Monthly Live Lab Workshops

Every month, I hold a 1-hour Live Lab Workshop where I teach a sketchnoting concept or do live problem solving, sometimes with guests.

Live Labs are free to attend; recordings are reserved for Supporting Lab Partners and Founders.

See the Full 2026 Live Lab Schedule

Here’s the next session:

May Lab Live - Sketchnote Foundations: Drawing People w/ Alejo Porras

People are one of the most useful and most intimidating things to draw. In this session, we’ll break it down into two parts so you can start simple and build toward more expressive, dynamic figures.

Mike Rohde will kick things off by showing you how to draw people using simple shapes and structures. No art school required, just practical approaches you can use immediately in your sketchnotes, presentations, and visual notes.

Then, guest Alejo Porras will take it further, teaching you how to add movement, gesture, and fluidity to your figures. You’ll learn how to make your drawn people feel alive on the page, not stiff or static.

What you’ll walk away with:

A process for drawing people quickly, starting from the simplest possible forms and building toward figures with energy and personality. Whether you’re capturing a speaker at a conference or mapping out a team scenario, you’ll have techniques you can put to work right away.

Join me on Saturday, May 30, 2026, from 12-1 US Central for this free session:

Not a Supporting Lab Partner or Founder yet?

This is a great time to join the community!

Partners get full access to this replay and the entire Lab Partner Vault for $10/month or $80/year. Founders get all of that plus something I genuinely enjoy: a 1-hour, 1-on-1 conversation with me each year you’re a Founder for $200/year.

Become a Supporting Lab Partner

Once your subscription begins, you’ll immediately gain access to the Lab Partner Vault full of every recorded replay since December 2024.

— Mike

Sketchnote Lab is Mike Rohde’s space designed to bridge the gap between sketchnote theory and practice. You don’t need to be an artist to think visually. Join Mike and learn to use sketchnotes to clarify your thinking, solve problems, and move forward. Learn more about Sketchnote Lab.

Mike is the author of The Sketchnote Handbook and The Sketchnote Workbook, bestselling books that teach regular people how to start sketchnoting and build a regular sketchnoting practice.

He founded the Sketchnote Army and hosts the Sketchnote Podcast, where he interviews visual thinkers to understand what makes them tick.

Mike teaches recorded, live, and in-person workshops to help accelerate your sketchnoting practice and provides personalized coaching for your specific visual thinking challenges.

He is the illustrator of bestselling books like REWORK, REMOTE, The $100 Startup, Honest SEO, The Culture Playbook, and The Future Begins with Z.

Become a Supporting or Founding Lab Partner to support Mike’s work.