CLASSES
FALL
2026
BEGINNING DRAWING
THURSDAYS 9/24; 10/1; 10/8; 10/15 10/22; 10/29; 2 - 5pm
Would you love to be able to draw but you don’t know where to begin? In this class, you will acquire all the necessary skills to be able to draw any subject matter with joy and confidence. This is a comprehensive beginning drawing class where we will cover the fundamentals of drawing in the centuries-old classical realist tradition.
We will go over all the various drawing tools and materials available today - graphite pencils, charcoal, conté, various kinds of paper, etc. We will focus on identifying shapes and recording them accurately, recognizing value relationships, how to ‘key’ a drawing using a limited value range, hard vs. soft edges, transitional shading to achieve lifelike, 3 dimensional forms, and much more. We will also cover 1 and 2-point perspective.
While this is a class primarily for beginners, it is always a good practice for more experienced artists to occasionally revisit the fundamentals of drawing - so this class is quite valuable for artists at any level.
I will provide all the materials that you will use in this class and these are all included in the class fee. However, you are free to bring any of your own supplies to class if you wish.
CLASS INSTRUCTOR: David Draime
CLASS FEE: $285
DRAWING THE PORTRAIT
FRIDAYS 9/25; 10/2; 10/9; 10/16; 10/23; 10/30 2 - 5pm
Have you ever tried drawing a portrait and it just did not look like the person you wanted to portray? Or… it did not even look like a person? 😜 Or, maybe sometimes you came close to a good likeness, but something was off and you did not know how to fix it? Well, this class is for you! Join David, an award-winning portrait artist with decades of experience, as he breaks down the essential elements and ‘best practices’ necessary to creating lifelike, beautiful portraits in pencil and charcoal.
In this class, we will explore various concepts and methods as they relate to head construction, feature placement and proportions, the importance of proper lighting (reflective light, core shadows) classifying values and value massing, and much more.
While this class is mainly for beginners, artists and students who are more advanced will also benefit from the important lessons, techniques and concepts we will explore.
I will provide all the materials that you will use in this class and these are all included in the class fee. However, you are free to bring any of your own supplies to class if you wish.
CLASS INSTRUCTOR: David Draime
CLASS FEE: $285
Arianne by David Draime
BEGINNING OIL PAINTING
THURSDAYS 11/5; 11/12; 11/19 12/3; 12/10; 12/17 2 - 5pm
Have you been wanting to paint in oils but feel a bit intimidated by all the various approaches and theories - as well as the abundance of technical knowledge out there - surrounding this versatile medium? Join David as he breaks the process down into manageable concepts, and shows you what a truly marvelous, endlessly forgiving medium this really is. Every class session will begin with a demonstration by David of the various techniques that we will be exploring. Through various exercises, you will learn fundamental techniques such as color mixing, brushwork, layering and blending, glazing, working ‘alla prima,’ as well as color theory, composition, importance of values, atmospheric perspective, stages of a painting, and much more. In short, this class is designed to get you comfortable with using oil paint and helping you to understand how to see and think like a painter. Painters of all skill levels are welcome.
A materials list will be sent out following registration.
CLASS INSTRUCTOR: David Draime
CLASS FEE: $285
The Fountain By John Singer Sargent
Have you ever said to yourself, “I need to loosen up in my painting”… but then tried it and it didn’t really pan out - you just ended up with a muddy mess? In this class we will focus on the various approaches that some of the greatest impressionist painters of the past used to create works that brilliantly capture the look and the beauty of nature, without the careful (and sometimes tedious) rendering of every little detail, as exemplified by the academic tradition of classical realism. Working up a painting with an impressionist approach allows each artist the freedom to experiment with brush handling, paint application, from thin washes to heavy impasto, all in service of capturing faithfully the effects of light on anything that nature presents.
We will carefully consider the different priorities for the beginning, middle and final stages of a painting, ‘spotting’ color, working the canvas ‘all over at once’, the importance of blurring the eyes, letting the image ‘emerge out of a fog’, taking care of ‘back stragglers’, and so much more.
In this class, though I will be demonstrating everything in oils, you are free to paint with acrylics, if you prefer - everything we will be covering in this class applies to both of these painting mediums.
A materials list will be sent to everyone once they have registered.
* the lower case i is intentional - I will explain at the first class session. :)
FRIDAYS 11/6; 11/13; 11/20; 12/4; 12/11; 12/18 2 - 5pm
PAINT LIKE AN iMPRESSIONIST *
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!!
CLASS INSTRUCTOR: David Draime
CLASS FEE: $285