Editor’s Note: This entry is brought to us by Adjunct Faculty Wendy Popp, who participated in a cool project with the NYC Department of Parks and the Society of Illustrators.

Two weeks each year, the Society of Illustrators, in conjunction with the NYC Department of Parks,  sponsors eight figure drawing classes for gifted 8- to 12-year-olds. Each class, lasting 1½ hours, is led by an Artist member who instructs the students in basic drawing skills from the urban centers of a few boroughs. I was invited to be a guest instructor on Friday, April 17th and I invited my students to participate. Ema ( I Chieh ) Chen and Emily Trenk are the sophomores who volunteered, and they were very generous with their time and creativity and the kids responded to their presence and expertise. I gave the students some information about children’s book illustration, signed a few books. We thought about skateboard deck design and worked with them conceiving ideas and executing their sketches as a  theme for the session. We worked in conte crayon and pastel.

Thanks for sharing, Wendy!  And thanks to Emma and Emily for volunteering their time and efforts to such a wonderful cause.