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Acrylic and Gouache for Beginners: The Expressive Painter’s Club!

Unlock the joy of creativity as a painter in our interactive, easy going studio classr! Paint a new artwork each week step-by-step while building fundamentals like form, shadow, light and texture. New painters warmly welcomed, join anytime.
Young Illustrators Studio with Bear Howe
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:
(154)
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What's included

1 live meeting
45 mins in-class hours per week
Mastery Evaluation
1 hour per week. Individual feedback is offered and available to each student during class.
Assessment
It can be very satisfying to make a portfolio of the paintings you make in class. A three-ring binder with plastic sleeves or a folder will hold your paintings from week to week!

Class Experience

US Grade 2 - 5
Beginner - Intermediate Level
Explore, experiment and create like never before in our easy-going, supportive and fun painting class! Learn about mixing color, adding light and shadow, brush techniques,  and more while building confidence and artistic intuition in a real artist’s studio setting with other creative friends!

🌱 Class Snapshot 🌱

🎈Say hello and share art from the past week
✏️ Step-by-step, guided drawing.
🎨 Step-by-step, guided painting: Learners encouraged to ask questions and get feedback
🎈 Share: No one will ever be pressured to share, no big deal to pass 
🎈 Goodbyes

✨ Thinking like an artist ✨
Our weekly practice will include discussions on color theory, mixing and color relationships; shading and tinting for value design; opacity, texture and layering, depth and dimension, water control, basic strokes and textures, stippling, dabbing, dry and wet brush, value and light sources, blending and gradients, adding fine details, caring for brushes, sealing up paints and more!

🌼 Weekly Subjects 🌼

Week of February 3: chibi dragon
Week of February 10: mountain landscape
Week of February 17: under the Sea
Week of February 24: galaxies
Week of March 3: chibi cat
Week of March 10: a cactus
Week of March 17: color palettes
Week of March 24: human face
Week of March 31: a tree
Week of April 7: Blue Macaw
Week of April 14: Pokemon
Week of April 21: a meadow
Week of April 28: Bluey’s house
Week of May 5: flowers
Week of May 12: clouds
More dates and subjects are added ongoing, and learner requests are incorporated!

✨  Growth Mindset ✨

In our classes, we are building a multi-layered scaffolding of the love of learning that is rooted in the idea that we can find inspiration every day to start again right where we are, finding satisfaction and pride in seeing our progress! Learners who stick with our classes over time come to believe that experimenting, problem solving, setbacks, re-trying and breakthroughs among the support, kindness and inspiration of peers and qualified mentors leads to more flexibility, innovation, courage and self-confidence in not only their art skills, but in all other areas of life! And we have a lot of fun doing it!

We use conversation prompts to create an inspiring atmosphere where artists learn to trust their intuition. We use targeted practice to break down the mechanics of a complex and difficult skill like art into easy, achievable steps, while having fun and building connections and friendships over what we love and struggle with in the art process!

✨  Classroom ✨ 

Our classes are anchored in kindness, affirmations and fun! We do not use competitions or comparing. Constructive, hamburger-style critiques are offered by the teacher. There is a variety of skill level in each group, and we validate and help kids feel good about wherever their skill is. Kids love to share their art and bond over what they love and struggle with. We teach learners how to find joy and delight in their practice, which motivates them to do it more.

⭐️ Drawing and Sketching ⭐️

Pair this class with our Drawing & Sketching Club to learn to draw in greater detail and with pencil techniques the very drawing we’ll paint in this class each week! Enroll here:

https://outschool.com/classes/d4f60bb7-40ea-43d4-975e-517f71308e7f

🎨  MATERIALS (see recommendations in the materials section) 🎨

• Learners are welcome to use acrylic paint, gouache paint, or acrylic gouache paint from squeeze tubes or in pans.
• A couple Round brush sizes, one or two flat or filbert brush sizes, fan brush optional
• Paper, thicker than printer paper
• A rag or paper towel, 
• water
• something to mix paint on

Learning Goals

Learn how to hold a brush and control for different effects, learn about brush types (round, flat, detail), dabbing, water control; dry and wet brush techniques.
Learn color mixing including primary, secondary, tertiary colors; how to create tints, tones and shades; color temperature and creating gradients of value with different colors.
learning goal

Other Details

Learning Needs
This class uses step-by-step instruction and regular interval check-ins, so that learners have natural breaks and choices built into their learning experience. All classes are recorded, so learners can review the lesson at their own pace.
Pre-Requisites
No experience is necessary to take this class.
Supply List
• A set of at least 6 colors of gouache, acrylic or acrylic gouache paint, including yellow, blue, red, white, black and a variety of other colors optional. Suggested:

https://www.jerrysartarama.com/turner-artist-acryl-gouache-world-set-12-11ml-tubes

• A few brushes of various sizes. Suggested: https://www.dickblick.com/items/princeton-real-value-brush-set-9146-golden-taklon-short-handle-set-of-4/

• Something to mix color on (can be a palette or a piece of cardboard/junk mail!) If you are interested in your learner having a stay-wet palette so they can keep their paints wet for up to a week or more as they continue to work on their painting, here’s a great one: https://www.dickblick.com/items/masterson-handy-palette-8-12-x-7/

• A rag or two or a few paper towels

• A water cup or bowl

• Masking tape

• Printed weekly drawing each week on paper thicker than printer paper. Teacher will provide drawing ahead of class—you can print or have your learner draw it on their own before class onto their paper. Suggested paper, which can be cut to fit your printer: https://www.dickblick.com/items/canson-graduate-mixed-media-pad-9-x-12-20-sheets/

The drawing provided each week can be scaled anyway you like to fit the paper you’re printing on, it’s okay if it gets a bit blurry—we will be painting over the lines, they are just guides!
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined February, 2021
5.0
154reviews
Star Educator
Popular
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
Bachelor's Degree in Art and Design from Temple University
Bear Howe
Hello I’m so glad you’re here! We are award-winning, exhibiting, working artist and published book writers and illustrators and we love kids and helping kids unlock their creativity and confidence through art!

Growth Mindset:
We teach targeted art skills in a safe social-emotional space where students can explore how to think and see like an artist, learn to fail and try again and build confidence in their own intuition and work.

Reviews

Live Group Class
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$18

weekly

1x per week
45 min
Live video meetings
Ages: 8-12
3-10 learners per class

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