Adult Classes
Adult studio classes are tailored to reinforce museum exhibition themes and/or concepts. Filling a niche in the community, studio classes offer a nurturing, creative environment and provide a wonderful opportunity to advance your artistic talents. All classes and workshops are at the Jepson Center unless otherwise noted. Contact Kip Bradley for more information at bradleyk@telfair.org.
Drawing Savannah
September 19 – October 24, 2018 | 10:30am–1pm
Members $175 / non-members $195
Instructor: Mickey Boisvert
Find challenging subjects right on our doorstep! Each week, we’ll meet in the museum studio, then venture outside seeking interesting views. Students will hone their observational skills on site, and reference photos will bring drawings to a finished state in the studio. Students will learn to: plan for changing light, never underestimate the mundane subject, vary the quality of line and shading to convey atmosphere, and more. For graphite artists: When you can draw “plein air,” no view is beyond your scope. For painters: Remember, solid drawing skills make better paintings! All levels welcome.
Drawing for All Levels
September 19 – October 24 | 1:30–4pm
Members $175 / non-members $195
Instructor: Mickey Boisvert
This class is for students seeking to advance their observational drawing skills. Each week we will focus on fine-tuned looking and seeing, perspective, composition, drawing mass not just line, and use of the full value range. A still life or model will be provided to encourage students to draw from life, and handouts with helpful techniques will offer important reminders to good drawing practices. Ongoing exercises will challenge students to draw in new ways. Experienced artists: Refresh your fundamentals. Beginners: Learn techniques that will elevate your work and your drawing confidence.
Fast Faces Part II: Color and Brushstrokes in Portraiture
October 4 – November 8 | 10:30am–1pm
Members $175 / non-members $195
Instructor: Rob Summerlin
This six-week class for intermediate to advanced students will teach you to develop stronger intuitive processes for painting portraits. Instruction will emphasize the positive effects of working with short time limits and strong color strategies on the color and brushstrokes of a portrait. These strict time limits will give students the chance to paint multiple portraits each session, so students will see growth not just week to week but within every class. Sign up today to turbo-charge your painting journey.
Savannah Sketchers Plein Air Group
Fridays, September 21 – November 16 | 1–4pm
Members $40 / non-members $65
Instructor: Kip Bradley
The tough part of painting isn’t always the “how to” but sometimes just the “when.” Set aside a regular time to meet and ensure time is taken each week to create in a safe and social atmosphere. This non-instructional group will meet each week in a different location to execute paintings in plein air. Work in the media of your choice and have the opportunity to see how others work as well.
Expanding the Imagination
Mondays, October 22 – November 26 | 1:30–4pm
Members $175 / non-members $195
Instructor: Blake Bradley
In this class, students will be exposed to techniques and tools for strengthening their natural creative ability. Because creativity is an innate human ability, artists and non-artists alike are encouraged to take this course. There are many ways creativity can be expressed. In this class we will focus on the expressing it through drawing and painting with a bit of story-telling. By the end of this course, students will have a solid base to expand and apply their natural ability in however they choose.
The Color Theory Still Life Painting Class
Tuesdays, September 25 – October 30 | 10:30am–1pm
Members $175 / non-members $195
Instructor: Kip Bradley
A painting class for both the beginner and intermediate painter to explore the elements of color and how these elements work with various color schemes. This class will develop a more confident approach to painting by providing grounding for strong color choices. The first three classes will explore the color palette and elements of color while strengthening basic painting skills. The second three classes will explore the potential within the elements of color by painting in a variety of color schemes.
Impressionist Oil Painting Class: Intro to Landscape Painting
Wednesday, October 24 – November 28 | 1–4 pm
Members $175 / non-members $200
Instructor: Kip Bradley
Start with the basic materials, add the right tools and techniques, and let painting become a lifelong passion. View paintings in the exhibition Monet to Matisse and then work in oils outdoors to create impressions of Savannah. Explore painting techniques, composition, color, and creative expression in an upbeat and encouraging atmosphere. Learn brushwork, layering, applying paint to the surface, and color mixing techniques and apply them to express yourself in paint.
Featured Artist Workshop
January 23 – 25, 2019 | 9 am–5pm
Members $650 / non-members $675
Instructor: Lori Putnam
Learn from the masters by exploring works from Monet to Matisse with one of today’s leading American Landscape painters, Lori Putnam, in this 3-day workshop. Recognized for her expressive brushwork, contemporary compositions, and intelligent use of color, Nashville, Tennessee native Lori Putnam paints small to medium-sized works en plein air and creates large paintings in her studio.
Lori believes that working both en plein air and indoors expedites an artist’s growth at lightning speed. She divides her time equally among the two, not just producing, but experimenting and stretching the bounds of creativity. Her paintings are a personal and genuine response to her subject, and she encourages and teaches her students how to do the same.
Complementing the exhibition Monet to Matisse in this unique opportunity with Lori, students will explore lessons from Impressionist and post-impressionist painters in the galleries and then apply those lessons to their own work in the studio. Lori says ”If you love working from life, even if you rarely do, you won’t believe the painting inspiration we will find all around us, and if you are wondering if you have any real creativity in you, this workshop will expose creativity you didn’t even know you had!”
Lori Putnam’s sold-out workshops are a testament to her approachable, giving nature. Learn through energetic demonstrations, individual painting time, personalized instruction, and group discussions that will promote your progress. Students will leave this workshop excited, ready to experiment, and above all, pointed toward meaningful, personal, artistic growth.
Participants will receive a free copy of Putnam’s booklet “Plein air, Right from the Start.”
While demonstrations and advice on technique will be geared toward oil painters, artists who are more comfortable working in other mediums are welcome. Plein air experience strongly recommended.
