Explore a wide variety of techniques and materials in this exciting, comprehensive introduction to drawing. Experiment with lines, mark making, shapes, texture, tone, and composition to create drawings from observation, imagination, and memory, and learn how to use the principles of design to support your compositions.

Incorporating the teachings of Betty Edwards, author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (1979), build skills through exercises in contour drawing and depictions of negative space. Enjoy the opportunity to draw from still life props and photo references under the guidance of a professional teaching artist.

Week 1: Begin with an introduction to the class and an outline of the drawing materials and techniques that will be explored. Then, experiment with contour drawings, lines, and mark making.

Week 2: Explore the significance of shape and value, strengthening your understanding of negative space.

Week 3: Create visual texture and experiment with composition while working on drawings from observation, imagination, and memory.

Week 4: Complete final drawings using a combination of the previously explored techniques. We will conclude our time together with a discussion about our work and a reflection on what we have learned.

Learn drawing strategies with both dry and wet drawing materials, such as charcoal, chalk, pastel, and ink, to create expressive drawings. Draw from observation and imagination, and discover how to use lines, shapes, textures, composition, and color.

Week 1: Begin with an outline of the drawing methods that will be explored. Explore contour drawings, and work from observation as you create designs using pencil, charcoal, and white chalk on different kinds of paper.

Week 2: Sketch in the galleries, taking inspiration from works in the museum’s collection. Back in the studio, explore adding value in your composition as you create visual textures with graphite, charcoal, and Conté crayons.

Week 3: Warm up by making line drawings with colored pencils. Then, experiment with different layering and color mixing techniques to achieve painterly effects with dry media. Drawing from life, spend the rest of class creating expressive work by incorporating chalk and oil pastels.

Week 4: Focus on drawing with a brush while using ink to convey value, visual textures, and illusion of depth in your drawings.

Week 5: Explore watercolor techniques by adding watercolor to line drawings in ink and pencil. Begin work on a large drawing or on a small series of drawings, either from life, memory, or imagination.

Week 6: Complete individual projects using a combination of techniques explored in previous classes. We will conclude our time together with a celebration of our drawing process and a reflection on all we’ve learned.

Discover the artistry of handcrafted quilting by exploring the High’s collection and developing your creative vision. With a focus on hand quilting, natural fibers, and improvisational composition, you will learn and experiment with various techniques while incorporating embellishments including embroidery and surface design.

Week 1: Begin with an introduction to the foundations of quilting, which emphasizes slow stitching, intuitive design, and the use of natural fibers such as cotton and naturally dyed fabrics. Explore surface design methods to add depth and individuality to each piece.

Week 2: Visit the museum’s Folk and Self-Taught Art collection to examine quilts that showcase storytelling and improvisational design. Back in the studio, you will begin arranging and hand-stitching small quilt compositions, exploring color, pattern, and texture in a free-form and expressive way.

Week 3: Learn the basics of threading a machine, adjusting tension, and experimenting with stitch variations while maintaining a balance between hand and machine techniques.

Week 4: Add personal touches through embroidery and beading. We will conclude our time together with a group discussion, where you will share your work, reflect on your creative process, and celebrate your journey through quilting.

Transform your smartphone snapshots into striking photographs that are rich in narrative. Familiarize yourself with your smartphone cameras and built-in editing capabilities before learning how to create an engaging composition and leverage natural light. Enjoy opportunities to work with studio lighting equipment and professional models, and experiment with storytelling strategies. At the end of this class, we will present our bodies of work, which we will print and mat.

Participants must bring their own smartphones, but all other supplies will be provided. Please note that DSLRs and other kinds of cameras are welcome; however, this class is smartphone-oriented for ease of photo sharing.

Week 1: Begin with an introduction to your smartphone’s camera and editing capabilities. Then, focus on framing details as you take part in a series of exercises with fellow participants.

Week 2: Learn what makes a compelling photograph, and work with natural lighting to create a series of photos that demonstrate successful compositional structure.

Week 3: Experiment with studio lighting as you learn the most common techniques and work with a professional model to create a series of images that tell a story.

Week 4: Fine-tune your favorite photos and participate in a group critique once they have been printed and matted. Present your work and view your peers’ as we conclude with a reflection on all we learned.

Explore the spontaneous and expressive potential of monotype printing. Using an approach similar to painting, make unique impressions by creating images through reductive and additive methods, in addition to experimenting with a combination of techniques on plexiglass plates. Learn to manipulate ink with brushes, rags, and other tools before passing your plates through the press and enhancing subsequent prints using stencils and other media.

Week 1: Begin with an introduction to the class, followed by an outline of ink manipulation and the methods that will be explored. Create your first prints using a reductive (or “dark-field”) technique.

Week 2: Make prints from observation, further experimenting with ways to manipulate your ink on the plate. Use one color to convey forms with volume using the dark-field method before beginning on a larger plate and expanding your color palette.

Week 3: Create prints using an additive (or “light-field”) technique. Experiment with different kinds of inks, make stencils, and explore various approaches to enhancing your “ghost prints.”

Week 4: Combine different techniques and image-making methods to create your final prints before we conclude our time together with a discussion about our work and a reflection on what we’ve learned.

Learn to paint from life and from imagination while looking to the museum’s collection for inspiration. Participants with an intermediate-level skillset will develop their artistic styles as they explore a variety of painting techniques, including underpainting, sgraffito, and glazing. Study elements of art like color, composition, form, value, and line, and enjoy opportunities to share work with one another while receiving feedback from a professional teaching artist.

Week 1: Begin with an outline of the painting methods that will be explored. Participate in a series of exercises exploring brushstrokes, form, value, and color mixing.

Week 2: Explore artworks in the museum’s collection and develop compositions from observation. Learn how to create an underpainting as you begin a new work on canvas.

Week 3: Continue to study underpainting, and experiment with applying paint in layers and glazes to gain a broader understanding of color theory.

Week 4: Create paintings from life experience or imagination, developing imagery that is either representational or abstract. Choose techniques and painting methods that best fit your composition and the goals for your personal projects.

Week 5: Combine a selection of painting methods explored in previous classes to develop your projects. Continue to study color theory, value, and line as you develop the subject, form, and content of your paintings.

Week 6: Wrap up individual projects. Then, join your classmates in a final group critique as we conclude our time together with a reflection on the techniques we have learned and the skills we’ve developed.