SVSlearn

SVSlearn is the online home of the School of Visual Storytelling, a school for illustrators who want to tell stories with pictures. Its home page greets visitors with "A home for picture book and graphic novel illustrators" and sets out the approach in one line: "SVS is a place to learn illustration by doing." It is a learner product, sold as a membership with two tiers, Desk and Studio, plus longer pro courses, and it combines video classes with live sessions and an active member community. The pitch is practical: the Essentials page promises to help you "Conquer the skills you need to make a living with your art."

The site lists its reasons to join as guided learning, "Affordable education" that lets you grow your skills "without the high cost of traditional education", a supportive community "that feels like a shared studio", and live streams where professional illustrators share their expertise and answer questions.

The Essentials curriculum

The core of the membership is what the home page calls "Our 24-class Essentials curriculum", designed "as a complete learning experience, not a scattered library of videos." Each lesson builds on the one before it, and the school promises that "You won't be left guessing what to learn next." At the end, you come away with "a 12 piece foundations portfolio showcasing the skills you have learned." All of the courses are available in both the Desk and Studio tiers.

The sequence moves from drawing basics to finished, story-driven images:

• Perspective: Basic Perspective with professional illustrator and comic book artist Jake Parker, How to Draw Everything with David Hohn on one and two point perspective, Visualizing Drawing in Perspective with Will Terry, then Advanced Perspective and Practical Perspective with David Hohn, which ends in three point perspective and full bedroom and barnyard environments.
• Light and color: Light and Shadow for Illustrators, where children's book illustrator Lee White demonstrates his approach on 6 scenarios, and The Magic of Color, which covers the main principles of a color theory class.
• Figures and characters: Figure Drawing Fundamentals with studio artist Michael Parker, Figure Drawing for Illustrators with Lee White, Introduction to Gesture Drawing with character designer Brooklyn Walker, Unique and Appealing Character Design with Anna Daviscourt, and Stylizing Human Characters and Posing Characters with Jake Parker.
• Props, vehicles and worlds: Introduction to Prop Design with Jake Parker, Effective Vehicle Design and Designing Rocks and Plants with Shane Hunt, Exterior Environment Design with Jake Parker, Interior Environment Design with Will Terry, and Building Backgrounds for Characters, also with Will Terry.
• Story and finish: Developing Great Visual Stories with Will Terry, Creative Composition, Painting Color and Light, Painting Texture and Details, Visual Storytelling with Lee White, and a final course, Next Steps For Illustrators, in which Lee, Will and Jake explain what to do to become a working illustrator.

Painting Color and Light works in either digital or traditional media, so the curriculum does not tie you to one set of tools.

Children's Book Pro and Graphic Novel Pro

Two longer courses are built around a single project. Children's Book Pro is described as a "comprehensive 8-week course" in which "Lee, Sam, and Jake will show you a clear path to illustrating your own children's book." The page adds that "Each session includes weekly live sessions with the instructors and access to a special online community for students."

Graphic Novel Pro is a "comprehensive 10-week course" in which "Jake and Shawn will give you the step-by-step roadmap for writing and drawing your own graphic novels." The school frames it as a proven system "taught by experienced professionals who have done it themselves."

The site menu also lists workshops and pro classes such as Sketch Smart, Watercolor Essentials, Paper Stories and Dynamic Comic Covers.

Community and live events

The community page explains what members do together beyond the courses:

• How To Fix Your Art: a monthly drawing challenge. "Desk tier members and above can receive personal, encouraging critiques from our instructors to help guide their next steps."
• Ask The Community: a place to bring questions and work and get insights "from fellow illustrators walking the same path."
• Share and learn: "a place to share your work, celebrate progress (big and small), and learn alongside others."
• Studio Help Line: "Studio tier members can reach out anytime for guidance from SVS instructors. It's like having a teacher right there in your studio."
• Creative study circles: study groups for "connection, accountability, and a shared rhythm of making."
• Freaky Friday live: weekly live drawing sessions, described as "Our most playful studio hang of the week!"
• Live podcast recordings: members can join the recording of the school's 3 Point Perspective podcast, ask questions and chat.
• Hot Seat Portfolio Reviews: live deep dives into one student's portfolio and website, with advice on which images to keep, which to cut and what to do next.

The home page adds pro demos to the events list and describes the events as "all about showing up and making stuff together." It sums up the community as offering "thoughtful critiques that push your work forward, friendly peers who share techniques and encouragement, and lasting connections that make practice joyful."

Tiers and pricing

Membership comes in two tiers, Desk and Studio. Both include the full Essentials curriculum, Desk tier and above can get instructor critiques through the monthly challenge, and Studio members also get the Studio Help Line for direct guidance from SVS instructors. The pages print no prices for either tier or for the pro courses. The footer links to a Membership page and an FAQ. A newsletter announces classes, live events and special deals.

Who it suits

SVSlearn suits illustrators who want to work in picture books or graphic novels and prefer a set path to picking random tutorials. A beginner can follow the 24 Essentials classes in order and finish with a foundations portfolio. An illustrator with a specific book in mind can take Children's Book Pro or Graphic Novel Pro and work on it with weekly live sessions. Artists who work alone will value the critiques, study circles and Friday sessions, and Studio members get an instructor on call.

The focus is narrative illustration for books and comics. An artist aiming at another field will still get strong drawing, perspective and color fundamentals, but the projects and the advice on becoming a working illustrator are built around picture books and graphic novels.