Are you looking to gain more confidence when painting animals? This workshop will help you increase your painting skills and confidence in this area. Students will learn to be more analytical of their own and others’ paintings. Kim will teach the use of design, textures, value studies, color, and composition. Students will breathe life into their subject matter with positive and negative spaces and build shapes through the use of glazes. Students will learn to leave lost and found edges for interest and movement, integrating the foreground with the background to make a cohesive painting. Students will bring their favorite photos for inspiration, and Kim will provide the tips and techniques for making them come alive with paint!
 
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Instructor: Kim Johnson Nechtman, www.kj-art.com
Cost: $210 (not including fees)
Sponsor: Scottsdale Artists' School
Website, email, (480) 990-1422 or (800) 333-5707

Two ranches located in scenic Northwest Nebraska are hosting this workshop. 1860's village, stage coach, sod house, cattle, horses, diverse scenery and period-clothed models. Instructions, lodging and food are included in the price. Three artists will be available for instruction. Our mission is to provide a vast collection of material for present and future works of art. See Our Heritage Guest Ranch on Facebook for more details.
 
Location: Crawford, Nebraska
Instructor: Marilyn Jean Norman and Linda Dabbs
Cost: $575
Sponsor: Our Heritage Guest Ranch and High Plains Homestead
Website, email, 308-430-1239

This three-day workshop encourages students to experiment with innovative and intuitive ways of creating structures and forms using organic, found and recycled materials. Students are invited to think about shapes and forms and bring these ideas to the workshop. Using unusual techniques developed by Geoffrey to overcome construction challenges, you will create a variety of forms of your choice. You'll be asked to bring some of their own favorite materials. This class is perfect for beginners seeking an introduction to creating curious objects as well as intermediate and advanced students wishing to reach the next level and break out of their comfort zone. Students will learn to use hand and power tools such as drills, band saws, and sanders.
 
Location: Denver, Colorado
Instructor: Geoffrey Gorman
Cost: $525 - $690
Sponsor: Art Makers Denver
Website, email, 303-263-6963

Painting the water and these colorful fish are easy with a few tips and painting with Liquid watercolors. In this class you will learn how to layer paint to create depth in water, use mask to protect the white of the paper and paint in details and shadows in the water. After we finish the Koi fish painting we will complete a smaller painting using the same skills.
 
Location: Denver, Colorado
Instructor: Janet Nunn
Cost: $240 - $270
Sponsor: Art Makers Denver
Website, email, 303-263-6963

Join Jennifer Mally for a two-day workshop exploring techniques to create two different ceramic animal sculptures. The first day we will explore how to make a realistic animal sculpture by building an armature and accurately forming an animal from its bone and muscle structure. The second day we play with abstraction by cutting out representational animal shapes from plywood. We will slump-form a left and a right side of an animal and put the sides together to create a free-standing 3-D animal that can be altered and embellished. Included in the class are 25 lbs. of high-fire stoneware clay for each student along with all tools and materials. Jennifer will offer demos and bring handouts and reference books.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Jennifer Mally
Cost: $245
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Depict the majestic nature of animals with a focus on emotive compositions. Dylan will guide the workshop in how to create more than a likeness of the subject but to also convey a mood and message. Using sketches to establish a synchronized order of importance, learn how to make artistic decisions to create an effective composition and communicate what is important to the viewer. Daily demonstrations on how to use color studies and the principals of creating depth and realism as well as Dylan’s signature technique for achieving beautiful skin tones by juxtaposing colors will all be covered in this intensive two-day workshop.
 
Location: Sarasota, Florida
Instructor: Dylan Scott Pierce
Cost: $275 for Members | $305 for Non-Members
Sponsor: Art Center Sarasota
Website, email, 941-365-2032

Capture the grace and beauty of waterbirds while also conveying a mood and message. Using sketches to establish a synchronized order of importance, Dylan will explain how to make artistic decisions to create an effective composition and communicate what is important to the viewer. Daily demonstrations on how to use color studies will help students discover the unexpected ways of expressing one's message. Principles of creating depth and realism will also be demonstrated.
 
Location: Sarasota, Florida
Instructor: Dylan Scott Pierce
Cost: $275 for Members | $305 for Non-Members
Sponsor: Art Center Sarasota
Website, email, 941-365-2032

Are you mezmerized and joyed by the incredibly beaurtiful, ballet-like motion, fluidity and grace of Koi? Come truly express yourself with David Lobenberg's bright colors and new and exciting paint application techniques You will use everything from stencils and pipettes to conte crayon and chalk markers to bring your Koi to life with curving and bending motions which convey these graceful creatures. David’s watercolor paintings can be found in private, public, and corporate collections across the country. His work has been featured in American Artist, Southwest Art, and American Art Collector magazines and several others.
 
Location: Bend, Oregon
Instructor: David Lobenberg
Cost: $495
Sponsor: Art in the Mountains
Website, email, 503-930-4572