Essential Drawing Course for Beginners

Every Tuesday, Join anytime
6:30pm – 8:00pm PST

You will learn the most important aspects of drawing from the very beginning. You will build the foundation for rendering basic objects and environments, and become ready to practice these techniques with more complex subjects in future drawings. All the techniques of the Essential Drawing Course are done in monochrome (black and white) so you can keep your focus on structure, tonality, shading, form, and texture.

This drawing course includes 12 online classes. The classes take place in real-time every Tuesday at 6:30pm Pacific Time via Zoom. You can join the course at any time – each class is an independent technique.

• 12 live online 1.5-hour classes
• No experience necessary
• Adults and teens 15 years or older
• Access to recordings
• Supply List provided

  
  

  Must have:

  • 9x12in drawing pad (or any size you’d like)
  • 4B pencils
  • Eraser
  • Sharpener

  Optional but recommended:

  • Set of conté sticks
  • Set of willow charcoal sticks
  • Blending stumps OR paper towels
  • Brush marker (water resistant)
  • Workable fixative spray
    • Must have for charcoal, conte crayon, or soft pastels (not for oil pastels.) If you want to learn how to spray your drawings, click here.

Urban Sketching
6-Week Drawing Course

Wednesdays, July 14th – August 18th
6:30pm – 8:00pm PST

Sketching while traveling can be one of the most satisfying experiences while traveling, especially if you learn to jot down these scenes quickly and effortlessly. Being inspired by the new scenery awakens this deep desire in us to be an artist. This 6-week course will help you learn which materials to have, how to mind perspective while sketching futuristic cities and historic sites, ancient villages and coffee shops, or a view from your hotel window with joy and virtuosity.

This beginner-friendly course is perfect to START learning to create art! 

• Live online 1.5-hour class
• No experience necessary
• Adults and teens 15 years or older
• Access to recordings
• Supply List provided

  
  

  Supplies:

  • We will send photo references out. You are welcome to use your own photography since the instructor will give personalized feedback.
  • 7x10in spiral bound watercolor notebook
  • 4B pencil
  • Waterproof black pen (be sure it is pigment-based, not water-based)
  • Eraser
  • Sharpener
  • Watercolor set (24-count) or watercolor set (8-count with a brush)
  • Japanese hair brush
  • Small container for water*
  • Paper towels or rag to wipe brushes
  • *If painting plein air: One full water bottle and one empty water bottle and an air-tight container with lid for water

Drawing on Tonal Paper
6-Week Drawing Course

Wednesdays, August 25th – September 29th
6:30pm – 8:00pm PST

There are very few surprises in life. In this course, you are GUARANTEED to be surprised. Not just surprised but blown away. You will learn how Color Theory can help you in drawing, and how drawing can help you grasp the physics of Color Theory. In this course, you’ll learn how to incorporate the color of your substrate as a color in your drawing, as well as how to use black and white conte crayon to create the effect of 3D. That is how everyone teaches it – but at Prima Materia, you can always expect the unexpected: this course is going to take drawing on tonal paper one step further by introducing you to the optical illusions that happen on colored substrates! 

• Live online 1.5-hour class
• No experience necessary
• Adults and teens 15 years or older
• Access to recordings
• Supply List provided

  
  

  Supplies:

  • Cardstock neon-pink (2 sheets 5×7” or any size);
  • Cardstock neon-green (2 sheets 5×7” or any size);
  • Canson paper, colors: black, red, green, yellow, blue; size options 9×12 or 12×16 or 16×20 (all colors can be the same size or various sizes).
  • Eraser: Artgum or Vanish
  • Black Conte crayon – 2 sticks (optional: 2 sticks of black NuPastel Prismacolor)
  • White Conte crayon – 2 sticks (optional: 2 sticks of white NuPastel Prismacolor)
  • Paper towels
  • Optional: table easel
  • Optional: Foam board (its size should match the size of your colored paper). You may not need any support board if you prefer to work on the surface of the table, instead of table easel.
  • 2-4 clamps (you don’t need clamps if you prefer to work on the surface of the table, instead of table easel).

Painting a Realistic Still Life Inspired by Renaissance Art
6-Week Painting Course

Mondays, June 28th – August 2nd
6:00 – 7:30pm PST

There are two well-known axioms, one: learning to paint realistically is the most direct way to learn to paint, period, and two: painting a still life is the ultimate means for skill-building. Through observing inanimate objects, artists begin to understand the laws that govern the visual behaviour of reality. Many abstract and modern masters, the great visionaries who shifted the course of Art History such as Kandinsky, Matisse, Dalí, Mondrian, and others, started off as realist painters.

• Live online 1-hour class
• No experience necessary
• Adults and teens 15 years or older
• Access to recordings
• Supply List provided

  
  

  Supplies

  • Photo reference (the photo will be sent an hour before class starts. You are welcome to create your own still life to paint from)
  • Pencil
  • Eraser
  • Sharpener
  • Canvas size of your choice (recommended size: 16×20 inch, however size is up to you)
  • Table easel if your canvas is larger than 9×12 inch
  • Acrylics (red, yellow, blue, black, white + any other colors are optional)
  • Paint brushes, variety of sizes
  • Freezer paper or palette for paints
  • Cup for water
  • Paper towels or rag to wipe brushes

Introduction to Oil Painting
6-Week Painting Course

Mondays, August 9th – September 13th
6:00 – 7:30pm PST

A course you’ve been waiting for is finally here! If you have never tried oils before, you must – it’s divine! From the Old Masters to contemporary painters, oils have been a long-time favorite for many artists: its longevity, versatility (blending, impasto, glazing, etc.), and nobility appeals to all. Find out why artists throughout the centuries have fallen in love with oils, as you’ll get to experience the bliss in this course. 

By the end of the course, you’ll have painted your very own, original oil painting.

• Live online 1-hour class
• No experience necessary
• Adults and teens 15 years or older
• Access to recordings
• Supply List provided

  
  

  Supplies

  • Sketchbook – to sketch and take notes
  • Pencil for composing, eraser
  • Oil paints – your set should include the primaries of your choice and additional colors that help expand your palette.
  • Bristle paint brushes, various shapes and sizes (do not use the same brushes you use for acrylic. They cannot be shared between the two mediums)
  • Soft-hair paint brushes
  • Palette knife with 3-inch metal blade and flexible neck
  • Masterson palette holder with lid
  • Pad of disposable palettes (without a thumb hole), size that matches the palette holder
  • Purified linseed oil
  • Small jar with an airtight lid for the solvent
  • Canvas: 
    • 4 canvases in small size (5×7, 8×10, etc.) Optional is to get 4 sheets of unstretched canvas or 2 canvas boards, HOWEVER, this course is so special that you might consider getting canvas for studies: you’ll never regret it!
    • A larger canvas, optional size 16×20, 18×24, 20×20