fall 2025

interactive small classes once a week 


  • Illustrating the Emotional Narrative
  • Special guest: Forrest Schehl, Senior Worldbuilding Art Director at Wizards of The Coast
  • 14 Sessions
  • Mondays 7-10pm ET
  • Starts September 8 and runs through January*
  • 8 students max
  • $2500
  • Includes one FREE audit of another mentorship--watch another mentorship for free!​
  • Includes a FREE portfolio on our Alumni Portfolios page
  • Includes FREE entry into future SmArt School Art Prize competitions--where your work can be seen by more art directors, gallery directors, & editors + cash prizes. See our Instagram feed for past contests
  • No portfolio review is necessary but feel free to Email us your art if you're wondering if you're ready for this mentorship
​If you need a payment plan there's PAYPAL CREDIT interest-free credit Click Here
​​You can still audit this course as an observer for $495. Click Here for more info.
*The mentorship runs for 14 sessions. SmArt School teachers sometimes have to travel for professional reasons. If they must miss a class they will notify all students with as much lead time as possible and add a session to the end of the calendar. Some weeks off are also scheduled into the calendar, see the 'Courses' main page for details. ALL CLASSES MEET LIVE and are not recorded due to proprietary content. Teaching will not happen via email, only during class time.

illustrating the emotional narrative

In this class you will grow your skills as a visual storyteller, and practice painting with your own unique, emotional voice. As part of a process-driven course, you'll learn how to ask and answer key questions about your illustrations that drive the choices you make toward your composition and visual narrative, as well as practice time-tested steps to make a great final image. You'll have an opportunity to create new portfolio work with professional guidance, and work to evolve along the trajectory of your own individual artistic journey.
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Towards the end of the semester a special industry guest will review student work.
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After taking this class students will also receive the option of a free profile on the Alumni Portfolios page.

About cynthia sheppard

Cynthia has deep experience as a working artist and creative professional, having built a career on emotional, character-driven art starting in the late 2000s. After a successful stint as a fantasy illustrator, she moved to Seattle to pursue art direction, joining Wizards of the Coast as a Sr. Art Director in 2015. As an AD, she commissioned over 4,000 illustrations for the Magic: the Gathering trading card game, led visual worldbuilding for original settings including Eldraine and Kaldheim, and created iconic characters for the franchise. In May 2021, Cynthia returned to freelance illustration and is picking up where she left off, illustrating for games and other media, while excitedly branching out into education.
Cynthia Sheppard's Website: http://cynthia-sheppard.squarespace.com 
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