Welcome to Wacom Creativity Camp!
Our series of free, live workshops from brilliant artists, creators, and educators took place throughout the month of July 2024. They are now over, but we will be uploading recordings to YouTube in August.
Stay tuned to this page, as links to those recordings will be shared here soon.
On this page, you’ll still find a wealth of curated resources for leveling up your character design, comics & manga, photography, and art education skills, so you never stop learning.
And don’t forget the Wacom eStore, the best place to buy Wacom products. Workshop attendees get a special discount code that only works there!
Free instructional workshops
Free, live workshops from professional artists and educators
Character design and illustration
Tips, tricks, and tutorials to design dynamic characters and illustrations
Comics and manga
Learn how to create dynamic comic pages and draw in that iconic manga style
Creative education
Advice and resources for art teachers, creative educators, and CTE instructors
Free instructional art workshops
Whether you have a new Wacom device or are using pencil and paper, are brand new to digital art or have been at it for years, or are looking for some new ideas and strategies for your creative classroom, we have a whole suite of free workshops for you! Check out the lineup below — recordings of the workshops will be uploaded soon.
How to draw a manga page from scratch in Clip Studio Paint
In this manga workshop, Odunze Oguguo provided an easy step-by-step guide for creating a professional manga page, using a Wacom tablet and Celsys Clip Studio Paint software, from idea to execution, along with additional tips from Oguguo’s experience as a published manga creator.
About the presenter:
Odunze Oguguo, also known as Whyt Manga online, is a YouTuber with 500,000 subscribers, a manga/comic creator, co-founder of Myfutprint Entertainment, LLC, and creator of Apple Black, a manga traditionally published worldwide on Saturday AM. Oguguo is also an art director for Sandstorm Comics in the United Arab Emirates. Check Whyt Manga out on Instagram, YouTube, or Twitch.
Go camping with Lukey McGarry
In this workshop Luke “Lukey” McGarry chatted about how he created this year’s Wacom Creativity Camp artwork, seen at the top of this page, as well as showed off some of his creative process and imparted some wisdom gained over his years as a professional illustrator, animator, and cartoonist.
About the presenter:
Cartoonist and animator Luke McGarry’s clients include Coachella, The New Yorker, MAD Magazine and Tenacious D. His unique style extends beyond the canvas as the front man, bassist and knob twiddler in the band Pop Noir. He’s a Wacom Cintiq Pro user and loves to go “tabling” at Cons, draw vignettes filled with humor and keen celebrity insight, and make cool merch with his art. Check Luke McGarry out on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Storytelling through visual media: from photography to film
Join photographer and filmmaker Sky Bergman for an engaging session where she shared impactful tips for creating, rather than just taking, photographs. Attendees explored ideas that will spark excitement about photography. It also covered essential principles like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, and explored visual elements such as shape, line, texture, color, symmetry, balance, perspective, repetition, pattern, and light.
About the presenter:
Sky Bergman is an accomplished, award-winning photographer and filmmaker. Lives Well Lived was her directorial debut. Her fine art work is included in permanent collections at museums around the world. She was the chair of the Art & Design department at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, CA (2007 – 2013) and is currently a Professor of Photography and Video. Check her out on Instagram.
Crafting compelling character designs with digital art
Designing cool characters is one of the most fun things about being an artist, but it can also be challenging. In this workshop, Jocelyn Short will broke down the character design process and gave attendees the tools to make compelling designs, showing her process for thinking through character design iterations and talking through examples of great character designs across mediums.
About the presenter:
Jocelyn Short is an illustrator and concept designer creating artwork for the fantasy, sci-fi, and horror genres in comics, video games, and film. She is currently developing Bearers, an art anthology exploring the experiences of unique spirit couriers. Her professional credits include creating the banner artwork for Virtuous Con for 2024, art assets for Black Feminist Video Game, and character designs for the comic The Legend of Althea by Royce Adkins. Check Jocelyn Short out on Instagram, or Facebook.
Creating a suspenseful manga page
Despite the vast range of genres that manga offers, something that links them all is the suspense of the page turn. If you are an aspiring manga artist, this is a fundamental skill you must master. In this workshop, horror mangaka Gigi Murakami walked through their process for creating a compelling, suspenseful manga page that will leave readers on the edge of their seat.
About the presenter:
Gigi Murakami is an NYC native manga artist, illustrator, writer, content creator, and small creative business owner at the intersection of horror media, alt + nerd culture, and (schlocky) film. Her work blends Japanese manga art and vintage American comic and pulp aesthetics. She specializes in traditional ink and color illustrations, and manga art focusing on dark, fantastical, and dramatic themes. Follow Gigi Murakami on Instagram, X (Twitter), or YouTube.
Stylizing shapes: distilling everyday objects into exciting bits of joy
Every object around us has some sort of soul or character hidden within it. In this workshop Kirk Wallace showed viewers his full process for creating interesting illustrations with everyday objects, like a landmark, a character, or maybe even just a baseball cap, focusing on the core of what makes something unique and stretching it to its limits.
About the presenter:
Kirk Wallace, also known as Bone Haus, is a freelance illustrator, animator, art director, and much more who has created designs, animations, campaigns, and much more for clients such as Adobe, Apple, Disney/Pixar, McDonalds, Rocket League, Uber, and many more. He’s known for his bold, hyper-stylized, detailed, yet simple style. Follow Bone Haus on Instagram, YouTube, or take one of his classes on Skillshare.
Creating a visual autobiography in Adobe Photoshop
This workshop will go over a lesson teaching the foundations of photo manipulation in Adobe Photoshop through a narrative self-portrait project. It will cover how to support students in the ideation and brainstorming process, helping them develop the story they want to tell through their portrait and gather images. It will also discuss essential design principles and key Photoshop tools and techniques, including non-destructive editing with layer masks, adjustment layers, and layer effects.
About the presenter:
Clare Szydlowski is a dedicated high school art teacher with 17 years of experience and a passion for teaching digital art. As a teacher-author and blogger, she loves sharing fresh ideas and tips to help both new and veteran teachers bring digital art to life in the classroom. Clare holds an MFA in Printmaking and a BA in Art and Education, blending her expertise with a playful approach to learning. Follow her on Instagram.
How to design compelling characters and interesting illustrations
Whether you’re creating a video game, comic page, or editorial illustration, you need your characters and designs to be dynamic and compelling. Make sure to attend Luke McGarry, Jocelyn Short or Kirk Wallace’s workshop for expert tips and tricks. If you can’t make one, or are looking for more resources, check out all of the great content below!
How to draw comics & manga
Have you always wanted to create your own manga or anime character? Draw your first comic book or strip? Or draw fanart of your favorite characters? Make sure to attend Whyt Manga and Gigi Murakami’s workshops. If you can’t make one, or want to keep learning, this section will pull together a bunch of tips, tricks, and tutorials for you to level up your skills!
How to teach art and creativity
Whether you’re an art teacher or are trying to infuse 21st-century creative skills into your non-art classroom, Wacom tech is up to the task. Check out Sky Bergman and Clare Szydlowki’s workshops, and check out all of the resources below for art education, creative careers, and classroom resources from Wacom.
The best Wacom products for creativity campers
If you’re just getting started or are trying to outfit your classroom, a One by Wacom tablet is a great choice. A Wacom One tablet or Wacom One display can take your creativity to the next level. And if you’re an art student or need professional-level creative tech in a portable package, our newest device, Wacom Movink, might be just what you need. Check out the Wacom eStore for more information and to buy.
Also, Creativity Camp event attendees get a special discount code on these and other Wacom products — make sure to register and check your email for more information!
Did you know? Wacom products come with software bundles for creatives at all levels
Wacom works with our software partners to provide the best experience possible for illustrators, photographers, video editors, game designers, and beyond. And those partnerships mean we can provide extended free trials of some of the best creative software available, to anyone who registers a Wacom product – so you can try out different software programs and find the one that fits your creativity best.