From Sketch to Masterpiece

Explore the fundamentals of art in this 4-week workshop designed for both beginners and experienced artists. You'll dive into the basics of design, composition, perspective, shading, shadow, and colour, while experimenting with landscapes, portraits, and animals. Discover fun techniques and special effects using everyday household items. Whether you're looking to refresh your skills or gently step into the world of art, this program offers a relaxed, supportive environment to spark your creativity.

Class 1 – Building Your Foundation

• Share the topics you're most excited to learn.
• Intro to perspective: understanding 3 levels of depth plus shading and shadow details.
• Learn the 6 essential shapes, how they vary, and how to use them in your art.
• Introduction to the elements of design and how to apply them effectively.
• introduction to "The Golden Mean" and it's best use in the creation of good composition.

Class 2 – Playing with Design and Colour

• Expand the relationship of design elements as they apply to composition and medium formats.
• Create a 9-step shading scale from light to dark using crosshatching or monogrophic tones.
• Learn about colour theory, build a colour wheel, and explore complementary colour pairs.
• Choose a personal subject for your project and start sketching ideas for your final piece.
• Personal subject choices will be identified and appropriate steps taken to create sketches for final design.

Class 3 – From Ideas to Artwork

• Finalize your sketches and explore realism vs. abstract styles.
• Render "Study Sketches" to explore and experiment with a variety of techniques using additives.
• Choose your preferred medium such as acrylic, watercolour, ink, tempera, or mixed media.
• Begin creating your main artwork.

Class 4 – Bringing It All Together

• Continue working on your final piece (or pieces).
• Review earlier concepts and try out any extra effects you've been curious about.
• Learn tips for framing, displaying, photographing, and even selling your work.

*SSAC reserves the right to cancel any class due to low enrolment. We recommend registering as early as possible.

Location: The Make Space Room at FortyOne: Local Art Market, 41 Victoria Street East, Alliston

Want to be the first to know what great art topics we are bringing in this year? Email us at p.vega@southsimcoeartscouncil.com and we will keep you up to date on registration & details.

Online registration for this workshop closes on Sat Oct 4, 2025 at 11:00 am. After that, please call the office at 705-435-2378 to ask about class availability.

Dates

Wed Oct 8, 2025 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Wed Oct 15, 2025 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Wed Oct 22, 2025 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Wed Oct 29, 2025 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Materials

This is a list of necessary or optional materials required for the proposed workshops.
* items are optional as substitutes or accessories.

12 - 9" X 12" sketchpad or 8.1/2" X 11" sheets of white bond paper.
1 - .005 black fine line marker or similar
1 - .05 black fine line marker
2 - HB sharpened pencils
1 - 2B sharpened pencil
1 - pencil sharpener
1 - basic set of pencil crayons* wax crayons
1 - ruler
1 - plastic eraser* 1 kneadable eraser
3 - tubes of transparent watercolours (Red, Blue, Yellow + Payne's Gray)
3 - tubes of acrylic paint primaries (Red, Blue, Yellow + Black)
1 - Palette Dish, plastic, metal or ceramic
1 - #8 flat brush* or similar
1 - #6 round brush* or similar

*Small squirt bottles, food colouring, fabric dyes, water soluble markers/pencils, wax crayons, isopropylene alcohol, salt, masking tape ("painter's tape), plastic hypodermic needles, string, plastic wrap, sponges (natural or synthetic) 1 - roll of brown paper packing tape, 1 - 18" X 30" piece of 1/2" plywood (spruce, or aspenite/fiberboard), used or new flat edge toothbrushes, expired credit card or similar. These materials are all optional to be acquired by participants wanting to expand and extend the experiences presented during these first 4 weeks of creativity.