Classes/Workshops/Demos (SIGN UP) PRINTABLE SUMMER SCHEDULE (252k) (Screen Printing) (Comics 101) (Camera Bootcamp) (Airbrush) (Plushy!) (Kid's Art & Music) (Pen & Ink) (Pinhole Camera) (Express) Screen Printing Workshop (SIGN UP) Cost: $200 with materials kit or $75 without Duration: 12pm - 4pm Materials Kit includes: 1 screen, 1 squeegee, 1 qt photo emulsion, 1 qt. emulsion remover, scoop coater, ink, and 1 set of clamps Upcoming Classes: Sun 6/13, Sun 7/18, Sun 7/25, Sun 8/8, Sun 8/22 This class is at our Atwater Studio There are many ways to silkscreen. The focus of this workshop is teach the artist (whether an old pro or a total rookie) how to expose a screen using the sun and photo emulsion (so that you can do it in your studio/garage/backyard!). We walk you through the entire process, from image creation to finished print, introducing ideas and options along the way. If none of that made any sense to you, don't worry, it will after the workshop. And that's the point, it's really easy to show someone how to screen print, really hard to tell them how to do it. One afternoon with us will eliminate days of learning curve and frustration. No experience necessary. Just bring anything you want to print on (paper, clothes, wood, glass, whatever!), your ideas, and questions. This is a one day workshop. Kid's Art & Ukelele (SIGN UP) Cost: $225 Duration: 10 sessions 9:30am - 12:00pm Upcoming Classes: Mon-Fri 6/28 - 7/9 & Mon-Fri 7/19 - 7/30 This class is at our Atwater Studio This two week class (10 sessions) is designed to give children 7 - 12 years of age a rich learning experience in art and music. The class is broken into two parts. Each student will spend an hour working on a visual arts project, have a snack break, and then have an hour of Ukelele lesson. All art supplies, as well as musical instruments will be provided for the children while in class. This class is an incredible opportunity for some lucky local children. About the instructors: We are extremely excited to welcome Lilia Hernandez and Sheryl Murakoshi into our studio this Summer. Collectively these two instructors have over 40 years professional experience teaching children. Both currently work for Elysian Heights Elementary, a highly rated Echo Park school. Sheryl has been teaching primary education with the Los Angeles School District since 1997. Her parents, both Hawaiian natives, had her singing and playing ukelele much earlier than that. Lilia has been teaching special education in Los Angeles since 1983. She uses her art lessons for special as well as gifted education. She has exhibited her art as near as Silver Lake and as far as Berlin. Intro to Airbrushing (SIGN UP) Cost: $150 Duration: All day 10am - 6pm Upcoming Classes: Sat 6/19 & Sat 7/31 This class is at our Atwater Studio Airbrushing is an incredibly versatile tool. Whether you are a fine artist, muralist, make up artist, food decorator, or designer, an airbrush is bound to be one of your secret weapons. The purpose of this class is to demystify the mechanics of airbrushing. Numerous quick and easy tricks, exercises, and recommendations are going to accelerate your learning curve, leaving you the time to work, not worry. No matter whether you want to paint on canvas, cakes, or people, you will leave this class confident in your ability to you use an airbrush proficiently. About the instructor: Brian Fuelleman, aka fontgeek, is a professional illustrator and graphic artist based in the Los Angeles area. He first picked up the airbrush in the mid 1970's learning his trade retouching photographs. He has worked in a number of fields and with a number of mediums, including technical and medical Illustration, fabric prints for the fashion industry, type, lettering, and logo design for the entertainment industry to screen print designs for a multitude of groups, and photographic repair and retouch work. Brian has been teaching airbrushing since 1985. He has taught students in the fashion industry, the beauty and special effects industry, the sign industry, the antique restoration industry, the custom doll and figurines industry, automotive & T-shirt graphics industry, and even some in the circus crowd. He's had students from 11 to 85 years of age. His teaching philosophy is to teach students to see not just that a tool can do a particular job, but to understand why and how that tool does what it does. This understanding tends to make artists, mechanics, etc., able to analyze and resolve/fix problems as they arise, making them more confident and more competent in their chosen medium. You can find Brian at Airbrushtechinique.com, muralsplus.com, airbrushtech.net, and trains.com Make your own Plushy! (SIGN UP) Cost: $150 Duration: 4 sessions 11am - 2pm Upcoming Classes: Four Saturdays 6/19 - 7/10 & 8/7 - 8/28 This class is at our Atwater Studio Learn how to make plush toys of your own design! Plush toys are not just for kids anymore, they hang in galleries and high end shops around the country. If you ever wanted to learn how to make them, this class is for you. The class will cover every step from the initial design drawing, through construction, pattern making, fabric choice and sewing. We will focus on creative problem solving and student's self expression. Please bring a drawing (a doodle will do, more than one is welcome too) you would like to turn into plush, and let's get started! Our motto is to teach you how to make the plush you want to make, looking for creative ways to make it happen. About the instructor: Michal Wright-Ward is a designer and illustrator with a degree in animation. In her four years experience as a plush artist, her work has been featured and sold in galleries and shops around the U.S. and abroad. She draws her inspiration from children's books and the animal world. She hates the words "you can't". She lives in Los Angeles with a menegerie of pets, monsters, and one very patient husband. www.michalwright.com yarn-n-coffee.blogspot.com Camera Basics Bootcamp (SIGN UP) Cost: $175 Duration: 12pm - 4pm Upcoming Classes: Sunday 7/11 & Sunday 8/15 This class is at our Atwater Studio Many introductory photography courses take weeks, sometimes months, yet still leave students feeling confused and frustrated about the technical aspects of taking pictures. This fun hands-on workshop throws all the complicated math and outdated text books out the window, and instead uses modern technology to maximize your learning and skill acquisition in a significantly shorter time. Using a digital camera tethered to a monitor, I will show you VISUALLY what the basic buttons on cameras are and exactly what they do. I will break down the definitions of aperture, shutter speed and ISO into easy layman's terms and show you how they work together to give you the exposure you want. By seeing the results at that exact moment of image capture, you will quickly and effectively develop a solid foundation in photography and walk away with the ability to take a great picture. Requirements: Bring a DSLR digital or SLR film camera (and the manual for your camera if you have it). Though the general principles in this workshop apply to all photography, it is specifically geared towards cameras with Manual controls. No experience required. About the instructor: Love Ablan is an L.A. artist and photographer who specializes in editorial and fine art portraiture. She professionally creates imagery and multimedia content, and also works as a director of photography. As a visual artist, she has exhibited her installations, paintings, photography and plush sculpture work in art galleries and museums from New York to Berlin, and has been published in a number of international art books and magazines. She is frequently serenaded with cheesy songs that contain the word "Love", and is convinced that she has probably heard them all, but doesn't mind anyway. LoveAblan.com Build A Pinhole Camera (SIGN UP) Cost: $50 Duration: 1 session 6pm - 9pm Upcoming Classes: Wednesday 6/23 This class is at our Atwater Studio Photography is a magical art, one that captures images out of thin air. But the experience is even more magical when you make a camera out of nothing! This playful hands-on workshop shows you step-by-step how to build a camera out of common cardboard, rubber bands, a soda can and a little elbow grease. Take dreamy, mysterious photos with a camera made with your own two hands. Requirements: Please bring x1 roll of medium format 120 film at ISO-400. COLOR negative print film is recommended for easy development at most photo labs. But B&W is also acceptable. Film will also be available to buy at the class. Two rolls of film for $5. About the instructor: Love Ablan is an L.A. artist and photographer who specializes in editorial and fine art portraiture. She professionally creates imagery and multimedia content, and also works as a director of photography. As a visual artist, she has exhibited her installations, paintings, photography and plush sculpture work in art galleries and museums from New York to Berlin, and has been published in a number of international art books and magazines. She is frequently serenaded with cheesy songs that contain the word "Love", and is convinced that she has probably heard them all, but doesn't mind anyway. LoveAblan.com Intro to Watercolor Painting (SIGN UP) Cost: $225 Duration: 8 sessions 6pm - 9pm Upcoming Classes: Eight Mondays 7/12 - 8/30 This class is at our Atwater Studio The weekly watercolor classes are conducted in a friendly, low-key environment for both the professional and non-professional artists of all levels. For the beginning student, it is a comprehensive program in the basics of drawing and painting fundamentals. As the student advances, the traditional concepts of composition, color, and technique are introduced. Instruction includes frequent instructor demonstrations and personal attention. Subject matter includes landscape, still life, and portraits. During the warmer months classes often include sessions outdoors. About the instructor: James Wisnowski, a Chicago native, is a graduate of the American Academy of Art and a signature member of the Transparent Watercolor Society of America. In addition, he is a member of the Oil Painter's of America, California Art Club, Laguna Plein Air Painter's of America, Chicago Artists Association, and the Palette and Chisel Fine Art Academy. For 27 years he has taught his technique at the Palette and Chisel Fine Art Academy in Chicago, the Old Town Art Center in Chicago, the North Shore Art League in Winnetka IL., and Palos Verdes Art Center, CA James focuses on the outdoor landscape in both oils and watercolor mediums, traveling and teaching his technique in workshops extensively in inspirational locations in Europe and the USA. Painting en plein air gives him a more immediate and intimate encounter with the subject, which allows him to translate the experience onto canvas. These paintings are then often used as studies for larger work done in the studio. His technique is a defined as a realist and a colorist, simplifying and emphasizing the light and color in order to communicate his vision of his environment as he sees it. James believes painting is a visual language with no need of verbal explanation. The images should express themselves through the painting. Living in Chicago for much of his art career has given him a unique feeling for the urban cityscape. Through his work, he shares the rediscovered beauty that may be lost or forgotten in every day subjects. He shows the uniqueness found in simple ordinary neighborhood scenes, which are often overlooked. Recently relocating to California, the rocky coastlines, colorful fishing villages, and vineyards, as well as the urban scenes, continue to inspire his work. JamesWisnowski.com Comic Making 101 (SIGN UP) Cost: $150 (materials kit included) Duration: 5 sessions 2:30pm - 6:00pm Upcoming Classes: Five Saturdays 7/31 - 8/28 This class is at our Atwater Studio Do you want to create your own comic? Do you have a great comic story to tell but don't know where to start? Comic books have been one of America's and the world's most enduring and loved art forms. Learn all the basics to write, draw, letter, embellish, and present your comics in the most professional way you can. All levels of experience and draughtsmanship are invited to take this once a week, five session course and explore how to do it yourself! Come join our class where we will learn the basics of comic book creation from start to finish, soup to nuts. About the instructor: Kiyoshi Nakazawa is a freelance illustrator working and living in LA. He has done work for numerous clients including Dark Horse Comics, Meltdown, World War III Illustrated, LA Weekly, Destroy All Music, Mattell, Razorcake, The Immortal Lee County Killers, Sweet Velvet C, The Aquabats!, The Unlovables, Giant Robot, Pancrase and many others. He is a regular comic contributor to Razorcake magazine and has been self publishing comics since jr. high school. Since 1999 to present he has been self publishing Drunken Master zine which has the serialized Mixed Martial Arts comic Prize. LuckyNakazawa.com Check out some former student's work Intro to Pen & Ink Illustration (SIGN UP) Cost: $75 (materials kit included) Duration:2 sessions 1pm - 4pm Upcoming Classes: Sat 6/26 & Sun 6/27 This class is at our Atwater Studio This introductory course teaches the basic principles and usage of crow quill, brush and india ink on paper. In it's simplest form pen and ink are a inexpensive and easily portable medium that packs a high- impact visual punch. Techniques taught in this 2 day course can be applied to fine arts, illustration and sketches. The class will consist of various demonstrations displaying various ways pens and brushes can be used to render an expressive image in great detail, loose gestures and even experimental works of art. Basic supplies will be provided: Hunt EF 22 Hunt 102 India Ink White Acrylic Ink! Strathmore 400 series Illustration Paper basic brush About the instructor: Kiyoshi Nakazawa is a freelance illustrator working and living in LA. He has done work for numerous clients including Dark Horse Comics, Meltdown, World War III Illustrated, LA Weekly, Destroy All Music, Mattell, Razorcake, The Immortal Lee County Killers, Sweet Velvet C, The Aquabats!, The Unlovables, Giant Robot, Pancrase and many others. He is a regular comic contributor to Razorcake magazine and has been self publishing comics since jr. high school. Since 1999 to present he has been self publishing Drunken Master zine which has the serialized Mixed Martial Arts comic Prize. LuckyNakazawa.com Express Yourself (SIGN UP) Cost: $150 for 6 sessions When: Sundays 8/1 - 9/5 5:30pm - 7:00pm This class is at our Atwater Studio Express yourself through the play of painting. Relax in a safe and inspiring atmosphere, guided by a professional instructor, trained and certified at the Research Institute for the Semiology of Expression, in Paris, France by Arno Stern. In this class you will let go of the tangible product of the lesson, instead fully concentrating on the moment. Semiotic expression is a unique and incredibly liberating experience. This class is for artists of any level looking to access their creativity more freely. It is especially useful for people who believe they cannot paint or be creative. Take an hour each week to Express Yourself and feel great about it. It's easy and fun. Semiotic Expression is therapeutic for the mind and body. It is the play of painting. The formulation is great for such settings as hospitals, schools, orphanages, social centers or any other cultural institution or business looking for something liberating. Creating a safe environment, the formulation provides the participant with non-critical guidance. Here one can unlock ones creativity and feel secure about it. The individual is autonomous in a group activity. Creative education at its best, a pedagogical method to excess human qualities to which an experience stripped of artifice can give natural and regenerative expression and a creative attitude to life. This pedagogic is based on the absolute respect of the individual. About the instructor: Marjam Oskoui is a contemporary Los Angeles based artist, best known for her abstract paintings. She was born 1966 in Germany, raised in Iran and later educated in Germany, England and U.S.A. She received her M.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia in 1999. She worked in various fields of the arts until she was invited in 2001 to teach New Media Arts at the Fine Arts Academy Munich ( Akademie der Bildenden Kunste, Munchen/ Germany). While commuting between Los Angeles and Munich (2001-2005) to teach the "Next Generation" she has been exhibiting her artwork internationally. In Germany and the U.S. she has been invited to teach Creative Labs and Think Tanks. The C.A.F.A. Beijing has invited her to develop a class for students to explore their own ideas, create innovations and think creatively. She has been awarded the honor of the Kunstfond Bonn. Her artistic life is full of surprises and has been very fulfilling over the years. While being a mother, wife and artist there was still time to be a founding partner to the strategic brand consulting and design advertising agency OSKOUI+OSKOUI, INC. In 2005 she lost her father to cancer. This event filled her with the need to explore another direction in her life. At that time she remembered how wonderful it was when she was a teenager going to her "painting" classes three times a week. Even though she has her professional painting studio she still was missing something, maybe the presence of the others in the space. Painting as a group activity; that was what she craved. She thought expressing herself in such a setting might be healing to the mourning process she was experiencing. She searched for a Semiotic Expression teacher in Los Angeles without success. After a couple of months she contacted the Research Institute for Semiotic Expression in Paris, France and asked for an instructor in L.A. The answer she received was to come to Paris to study under Arno Stern to become a certified Semiotic Expression Practitioner herself. Only then would Los Angeles have an instructor. In 2006 she went to Paris to study Semiotic Expression at the Research Institute in Paris, France and was awarded the certification. Since, she has been teaching to a select circle of people throughout Los Angeles. In 2010, Nick Gallo from Blue Rooster Art Supplies and Marjam Oskoui have joined forces to share S.E. with a wider audience in Los Angeles. Nick and his team decided to provide Los Angeles with the first original Play Painting Room, a method of Arno Stern. The Play Painting Room enriches the cultural landscape of our city and creates the physical and mental space for amazing and liberating emotional possibilities. www.oskoui-oskoui.com To Sign up for a class: Enter your information in the form below: Name: Email Address: Phone Number: Choose your class: Comic Book 101 ---Dates: choose Sat July 31st - Aug 28th Silkscreen ---Dates: choose Sun June 13th Sun July 18th Sun July 25th Sun August 8th Sun August 22nd Express Yourself ---Dates: choose Sun August 1st - September 5th Camera Basics Bootcamp ---Dates: choose Sun July 11th Sun Aug 15th Intro to Airbrushing ---Dates: choose Sat June 19th Sat July 31st Make your own Plushy! ---Dates: choose Sat June 19th - July 10th Sat Aug 7th - Aug 28th Pen & Ink Illustration ---Dates: choose Sat June 26th & Sun June 27th Kid's Art & Music ---Dates: choose Mon-Fri June 28th-July 9th Mon-Fri July 19th-July 30th Pinhole Camera Workshop ---Dates: choose Wed June 23rd Intro to Watercolor Painting ---Dates: choose Mon July 12th - Aug 30th If you have taken any of our classes and would like to give us feedback, please email us. We would love to learn what we can do to make it an even richer experience!