Classical Art for Teens
AGE GROUP: 14 to 18 years old
Monday Afternoons
4:15pm to 6:15pm
Term 3, 2025: July 21 - September 22 (10 Weeks)
This class is for teens who are interested in learning real, traditional drawing and oil painting techniques. The class will be run in the same way that we run our adult classes, with students learning to observe real life objects carefully and developing ways to represent those objects realistically on a page or canvas.
We welcome teenage students with any level of art experience – high schools (and, to be honest, most art schools) do not teach these sorts of skills in general, and so they should be quite new to most in the class. We only expect that students be open to, and interested in, traditional methods for developing their artwork.
We do not work from photographs in our classes, and aren’t affiliated with the Board of Studies – ie we aren’t able to assist with conceptual matters or other requirements of the HSC syllabus. We are passionate about teaching the practicalities of drawing and oil painting from life and building a strong foundation on which students can eventually give life to any ideas they might have.
HOW IT WORKS
Students will begin by drawing casts from life in this class, as good drawing is the most important element of good painting. It is highly recommended that students spend at least one full term drawing before beginning to paint. As this is a new class, all students will be beginning with drawing.
While this is a group learning setting, our teaching is always tailored to each individual student, as all will come to the class with a different level of experience.
- Classical Approach: Students will begin by making drawings of our range of classical busts/casts, which is an approach used by traditional art schools to build strong foundations in drawing. Over the first few weeks, students will tackle a different cast each session, focusing on practicing proportions, structure, and accurate observation. It is important that students are able to practice the “start” of their drawing, and get comfortable in measuring with a pencil, proportions and being able to see their subject as a visual experience, rather than a symbol. In the second half of the term, we will begin working on cast drawings for longer periods - over a few weeks - in order to build up the patience and ability to work on a longer drawing.
- Building Values: Emphasis will be placed on understanding light and shadow, and students will learn how to use tone to explain the form of an object.
- Critiques & Guidance: Class sessions will include time for guided demonstrations and supportive critique to help students grow their skills week by week.
- Preparation for Advanced Study: This course sets the groundwork for future figure drawing, portraiture, and beyond, giving students a technical foundation.
MATERIALS
All basic drawing materials will be supplied by the studio. This includes:
- A2 cartridge paper
- Pencils
- Erasers
- Clips
- Drawing boards
- Easels
- And more…
Once a student reaches a point that they would like to start painting, the materials required will be discussed with the teacher.
ABOUT THE TEACHER
Sandra Brand is an experienced artist who studied for a number of years in traditional art schools, including the Julian Ashton Art School, the Jerusalem Studio School, the Academy of Fine Art Germany and Hamley Studio. She has been teaching still life painting and drawing for several years, and has also worked in commercial digital art. As an artist she enjoys combining painting from life with imaginative elements.
Sandra holds a current Working With Children Check, as do all teachers at the Hamley Studio of Fine Art.
HOW TO BOOK
To book this class, simply add it to cart and checkout. After that you will receive an email with a document with some quick questions about the student, plus some information about the studio.
If you could please send us answers to those questions via email before the class, or have the student bring along the filled in questions on the document for the first day of class, that would be great.
STUDIO SAFETY
We ask you to understand that the classes at the Hamley Studio of Fine Art are run in an environment that is designed for adults. There are several safety and other considerations you and your child might like to consider before coming to the studio. These include, but are not necessarily limited to the following:
- We keep solvents and other substances and mediums at the studio, which would be harmful if consumed or otherwise misused.
- There is also other equipment at the studio, for instance Stanley blades for sharpening pencils, other tools, kitchen appliances etc. that also pose a safety risk if used improperly.
- There are artworks on the walls and images in art/anatomy books that portray the nude human figure and/or other mature themes
While we take care to minimise any risks posed by equipment at the studio, we also ask that students be aware and responsible in our space.