May Art Challenge Gallery is Live ✨ + June Challenge Theme: Monster Character Design


Hi Reader,

Hope you've been drawing lately. Two things to share today — the May gallery is live, and June's challenge is officially open.


✨ May Art Challenge Gallery is Now Live!

Theme: Idols — Male & Female

The May Art Challenge gallery is now live on our Student Art page. This month's theme was Idols — Male & Female, and our students brought their own stars to the stage. Every piece captures the energy and the story behind the costume.

Every piece represents someone who took on the challenge and shared their work with the community. We are incredibly proud of the creativity and skill shown in this collection.

🔗 View the gallery here: https://animeartacademy.com/p/student-exhibition

All featured artworks are promoted through Anime Art Academy's 100,000-subscriber email newsletter and to our 300,000 social media followers. Your work will also be shared with manga publishers and industry professionals in Japan — real eyes from the industry will see your art.

⭐ Bonus for paid course students: Your submission will also be shared directly with manga editors at Japanese publishing houses.


🎨 June Art Challenge Theme: Monster Character Design

Anime has always had a thing for monsters. Not just the scary kind — the kind you want to sketch, study, carry around in your pocket, or befriend before anyone else gets the chance. The slime that turned out to be the most powerful being in the world. The half-spider girl who just wants a place to belong. The kaiju that shows up to a city and somehow becomes the most sympathetic character in the room.

Monster characters work because the rules are yours to write. They can be tiny and devastating, enormous and gentle, deeply strange and immediately lovable. You can design a creature in the classic pocket-monster style — something with a silhouette you can recognize from fifty meters away. You can go the monster-girl or monster-boy route, human enough to carry a story but with enough of the creature in them to make every panel interesting. Or you can build something that defies category entirely.

For this month's challenge, design your own original monster character. No existing IP — this one belongs to you. What kind of creature have you always wanted to draw? Give it a shape. Give it a personality. Show us what it looks like when it's trying to be scary, or when it isn't trying at all.

📅 Deadline: July 10th, 2026

📝 How to Submit

Discord: monthly-art-submissions
https://discord.com/channels/963616021258846229/978104621119725668

OR

Email: contact@animeartacademy.com

📌 Full submission guidelines: https://animeartacademy.com/p/nextart


We can't wait to see what you create next. Your art deserves to be seen.

Anime Art Academy Team

contact@animeartacademy.com

https://animeartacademy.com/


What courses are available at Anime Art Academy?

At Anime Art Academy, we offer a range of courses and course styles to fit all of our students' needs!

How to Draw Anime and Manga

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How do our pro illustrators help students?

The following are just a couple of examples of the feedback our lecturers give in the comments section of our lectures! Of course the corrections are accompanied with written explanations, helping students to understand how to improve their work. This feedback is included in all of our paid courses!


See you at the Academy!

Anime Art Academy Team

https://animeartacademy.com/