Art classes for kids

High school students looking to pursue art as a college major and a career will want to ensure that they have competitive applications and a body of work that is ready to show off to admission boards. In this live online class, students will learn how to use industry-standard graphic design tools including Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. Students will work on hands-on, interactive projects modeled after real graphic design assignments, giving them a taste of the kind of work involved and helping them build a portfolio of work that will be sure to help them impress when applying to art school. This course is taught by experienced graphic designers and students will be able to receive direct feedback, personalized critique of their work and immediate answers to all of their issues.

Drawing is one of the most accessible artistic skills that a child can learn and it is also one of the most versatile and transferable. Whether your child wants to develop their skills painting, sculpting or another plastic art or they just want to continue to pursue drawing at a more advanced level, learning the basics and tricks for success is an important part of the process. In this class, students will learn the fundamentals of perspective, shading, form and structure as they work on still-life drawing exercises. In addition to learning the basics of drawing, you’ll explore different mediums and styles, including charcoal, graphite and ink pens drawing. This course is a great introduction to still-life drawing and will be useful for virtually any child interested in pursuing more artistic training.

While your child might be a digital native and have grown up with a smartphone camera, but if they are interested in photography, it might behoove them to learn some older techniques. This course focuses on the basic principles and techniques that photographers will need to develop photographs in a professional dark room. Students will learn the science of developing photographs, proper techniques for handling chemicals and methods of using the development process to alter or substantially change the photographs in artistic ways. Students will also learn what they need to do in order to set up a home workshop for their photography projects.

For students looking to learn the plastic arts, this introduction to ceramics course is a great way to learn the art of hand building and wheel-throwing pottery. Students will get hands-on experience working with both methods of shaping clay into impressive ceramic designs and practical objects to use around the home. Students will work through the entire process of making the ceramics, from wetting the clay to utilizing a pottery wheel to shape the clay into simple shapes like cylinders, bowls, and plates. The hand molding section of the course will cover pinch pots, coils, and slabs. Students will also have the opportunity to have their finished products glazed and fired to take home with them (after a few weeks).

If your child wants to explore the art of creating fashionable pieces of art, they should consider enrolling in this multimedia jewelry seminar, which focuses on teaching students how they can create custom, personalized pieces of jewelry without needing access to expense or dangerous equipment. Students will learn how to bead, use resin, and stamp and etch designs into jewelry in order to ensure that their finished pieces are exactly how they want them to look. This class will give kids hands-on lessons in the art of jewelry making and will expose them to new and exciting ways they can express their creativity.

Drawing cartoons and comics is a classic childhood pastime, but if your child wants to move beyond simple doodles and learn the art of sequential animation, this is the class to start them on the right path. Students will learn the fundamentals of visual storytelling, including character design, plot, and panel structure. Students can opt to use pens, watercolors, colored pencils or even digital tablet drawing applications to create their own comic or cartoon universe and they will explore traditional and digital design techniques. Students will also spend time studying the medium, looking at professional examples of comics and cartoons to help inspire them and guide them on their creative journey.

High School students looking to improve their artistic abilities might benefit from some training and experience outside the scope of any art classes they happen to be in at school. This teen painting and drawing course is a great way for them to get additional, guided training as they work on their artistic skills. This class covers a range of different drawing and painting styles and students will get to practice graphite, pen and ink, scratchboard, and clayboard drawing as well as acrylic and watercolor painting. Students are encouraged to develop their own style and let their creative voices sing as they get vital practice and start to develop the fundamental art skills they will need to succeed at further art training and education.

Procreate is the Apple iOS raster graphics design tool (essentially Apple’s answer to Photoshop) and is an important digital design tool for any aspiring graphic artist to learn. In this course, students will have the chance to work hands-on with the application and start creating their own pixel based images. Students will learn how to navigate the application, use its various design and image manipulation tools and prepare images for publication or sharing on social media. This course will feature hands-on design projects and will offer students the chance to create their own images, graphics and memes.