Painting a portrait from life can be intimidating, but painting a watercolor portrait from life is just plain crazy!! In this three-day workshop Annette will share her method of madness for painting an expressive watercolor portrait from a live model. There will be a demonstration every morning with plenty of time for students to paint in the afternoon. Individual attention will be given to all students. Annette will cover how to draw a convincing likeness by learning to see facial planes and structure of the human head. She will explain her use of color, mixing flesh tones, brushwork and controlling edges. This workshop is geared toward sharpening drawing skills, having fun, and painting expressively in watercolor. Come prepared to paint outside the lines.
 
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Instructor: Annette Smith, www.annettesmithfineart.com
Cost: $315 (not including fees)
Sponsor: Scottsdale Artists' School
Website, email, (480) 990-1422 or (800) 333-5707

Sculptor Alex Manzanares brings back from Italy the sculpting methods acquired from his years of study in Florence and Rome. In this three-day workshop, students will be sculpting a 3/4-life portrait using water-based clay. Working from a live model, students will learn how to measure accurately, establish and maintain symmetry, identify conceptual planes, and develop a working process of larger to smaller forms. Lectures in this workshop will include information on sculpting tools, key landmarks of the skull, major planes and structures, as well as nuances of the features. Alex will guide you through the entire portrait sculpting process, from the initial clay application, to composition and final finishing techniques, to achieve a likeness of the subject.
 
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Instructor: Alex Manzanares, www.alexmanzanares.com
Cost: $315 (not including fees)
Sponsor: Scottsdale Artists' School
Website, email, (480) 990-1422 or (800) 333-5707

Learn to use light, airy washes in multiple transparent colors to paint a white flower in all the colors of the rainbow, yet appear as a “white” flower, with the sun shining through its translucent petals. Students will use rich, clean, darker values to set off those beautiful white blooms. A photo will be provided, but students are welcome and encouraged to paint from their own reference material. There will be demos, instruction at all levels, one-on-one critique and lots of painting time. Class time will be structured, yet open enough to accommodate the artistic spirit within us all. All levels are welcome and encouraged to attend. The only prerequisite is an attitude of joy in the act of painting!
 
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Instructor: Julie Gilbert Pollard, www.JulieGilbertPollard.com
Cost: $95 (not including fees)
Sponsor: Scottsdale Artists' School
Website, email, (480) 990-1422 or (800) 333-5707

Bring life to your landscape paintings through a dynamic presence of light! Learn how a subject’s form can come alive through structuring light and shadow families. This workshop has a strong emphasis on developing a foundation of practical and useful techniques to structure the light and dark values in landscapes. With a focus on emphasizing the quality of light, palette and color mixing strategies will be included to assure a harmonious and unified painting. Discussions, demonstrations, and helpful visual displays are utilized. Personalized instruction is also given throughout the class to students at their individual skill levels. Students should bring their own landscape photographs for reference.
 
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Instructor: David Flitner, www.davidflitner.com
Cost: $315 (not including fees)
Sponsor: Scottsdale Artists' School
Website, email, (480) 990-1422 or (800) 333-5707

Oil pastels are probably the most misunderstood and underappreciated medium there is. Most artists think of them as “crayons” because their first exposure to them is with a student grade version. Misconceptions and bad first experiences abound. The truth is oil pastels are dynamic, vivid, versatile and extremely forgiving. The medium is geared for those who love to work with their hands. You mush, squash, push and blend with your fingertips. You apply, texture, carve, scrape and cut away with your palette knife. This workshop will teach you three basic techniques for creating everything from lush landscapes to eye-popping abstracts. You may even drop oil and acrylic paints altogether and join the growing number of converts to this wonderful medium.
 
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Instructor: Scott Turner, www.turneronlinegallery.com
Cost: $95 (not including fees)
Sponsor: Scottsdale Artists' School
Website, email, (480) 990-1422 or (800) 333-5707

This three-day workshop will offer the student the opportunity to study with guidance from an accomplished painter of the still life subject. The class is open to all levels of experience and all mediums, including oil or acrylic paint, watercolor, pastel and drawing mediums. Students may choose to paint many small studies or work on larger arrangements for longer periods of time. Goal setting will be individualized. Whether seeking foundational skills or wishing to shake things up a bit, this class and this subject is for you! Topics including drawing, value organization, color, edges, design and paint application will be addressed.
 
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Instructor: Robert Lemler, www.robertlemler.com
Cost: $375 (not including fees)
Sponsor: Scottsdale Artists' School
Website, email, (480) 990-1422 or (800) 333-5707

Students will explore rhythms of the human form using charcoal as their medium. They will draw the figure from short poses, focusing on capturing essential elements to convey action, movement, and weight distribution. Students will learn how to identify the flow or lines of the body that activate the figure and add life to their drawings. The class will also focus on methods to improve drawing dexterity and sensitivity, and explore different types of mark making including linear and mass conceptions of the form.
 
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Instructor: Matt Dickson, www.mattdickson.net
Cost: $95 (not including fees)
Sponsor: Scottsdale Artists' School
Website, email, (480) 990-1422 or (800) 333-5707

Light changes quickly. Learn a color-first approach designed for artists to simplify form and paint color directly. Open up your palette and learn skills in the studio that you can later bring outdoors. Learn to simplify and invent. Move beyond painting what you see to creating with color. Class meets 9am-4pm on Saturday August 15th and Saturday August 22nd.
 
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Instructor: Anton Nowels, www.antonnowels.com
Cost: $210 (not including fees)
Sponsor: Scottsdale Artists' School
Website, email, (480) 990-1422 or (800) 333-5707

This workshop will go over the fundamentals of painting with emphasis on portrait. Students will utilize preliminary studies in charcoal and transition into painting within these two days. Students will learn how to paint form and capture the essence of the sitter. The focus will be on simplification by minimal use of values and using a variety of edges to create form. The methods used in the workshop can also be used in painting most subject matters. Personalized and individual critiques will take place while the model is posing, to ensure live feedback. Remelle will go over techniques and methods on how to paint from life.
 
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Instructor: Remelle Tanhueco
Cost: $210 (not including fees)
Sponsor: Scottsdale Artists' School
Website, email, (480) 990-1422 or (800) 333-5707

Is there any better place to plein air paint and explore the concepts of working outdoors than the Grand Canyon? During the workshop, students will be painting from the spectacular South Rim for five days with special access to the views! Mitch Baird will cover the concepts of learning to optically “see” subjects and interpret those visual elements in order to help execute the subject onto canvas. The fundamental principles of painting -composition, drawing, value, color, and edges- will be stressed along with a special emphasis on atmosphere with this grand subject. Demos and short lectures will reinforce these concepts. Individual attention will be a high priority, as well as laughs and lots of enthusiasm.
 
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Instructor: Mitch Baird, www.mitchbaird.com
Cost: $675 (not including fees)
Sponsor: Scottsdale Artists' School
Website, email, (480) 990-1422 or (800) 333-5707