Monthly theme
One focus a month: a theme, an assignment for it and a live review of your work. It is not a fixed program but a map — join in any month, at any level.
theme of the assignment
Light and shade, volume
Sessions on how a flat silhouette turns into form: the shadow terminal, value scales, hatching and render — digitally and in pencil.
44 lessons on this theme
Weekly assignment21–27 September
The shadow terminal in a portrait
Draw a portrait with one light source from the side. First run the line of the shadow terminal across the whole head and close the shadow as a single shape, with no details inside it.
Lay in the halftone and the reflected light last: the reflected light has to stay darker than the darkest light, otherwise the form will fall apart.
Any reference, any medium — pencil or tablet. Post your piece to the feed by Sunday, September 27.
The weeks ahead28 September — 25 October
How it worksweek after week
- 01Monday — the assignmentOne task for the week on the theme of the month. You choose the reference and the medium.
- 02You draw and post itYour work goes into the feed: everyone sees it, and it joins the queue for the review.
- 03Sunday — the reviewAzat goes through the work sent in, live. The recording stays in the archive.
The year by theme12 months
- 01JanuaryDrawing fundamentals4 assignments
- 02FebruaryHead and portrait4 assignments
- 03MarchFigure and anatomy4 assignments
- 04AprilHands and feet5 assignments
- 05MayLight and shade, volume5 assignments
- 06JuneComposition4 assignments
- 07JulyThe clothed figure and folds5 assignments
- 08AugustDigital portrait4 assignments
- 09SeptemberConcept art4 assignments
- 10OctoberArtistic anatomy5 assignments
- 11NovemberStates and atmosphere4 assignments
- 12DecemberYear in review5 assignments
About the monthly theme
The year is split by month, each with its own theme: January is drawing fundamentals, February head and portrait, March figure and anatomy, April hands and feet, then light and shade, composition, folds on the clothed figure, the digital portrait, concept art, artistic anatomy, and in November states and atmosphere. Beside the months sit two running sections with no place in the calendar: sketching, and work reviews. Inside a month a new assignment appears every week, and by the weekend a review of the work people have sent in.
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The themes match the catalog sections, and that is deliberate. A section is a library: every class on light and shade sits there at once, and you go there when you already know what you’re missing. A month is a deadline and an order: the theme is set, there is one assignment, and on Sunday it gets talked through out loud. There is no point duplicating the material, so every month links across to the matching section if you need the whole topic and you need it now.
The order of the themes isn’t random. Fundamentals come first not out of politeness to beginners: while your hatching doesn’t follow the form and your value scale looks muddy, no book on anatomy will save the portrait. The head comes before the figure because construction is easier to feel on it — a skull doesn’t change proportion with the pose. Hands and feet come after the figure, otherwise a hand gets drawn as a separate object with no connection to the shoulder girdle or the tilt of the torso.
A month on one theme changes not a 'skill' but your behavior at the drawing board. You stop starting the next drawing with the same mistake, because over four weeks it has been named out loud four times — on your work or on someone else’s, which works just as well. The side effect is useful too: by the end of the month you can see how much you actually drew, rather than how much you watched.
This section doesn’t give you an individual program: the theme is the same for everyone. If what you need right now is folds and the calendar says March and anatomy, the honest thing is to go into the catalog and come back to the monthly theme later. A missed week closes nothing off — the assignments and the review recordings stay in the archive, and you can catch up at your own pace.
FAQ
How is a monthly theme different from a catalog section?
A catalog section is all the material on a topic, sitting there at once and available in any order. A monthly theme is the same material with a deadline attached: one assignment a week and a review. It’s a schedule laid over the catalog, not a second storeroom of lessons.
What do I do if I joined mid-month?
Take the current assignment instead of starting the month over. The earlier assignments and the review recordings aren’t going anywhere, you can go through them later. The theme is one, and any assignment inside it gives you a piece worth bringing to the next review.
Do I have to send work in for review?
No, nothing stops you watching and drawing for yourself. But other people’s reviews pay off too: mistakes repeat, and on someone else’s sheet you can look at them calmly. Work is submitted from your account, and the first ten go on stream.
How long does the weekly assignment take?
One class and one drawing — usually two or three hours a week, which you can split across a few sittings. The assignments are deliberately short: a long pose is easier to abandon halfway than to finish and get notes on.
Will the themes repeat next year?
The set of themes stays the same, while the assignments and reviews inside them are new. Taking the same theme a second time is worth it: on the second pass you see things in last year’s drawing that you didn’t notice then.