Inspiration to Illustration: Creating Personal and Iconic Artwork

Get outside. Follow your inspiration. Create a minimalist illustration that is authentically yours.

In today’s increasingly digital world of illustration, it is crucial to develop off-the-screen habits to develop truly personal, meaningful work. Join street illustrator and muralist Eric Friedensohn (@Efdot) for an immersive class that takes us out into our environment to spark visual creativity.

Participants will learn how to find inspiration in everyday life and turn it into a unique art piece that tells a story, using only the bare essentials: pencils, pens and a sketchbook. 

In this class, we will:

• Explore the "open" creative mode - letting our creative flow with a series of pencil-to-paper warm-up exercises
• Overcome perfectionism - drawing with speed over quality first 
• Practice the art of subtraction -  creating a simplified image that lets the viewer fill in the gaps
• Refine our ideas - narrowing down our sketches into a refined final composition in Adobe Fresco
• Add in lettering - exploring different lettering approaches to strengthen the story in our illustrations
• Develop our unique style - tapping into our own stories and inspirations to hone in a unique visual identify for our illustrations

This class is for beginner to intermediate artists and graphic designers looking to elevate their drawing skills and get back to basics.

Meet your teacher:

“Eric Friedensohn, better known as “Efdot,” specializes in handmade, site-specific murals. He champions an abstract-meets-figurative style for his vivid and whimsical compositions. His practice is strongly informed by the art & architecture he encountered while living and traveling in Latin America in 2017-2018. Most notably, his “Blob” character is the ubiquitous star of his pieces, portraying a curled-up subject that evokes the smooth linework and forms found in Latin American indigenous traditions.” – Hypebeast

• Introduction
• Tools & Supplies
• Finding Inspiration
• Warm-up Exercise: Word Association
• Warm-up Exercise: Doodling Shapes
• Warm-up Exercise: Viewfinder
• Sketching & Brainstorming Concepts
• Refining Your Artwork
• Adding Lettering
• Developing Your Style
• Conclusion
• Bonus: Tools & Supplies Pt. 2