A smiling sun, a fluffy lamb, and a surrealist eye! Our Nimmy’s Art Summer Art Camp 2026 contest winners found many ways to make their artwork their own. Along the way, they explored new materials, practiced their skills, and added personal touches to each piece.
Now, we’re excited to introduce ten young artists and share the stories behind their creations. Read on to hear their advice and discover a few art tips to try at home.
5-7 Yrs Winners – Little Artists
8-12 Yrs Winners – Young Artists
Young Artist Stories from Nimmy’s Art
Each artist brought different ideas to camp. For example, some enjoyed painting nature, while others explored characters and imaginative scenes. Together, their stories show how practice and curiosity can help creativity grow.
Atharv Jain
Atharv loves drawing dragons, especially those from the Wings of Fire books. To bring them to life, he uses Prismacolor pencils and markers for bright colors, patterns, and tiny scales. His favorite color is aqua blue because it reminds him of the ocean and makes him feel happy and peaceful.
At camp, Prismacolor pencils were his favorite material. In particular, he enjoys their smooth feel and blending colors to make new shades. He also likes layering acrylic paint and make changes as he develops his artwork.
For the contest, Atharv submitted Vintage Cowboy Boots, his first full acrylic painting. Inspired by a Colorado summer, he added mountains, evergreen trees, sunshine, and a flowing river. At first, he was unsure how all his ideas would look together. However, seeing the finished scene made him proud.
Vintage Cowboy Boots – Acrylic paint
After visiting Maui this summer, Atharv hopes to create Hawaii-inspired art at next year’s camp. For example, he would love to paint beaches, sea animals, and sunsets. He also wants to make waves look more real using watercolors or acrylics.
When he finds a drawing challenging, Atharv turns to his parents for support. Together, they discuss his ideas and explore pictures for inspiration before he tries again.
“Draw whatever you feel like drawing and have fun! Sometimes if I see something interesting somewhere, I come back home and try to draw it from my memory. One day I might draw a dragon, the next day I might draw sushi, and after that I may even draw a popsicle! I just draw what I feel like drawing and what makes me happy. If something feels difficult, I ask my parents for help. We talk about it, look at pictures for ideas, and then I understand it better and try again. My advice is to keep drawing things you like, because then you will want to draw even more!” — Atharv
Athena Amith
Athena loves creating characters for her stories. Along with people, she sometimes draws animals, too. Her favorite color is violet because it reminds her of happy moments and helps her feel calm.
For her contest entry, Sunny Day, Athena drew a girl on a hill near a lake. Then, she added flowers, fish, and a face on the sun. Above all, she felt proud of the shading. After taking her time with it, she loved how it turned out.
Colored pencils were her favorite camp material. She enjoyed blending colors in her Narwhal & Sea drawing. Next year, she hopes to draw a face and learn to create a wider range of skin tones.
“Just keep on drawing even if it doesn’t look so good. Every time, use something different that you haven’t learned yet, like using a new color or a different drawing style and more. Keep practicing even when nobody is watching. When something feels difficult, look at a drawing by your favorite artist. Think about what they did to make their artwork and what they did when they struggled while making their art. What helps you enjoy making art is being in a calm environment, like your own room or outside. Draw in your own way. Don’t copy someone else, and draw how you like. Always be positive and believe that your drawing will come out well.” — Athena
Did you know? A gradient is when a color slowly changes from light to dark or from one color to another. With a pencil, start coloring very lightly with the first color. Gradually add the second color, building up the layers and pressing a little harder as you go to create a smooth transition.
Chathurvi Vasudevan
Chathurvi loves drawing and painting nature. Pink is her favorite color, and she describes it as elegant and full of energy. At camp, she most enjoyed using oil pastels because she found them easy to control.
Her contest entry, Baby Lamb, brings her love of nature into a cheerful outdoor scene. She added clouds and used gray on the lamb, with little touches of blush. Those small details gave her favorite animal drawing a personal touch.
For a future camp project, Chathurvi would like to draw a person with a snowman-like look. It is a fun idea for trying a different kind of character.
Her advice to other young artists is to work hard, believe in what they can achieve, and enjoy art class to the fullest. Chathurvi’s story gives beginners a simple place to start: choose a subject you love and explore it with a material you enjoy using.
“Work hard and anything is achievable and possible, and also to enjoy the art class to the fullest extent.” — Chathurvi
Hazel George
Hazel loves drawing Hello Kitty characters and coloring them. Her favorite color is pink, which often appears in her unicorns, flowers, and balloons. She also loves watercolors, especially for painting skies and landscapes. Her lighthouse artwork made her feel very happy.
For the contest, Hazel painted her own study of The False Mirror by René Magritte. Getting the eye’s shape right was hard, but she kept going. Her favorite part was painting the clouds inside the eye with her fingers. She also enjoyed the color around the eye, which reminded her of eye shadow.
The False Mirror – Rene Magritte (Masterstudy) – Acrylic paint
Next year, Hazel hopes to paint mountains in different seasons using watercolors. She wants to show their changing colors and textures.
“If you want to be an artist just start drawing today and never ever give up! It is ok if it does not look perfect the first time because practice makes everything so much better. Use lots and lots of colors because colors make everything look so pretty and so happy. Draw the things that you love and it will make you feel so proud and happy!” — Hazel
Did you know? René Magritte painted The False Mirror in 1929. The original shows a blue sky and clouds inside a giant eye. Art can put familiar things together in surprising ways! What would you place inside an imaginary eye? Learn more
Sanmita Muthukrishnan
Sanmita enjoys drawing animals such as bears, foxes, and fish. She also loves nature. In her Vincent Van Gogh camp painting, she explored how colors and textures could make a scene feel lively.
Her contest artwork includes a yellow and orange sky with deep blue and turquoise mountains. She especially enjoyed painting the little blobs of color on the artist’s palette. Adding those small details made the project even more fun.
Vincent Van Gogh master study – Acrylic paint
Another favorite lesson was the Human Eye drawing with colored pencils. Sanmita says Ms. Nimmy made the steps easy to understand. She practiced shading and blending colors to give the eye depth. The finished drawing looked even better than she expected and helped her feel more confident about drawing people.
For Sanmita, trying a new technique was a chance to discover what she could do. Her advice is to keep creating, explore different colors and styles, and allow room for mistakes.
“Keep drawing and painting, even if it doesn’t look perfect. Try different colors, styles, and techniques, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Most importantly, have fun and enjoy creating!” — Sanmita
Sarthak Mitra Roy
Sarthak has been learning with Nimmy’s Art since 2025. He started drawing at 6. He loves oil pastels for their bright colors and easy blending. In class, he enjoys sharing his drawings, asking questions, and learning alongside other children.
The False Mirror – Rene Magritte (Masterstudy) – Acrylic paint
In his earlier Artist Spotlight, Sarthak shared how Summer Art Camp helped him learn to create shadows and show folds in paper using white. When a project feels challenging, he stays patient, takes his time, and asks Ms. Nimmy for guidance.
“My tip is to share your artwork little by little. It doesn’t have to be perfect.” — Sarthak
Read Sarthak’s full Artist Spotlight story.
Karanam Shloka
Shloka loves drawing rainbows, beaches, and changing skies. Purple, pink, and magenta are her favorite colors. At camp, she enjoyed using acrylic paint and learning to layer bright colors with Ms. Nimmy’s patient guidance.
Her contest painting, Colorful Umbrella, shows a girl enjoying the rain in a green field. A pink, purple, and magenta umbrella stands out above her yellow raincoat and pink boots. Shloka added thin lines for the falling rain.
Colorful Umbrella – Acrylic paint
The detail she is proudest of is the girl’s hand reaching out to feel the raindrops. That small gesture helps tell the story of someone enjoying a rainy day.
Next year, Shloka would love to paint a flower bed with watercolors. She hopes to learn wet-on-wet painting to blend the colors of the petals softly.
“Never worry about making your artwork look perfect. Making art is all about having fun and using your imagination, so mistakes are just cool surprises that help you learn! The most important thing is to be consistent and keep practicing, even drawing for just ten minutes every other day makes a huge difference. Whenever a picture feels too tricky or doesn’t turn out how I imagined, I take a deep breath, try a new idea, and just keep going. As long as you choose colors that make you happy and practice a little bit each week, you will keep getting better and better every single day!” — Shloka
Did you know? Did you know? Wet-on-wet watercolor is a technique where you apply wet paint onto a wet or damp surface. The moisture allows the paint to spread, blend, and flow, making it great for creating smooth color gradients, soft textures, and interesting effects. Try it on a small area of watercolor paper and see how the paint moves! Learn more
Sri Vindhya Satuluri
Sri Vindhya loves drawing landscapes with Prismacolor colored pencils. Soft blues, pinks, purples, and yellows remind her of sunsets, spring, and wildflowers. She used gentle colors in both her Baby Lamb artwork and her Vincent Van Gogh painting.
For her contest entry, she paid close attention to Van Gogh’s facial features and added fine lines to his hat. She loved the colorful palette, the earthy beard color, and the way the jacket stood out against the background.
Vincent Van Gogh master study – Acrylic paint
She also enjoyed the challenge of drawing a human eye with colored pencils. She chose blue instead of brown and spent time blending the colors carefully. Future ideas include a beach at night, Central Park in fall, and a sleeping kitten.
“My advice is to try drawing the things you love the most. Practice, because practice gives you confidence. You can really draw anything. I love making bookmarks, and I love drawing natural scenery. If you get comfortable with one medium, you can branch out into other techniques and styles and if I felt overwhelmed during a challenging moment, I would pause, listen to music, and then resume drawing. If you encounter moments like I did, do something that relaxes your mind. The thing I love most about making art is how much happiness I get from looking at the final result.” — Sri Vindhya
Ameya Kolachina
Ameya has been learning with Nimmy’s Art since 2025 in our 5–7 years age group. We’ve seen wonderful progress in her artwork and love looking back at how far she has come. We’re proud to celebrate her growth and look forward to seeing what she creates next.
The False Mirror – Rene Magritte (Masterstudy) – Acrylic paint
Ira Nadella
Ira showed a steady interest in each lesson. Over time, her artwork improved, and her skills grew. Most importantly, we’re proud of her progress and excited to celebrate all she achieved with us this summer.
Vintage Cowboy Boots – Acrylic paint
Keep creating with us
Congratulations to our featured Summer Art Contest winners, and thank you to every camper and family who made art with us this summer. We loved hearing how much thought went into each piece.
To all my wonderful young artists,
Thank you for joining me for such a fun and colorful summer! I loved seeing your ideas, watching you try new things, and celebrating each artwork you created.
Whether you won a prize or simply felt brave enough to share your art, I’m proud of you. Every question you asked and every new technique you tried helped you grow.
Thank you, parents, for cheering on your young artists and making time for creativity.
Keep drawing, keep exploring, and keep making art that feels like you. I can’t wait to see what you create next!
~ Nimmy Melvin
Ready to stART? Explore our online art classes for kids and keep learning with Nimmy’s Art.
Join our Summer Art Camp 2027 waitlist!
Ready for another summer of art? Join our waitlist to receive updates about Summer Art Camp 2027. We’d love to create with you next summer! Join the waitlist now!
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