Hello September!

Soon we’ll celebrate the start of Fall classes, which begin the week of September 18 and typically run for nine weeks. We also have a huge number of one-, two-, and three-day workshops this month — for those quick shots of creativity.

Fiber arts

In our fiber arts studio, there are three different kinds of felting going on: wet felting, needle felting, and nuno felting. (For more on fiber arts terms, see this blog post.) You can also try your hand at weaving while you create your first tapestry, or a variety of surface design techniques in our Healing Cloth workshop.

• Jumpstart in Wet Felting (September 18)
• Sculptural Needle Felting: A Dragon’s Tail (September 25)
• Jumpstart in Nuno Felting (September 30)
• Tapestry (September 16–17)
• Patching, Stitching, Weaving: Creating Healing Cloth (September 9–10)

Drawing

Here’s another great place to start: Crash Course in Drawing, a foundational course for anyone who wants to get started in art. You can also refine your drafting skills in Linear Perspective and take things in a more abstract direction.

• Abstract Drawing (September 8–10)
• Crash Course in Drawing (September 9–10)
• Linear Perspective (September 16–17)

Jewelry

Why not take home something to wear? In addition to a couple of jumpstart workshops in metal clay (which is kind of what it sounds like), you can try your hand at a couple of other materials: Acrylite and Argentium Sterling Silver.

• Jewelry: Acrylite Pin (September 16)
• Jewelry: Argentium Sterling Silver Bracelet (September 17)
• Jump into Metal Clay (September 11, 14, 18 – mornings)
• Jump into Metal Clay (September 11, 14, 18 – evenings)

Photography

Bring your laptop to learn the basics of two photography powerhouses: Adobe’s Lightroom and Photoshop. You can also visit a professional portrait artist’s studio to learn the tricks of the trade.

• Lightroom Workshop (September 16)
• Photoshop for Beginners (September 17)
• Portrait Photography (September 23–24)

Painting

We cover every medium under the sun here at The Art League, from the ancient medium of encaustic (beeswax and pigment) to acrylic paint, which wasn’t invented until the last century. Delna Dastur teaches Stretching the Limits, an opportunity to try out new media and techniques without a big investment of time and money. We’re also offering two different jumpstarts in water media: watercolor and sumi-e.

• Achieving Dramatic Effects in Watercolor (September 6–7)
• Introduction to Encaustic (September 9–10)
• Jumpstart in Watercolor (September 9–10)
• Landscape in Acrylic (September 9–10)
• Jumpstart in East Asian Ink Painting: Sumi-e (September 12–13)
• Stretching the Limits (September 16–17)

Printmaking

Explore two different processes this month in the form of gelli plates and monotypes, either in a party setting or a more traditional workshop format. (What is a monotype? That’s answered here.)

• The Monotype Party (September 16–17)
• Gelli Plates Explored (September 9–10)
• Monotype Explorations (September 9–10)

And more

Take things a little bit 3-D in relief sculpture, get a modern take on the ancient medium of mosaic, and learn how to best present your work with a framing workshop:

• Relief Sculpture (September 9–10)
• Jumpstart in Mosaics (September 9–10)
• Basic Matting, Mounts, & Framing (September 16–17)