Expressive Drawing and Painting Classes for Adults
Phil Sylvester’s teaching is based upon building a student’s comfort with observation, experimentation, and invention. Exercises helps students suspend the critical voice so they can build an experience base by trying things rather than by judging things. Paradoxically, the less one worries about the success of one’s work, the more work one can create and the faster one learns. Also, with the critical monkey off one’s back, learning becomes way more fun.
Drawing Studio classes are for anyone interested in drawing and painting, from absolute beginners to experienced artists searching for greater freedom and joy in their work. Because Phil’s teaching method is quite different from the typical academic approach, all students, regardless of experience, are encouraged to start with Phil’s Introduction to Drawing class.
Contact
➤ LOCATION
3614 SE Division Portland Oregon 97202
☎ CONTACT
thedrawingstudioportland@gmail.com
Drawing Studio Blog AND Podcasts
https://philsylvesterdrawingstudio.wordpress.com/
Drawing Studio Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/Phil-Sylvester-The-Drawing-Studio-603295903016446/?ref=ts
Classes
Inro to Drawing
For absolute beginners and for experienced drawers who haven't taken from Phil before. Emphasis is placed equally on seeing and expression, description and the pleasure of making. Exercises break down students’ preconceptions about how drawings come about, so that drawing becomes a matter of truly human scale exploration and experimentation, rather than the product of giant leaps of talent and inspiration. We work from photos, reproductions of other artworks, the mirror, and the human figure, using graphite, charcoal, and pen. Just as we all learn to speak, walk, and eat, I believe we are all capable of drawing. As your teacher, my job is to clear away the impediments that keep you from exploiting this natural potential.
Experienced drawers who take Intro as a prerequisite for other Drawing Studio classes will find that the class will rekindle their love of drawing and will help them work in more experimental and expressive ways.
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Drawin and Painting 2
This class is open to any student who is fairly experienced drawing and to all students who have taken Phil's Intro To Drawing. Experienced drawers who also paint may use paint as their medium (only acrylic). The class is basically a continuation of Phil's Intro Class as well as a place for students to pursue intermediate work. We'll explore riskier ways to work, we'll do studies from other artists' work, and class will provide time to explore more deeply one's own process. Half of the sessions will have figure models.
All students who are new to drawing or uneasy with drawing should take Phil's Intro to Drawing before taking this class. Experienced drawers who haven't worked with Phil before are welcome to take this class, but would still be encouraged to take Phil's Intro to Drawing at some point no matter their level of experience. This class is not appropriate for people who want to learn to paint..
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3.5 DAY INTRO TO ACRYLIC PAINTING INTENSIVE
This workshop will provide an introduction to painting with acrylic paints. Class will meet 3.5 days in a row, Thursday evenings 6:30-8:30pm, then on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, each day having two 2.5 hour painting sessions, the first from 10:00am-12:30 and the second from 3-5:30pm. This format allows students to take a seven session introduction to painting that only requires taking one day off work.
Beginning painting exercises will help students become comfortable experimenting with acrylic paint, using paint expressively, and reworking paintings. Breadth of color familiarity will be encouraged through color mixing exercises.
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About Phil
Phil Sylvester has been making art for over 40 years. He has exhibited drawings, paintings, sculptures, guitars, and amplifiers in the US, Canada, and Europe, and has work in collections in LA, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Chicago, New Orleans, New York City, and London. His work has been featured in Poetry Northwest magazine and Premier Guitar magazine, on OPB’s Oregon Art Beat, and on many sites on the web. In the 1980s, he was Director of Academic Affairs at Oregon School of Design. In the 1990s he taught at Lewis and Clark College and did creativity workshops for Nike, as well as a number of other national corporations. Phil has a BA in mathematics from Reed College, a Master of Architecture degree from Princeton University, and studied at Berklee College of Music. Phil founded his own school, The Drawing Studio, in 1990.