spring break and summer camp · ages 8 and up
Digital Art & Game Design Camp for Kids in Frisco, TX
In this camp, ninjas will learn about a variety of art fundamentals, while building original assets to hone their new skills.
- Krita
- Microsoft Paint
In the camp
What they do
The projects they work through in the camp, one at a time.
A piece built on the elements of art
Line, shape, value, color, texture - taught first, then used, in Krita. Critique each other's work with a structure that keeps it useful.
A color palette of their own
Chosen deliberately after color theory and hex codes, not picked because it looked nice.
Concept art for a world
Subject, goal, who the player sees it through. The planning that happens before anything is drawn properly.
A character design
Dressed for the place they live, readable at a glance, and built to say something about who they are.
Splash art and pixel art
A cover image for their game, and the pixel-art assets to fill the world in.
The concepts behind it
What they are actually learning
The camp is the reason they turn up. These are the ideas they use to do it, shown the way they meet them, and they are the same ideas behind any programming language they pick up later.
Composition
composition = putting togetherarrange the elements on the canvasWhere things sit on a canvas and why. The rules are taught as rules first, which is what makes breaking them later a decision.
Color theory
warm reds angercool blues sadnessbuild a palette from the moodColors affect how a piece feels before anyone reads anything in it, so the palette is chosen from the feeling, not the other way around.
Hex codes and bit depth
#000000 is red 00 green 00 blue 00each channel runs 0 to 2551-bit = 2 colors, 8-bit = 256Why a color on a screen is three numbers, and what people actually mean when they call a game 8-bit.
What they leave with
By the end of camp
Taken from the camp's own curriculum, not written for this page.
- Developed original artwork using free, easy-to-use drawing software, such as Krita and Microsoft Paint
- Learned about several art elements (such as line, color, shape, form, texture, and space)
- Explored the principles of composition (rule of thirds, golden ratio)
- Applied color theory (monochrome, analogous, and complementary colors) to their designs
- Created pixel art designs, detailed UI/UX features, and animated short cartoons
When it runs
Next Digital Art & Game Design camps
Pick a date to book.
9am to 3pm, bring a lunch.
After camp
Loved our camp? Keep building all year.
Create is our core coding program, where a ninja builds real games in JavaScript and works up through the belts. The first session is free, so they can try it before you decide.
Before you ask
Common questions
Does my child need to be able to draw?
No. The week starts at the elements of art and the tools in Krita, and a lot of the strongest work comes from ninjas who arrived saying they could not draw.
What software do they use?
Krita, which is free and open source, so they can carry on at home with exactly the same tools.
Is AI art part of it?
It is discussed rather than used as a shortcut. There is a session on AI art and the ethics of using it, which is a conversation most young artists are already having.
Is it all theory?
No, but it starts there. Composition, color theory, hex codes and bit depth are taught before the technique, so a ninja ends the week able to say why a piece works rather than only that it does.
Also at this studio
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