Kids Draw Montreal: Sunday August 13, 2017

Kids Draw Montreal is an exciting workshop designed for kids to explore their world through line and wash.

Date: Sunday, August 13, 2017 9am-12 noon

Cost: $55 CAD

Location: Atwater Market, Montreal

Min participants: 8

Max participants: 15

Age Range: 9-14 (parents welcome, please inquire)

Minimum adult to child ratio: 1:8

Participants will learn simple but powerful drawing techniques, including practice with perspective, wash and ink, in a way that connects them with the world on their own terms. Emphasis will be placed on observation, and freedom of expression over perfection. Techniques to overcome fear of the blank page will be explored and practiced.

Sketching is a powerful tool to help us tune in to the beauty around us … the building on the corner with the cracked and missing bricks, the lone person sitting in the bus shelter, the fallen leaf in the park. When we take the time to observe these things with a sketcher’s eye, we find ourselves more connected to them; to the place where we are. With the world whizzing past us at a hundred miles an hour, how valuable it is to take the time to slow down and actually see and interpret the place in which we find ourselves.

Learning goals 

First, confidence to just go for it. The only wrong way is to not do it at all. Be patient with yourself, your skill will catch up with your good taste (a very important and freeing first step). Follow through, even when you think it’s ugly. Ugly can become beautiful.

Second, 30-45min, practical steps in using perspective and composition. Worksheets will be given, and thumbnail exercises will be done, keeping in mind perspective and tonal values. On site, students will be given 30 minutes to work up at least three different thumbnails of which we will discuss the strengths before embarking on a final piece.

Third, how to ditch the pencil and use ink line and wash to quick sketch. Ditch the fear. This becomes easier as one gets better acquainted with perspective techniques and thumbnail sketching. Encouragement and feedback will be offered throughout, as well as exploring techniques to make the task seem less daunting.

Fourth, we’ll talk about collaboration as a way to overcome apprehension. After the first hour, there will be a stretched 11×14 paper on board and participants will be encouraged to approach it throughout the session and add something to it based on the environment around us (optional).

Workshop location

Montreal – Atwater Market. Situated along the historic Lachine canal in Little Burgundy, the art deco building encompasses a farmer’s market that first opened in 1933.

Workshop Schedule – 3hrs

9-9:45am – Meet on the boardwalk near the canal – greetings, attendance and intro to perspective techniques and thumbnails sketching demonstration and worksheets.

9:45-11:45am – venturing to location near/at market and sketching together, with personalized feedback and tips – more focus on perspective and creating depth/composition. Changing location around the market every 30 min. Collaborative piece happening at the pace of the participants.

11:45-noon – return to starting location. Share our work (optional), encouragements, final Q&A and feedback.

Supply list, please bring:

-sunscreen

-hat

-drinking water

-snack

-watercolour or multimedia sketchbook, any portable size.

-paper towel (small amount for dabbing)

-pencil

-something to carry it all in (backpack or shoulder bag)

Optional:

-watercolours (I will send a simple tutorial for an easy, inexpensive DIY watercolour kit to all registered to prepare ahead of time. Not required, but adding colour is an added layer of fun.)

Bonus (gifts provided by instructor):

-waterbrush. Great to use with watercolours or a water soluble fine tip marker (pilot pen)

-fine tip black pilot pen (water soluble)

Workshop Registration:

Contact julie@julieprescesky.com for registration forms and space availability.

Participants can pay via bank e-transfer to the above email address. Please also email registration forms. Receipts will be issued.

Maximum number of Participants 15 (minimum 8)

All levels welcome

Registration Deadlines:

Registration and payment due by Date August 6, 2017.

Cancellation Policy:

In the event of too few registrations, all monies will be refunded less bank transfer fees. We are only able to provide refunds for participant cancellations up to midnight, Saturday, August 5, 2017 with a cancellation fee of $20. No refunds for cancellations after that date.

About the Instructor:

Julie Prescesky has taught various art classes over the years, mainly to children. Ranging from drawing, to printmaking, to urban sketching, she has seen children (and adults) brighten and gain confidence.

Julie is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, urban sketcher, illustrator, and storyteller working alternately in watercolour, ink, textiles and digital environments. She loves to explore how art and design intersect with human nature – in how we find ourselves in the places that we are. She’s invested in helping people, children particularly, discover the profound benefits of adopting creative practices in daily life. She is currently writing a series of novels for young adults and is part of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Find out more at http://designinkarnation.com/about and www.julieprescesky.com.  Find her on Instagram: @julieprescesky and twitter: @designink.

Area of specialty in sketching:

The urban quick sketch – capturing an idea or the essence of a place in a short amount of time. This is something that needs continuous self-reminders to just “let it happen”, coupled with a huge heaping measure of self-grace. She is nearly never without her sketchbook.