SmArt School Art Prize competitions.