KIDS PROGRAM
ages 7* & above
(*We might make exceptions for 6 year olds upon a pro-rated trial class. See Registration form for details.)
Class Description:
We teach our students individually, at their own pace with a small 6 to 1 student-teacher ratio. We teach Representational Art, which means our students are taught how to draw by looking at a reference picture of a recognizable form. Each student is introduced to our drawing method, which helps them develop sharp observational skills in regards to line placement, proportion, and composition. All of our students are started from our beginning levels and graduated up as an individual within our Foundation Drawing Program. We start our students out with markers, then when they’re ready for more of a challenge, they are introduced to pastels. Once they’ve completed our Foundation Drawing Program, they can then try Acrylics, Colored Pencils, Watercolor Pencils, Watercolor Painting, Sketching with Graphite, and Portraits with Graphite. See below to find out if we are the right type of art studio for your child (viewable only in desktop version).
Registration appointment required (no walk-ins)
Please Note: Parents are not allowed to sit in the class while class is in session.
Class Schedule:
See calendar above for our schedule. Your child's class would meet once a week for 90 minutes for 4 weeks out of the month on an ongoing monthly basis. Simply choose one regular class day & time from the menu when registering (example: every Tue @ 3:30).
Holidays: The studio is closed on the following holidays (make up classes will be scheduled accordingly): New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day, 4th of July, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Tuition Rate:
$150 per month for 4 weeks per month on an ongoing monthly billing cycle. Due to limited space, we cannot offer sibling discounts at this time.
Supplies:
We provide some of the supplies but in order to keep them well
maintained, you'll be required to purchase a small amount for your child to keep and take care of. The cost to get started with a set of markers is about $25. You'll be emailed a purchase link once we receive your registration form.
What Artist Type is your child and are we the right studio for them?
1) Naturally Talented: Your child can look at a picture and match the drawing very well. This is great because we teach Representational Art as described above. However, we must start all our students off from our beginning levels without skipping them no matter how naturally talented they are. This is because there’s a difference between possessing natural instincts versus a formal set of skills. Our job is to introduce skills with various techniques, which will be too overwhelming for the child if we start them off with complex pictures like certain anime, video game/tv show/movie characters. If your child is willing to cooperate from our beginning levels and work their way up with their newly acquired techniques, then we will be able to help them grow beyond instincts into a skilled artist.
2) Sketchers: These artists don’t want to add color and just want to draw with pencil, sometimes with some minimal shading. This is a good match for us because we will teach them how to draw with accuracy based on a reference. However, we do ask our students to add color for these reasons: a) so their pictures look finished and b) so we can start introducing color theory, which will help move the artist forward into other mediums as they graduate through our levels. Therefore, if your child is willing to add color to their pictures, then we will be able to open up new artistic possibilities for them. (Note: we do have a Sketching program, but that is reserved for one of the last phases because it involves learning about tonal values with still lifes, which requires a certain level of maturity and all the skills learned in our previous phases.)
3) Abstract Designers: These artists are more attracted to patterns or designs that might not have a recognizable form. This is a challenge for us because we teach the opposite with Representational Art as described above. However, if your child is willing to be taught how to draw using our references, we can show them how to modify it into an abstract piece by guiding them with the same principles involved with Representational Art such as contrast and compositional balance.
4) Visual Story-tellers: These artists don’t want to just draw a cat. They want to invite you into a day in the life of a cat, complete with a whole mouse-chase saga. Sometimes these artist types don’t care if you can read their “writing” or not because their joy comes from getting all their ideas out on the paper, so their art might look like a jumble that only they can understand. This is actually a beautifully artistic trait! However, because we teach Representational Art, your child would be tasked to draw just one cat (or object/character) with applied skills before adding more details with control. If they are willing to slow down and be taught how to draw with accuracy against a reference picture, then we can help them learn to express their stories in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
5) Process Artists: This artist type is more interested in experimenting and enjoying the process of the creative journey (like mixing up all the colors to see what happens), but similar to the Visual Story-teller, they might not necessarily be concerned about following our directions for an aesthetically pleasing outcome. This artist type is challenging for us because usually the parent expects us to have their child produce the type of art that is seen on our website. If the child is resistant to our instructions, there’s not much we can do without disrespecting their artistic spirit. However, we understand that sometimes a parent is just looking for a safe and supportive space for their child to express themselves and feel accepted. If this is the case, then we'd be happy to provide encouragement for this artist type as long as the parent communicates to us that they are fine with us not imparting our methods onto their child for the sake of their artistic freedom.