What better way to learn about famous artists and the type of artworks that made them famous than to actually try out their styles ourselves?   In this weekly ongoing class, I'll present a different artist & style each week.  Then we’ll use what we’ve learned about that style to create our own paintings in the style of that particular artist.  


I’ll paint along with your child as I explain & demonstrate our style of the week; however, this class is not a follow along step-by-step method of learning.  We'll actually brainstorm together different detail or setting possibilities as I encourage your child to think through some options that are different from mine.  This process will lead each of us to our best ideas for personalized paintings with unique results even though our painting style will be very similar and inspired by a famous artist.   


I love to create an atmosphere where students feel comfortable & encouraged to participate in our discussions throughout our class, especially when we are brainstorming about all the options to consider.  I'll even show them some of my own paintings to help open their mind to some of the creative choices they have throughout our process.  



No specific drawing or painting skills are needed prior to this class but it would be helpful if the student is already comfortable drawing a variety of subjects.  And the most important prerequisite is that each child definitely needs to have an openness & willingness toward trying a variety of painting styles and subjects.  


We'll hold up our paintings several times throughout our project each week to check on the progress of each child and to see if there are any extra tips needed along the way.  We love encouraging each other and celebrating each person's progress and results! 

Here’s the general topics for our first several weeks in the Summer of 2024:
Week 1:   June 12   Picasso’s Cubism in portraits (Oil Pastels)
Week 2:   June 19  Georgia O'Keeffe flowers (Watercolor & Oil Pastel lesson)
Week 3:  June 26   Marc Chagall's Surrealism (TBD)
Week 4:  July 3  (Class Will Not Meet Today & You Will NOT Be Billed this July 4th Week)  
Week 5:  July  10   Georges Seurat's Pointillism (Acrylic Painting)
Week 6:  July  17    Matisse’s Colorful Patterns (Acrylic Painting) 
Week 7:  July  24   Franz Marc’s colorful animals  (Acrylic Painting or Oil Pastels)
Week 8:  July 31  (Class Will Not Meet Today & You Will NOT be Billed this Week)
Week 7:  Aug  7    Wayne Thiebaud’s delicious desserts (Acrylic Painting)
Week 8:  Aug 14  Hokusai’s “Great Wave” (Acrylic Painting)
Week 9:  Aug 21  (Surprise Topic) 
Week 10:  Aug 28 (Class Will Not Meet Today & You Will NOT Be Billed this Week)


Please understand that we may change the order of the topics above, especially if our first Summer 2024 students begin this class after June 12th.  Please send me a message if you would like to know the exact topic from above for your child's first class in this series.  You would just need to tell me which date you'd like your child to begin.  Once you've signed up, I'll also send you a message to let you know which supplies we will use in the upcoming lesson so you'll have plenty of time to gather things for class.


Also, we might occasionally study an artist whose style lends itself to using watercolors instead of acrylics or even drawing tools instead of paint.  Please see the supply list for some extra notes.  

 Since this is an ongoing class, a child could jump in at any time without prior knowledge of any of the previous lessons in this course.  Please let me know if you have any questions. . . . And IF we have enough interest, we may continue this ongoing class into the fall of 2024 or repeat these lessons in the fall if your child missed out on the summer series.  

Also, other possibilities for later in this series of lessons is that we may bring a specific artist back to study more than one style he or she was known for or to even apply a previous style to different types of subject matter.  It's even possible that we may take a topical theme and approach it with a variety of styles in separate lessons or compare the way different artists would approach the same subject. 

This is such an exciting way to study Artists and Their Styles!  
Thank you for considering joining me for this class!

Mrs. Susan