Oil Painting with Sharon M.

Experience the joy and benefits of learning to be an artist. Drawing has many benefits in health and wellness and despite what a lot of people believe, anyone can learn to draw. Drawing is really about learning to see and I teach 5 fundamental skills to help you interpret what you see. They can be used to draw anything.  Do you want to learn to draw/paint or improve your work? Are you applying for college and need portfolio advice? Did you want to get back into doing art after many years without it? Are you a mid-career artist and just need some feedback and a new perspective? Are you changing careers and need to strengthen your visual thinking, design, and composition skills? Regardless of your skills and abilities, I’ve got you covered. I have been teaching for 20 years. I’ve taught at a university, several community colleges, and a prestigious art and design school and I’ve worked with adult students from 16 years old to retirees. There seems to be a notion out there that “one must have a talent for art before they can learn to draw or paint.” One thing I can say for sure is that this is absolutely NOT true. With the right knowledge, a strong desire to learn, and a willingness to try, anyone can learn to draw or paint. My Commitment as Your Teacher: 1. After listening to your goals, desires, and reviewing any work, if you have some to share with me, I will build a lesson plan to address your specific needs. 2. I will explain what we are doing, why, and how it is important to your goals. 3. I will demonstrate each technique we put into practice. (My goal in demonstrating is to break down the process so you can see how exactly something is done. This means I can stop, explain, re-demonstrate, and re-explain to help you understand.) 4. I will refer you to text, and pre-recorded videos that reinforce these concepts in the days between lessons. You may also have a recording of our lesson if you choose. 5. I will review your work and l offer you HONEST AND SENSITIVE feedback based on your comfort level. Honest because you need to know how you can improve and sensitive because it can be very emotional to have your work critiqued insensitively. Emotion can block your ability to absorb new information, so this is especially important. 6. If you want to learn more rapidly, I can offer you some specific assignments to do between classes. Sometimes even 15 minutes a day in a sketchbook can make a real difference. My Advice: 1. Feel free to make mistakes. Mistakes are a critical part of learning and we need to learn how to embrace them. 2. Be patient with yourself. Not everyone learns at the same pace and how you develop as an artist will be unique to you and not always as you might expect. My Background I have been drawing for as long as I can remember. I earned a BA at Lewis and Clark College in Portland Oregon where I majored in Art and Theatre. I began my working life after college as a scenic artist in Seattle working for ACT, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and the Seattle Opera. While working full-time in the theatre I took classes at the Gage Academy which is where I honed my classical skills as an artist. Then I moved to California to attend graduate school and earned my MFA in Drawing and Painting. I have been teaching at the college level ever since, starting with CSU Long Beach and some of the local community colleges. I recently moved back to Seattle from Georgia where I spent 10 years teaching at The Savannah College of Art and Design. So, I have worked with students from diverse backgrounds, with a variety of goals, and from ages 16 to 80. Subjects Taught: Drawing at all levels, life drawing, 2-D Design, Color Theory, Painting in Oil and Acrylic, Watercolor, Scenic Painting for the Theatre, and Travel Sketching (Sketchbook Practices). Specialties: figure drawing, portraiture, travel sketching, mural painting, faux finish and tromp l’oeil.