Youth Learning to Draw for Life
Thursdays 3:30-5pm
Cost: $460 (includes the class fee and cost of room rental)
Max: 8 Students
Min: 4 Students
Location: First Parish in Wayland
225 Boston Post Road, Wayland MA
Youth Room
Instructor: Mei-Ling Ellerman
Local drawing teacher, artist, and printmaker, Mei-Ling Ellerman, will offer her popular beginner drawing course for children ages 8-12 through Arts Wayland. The class size is limited to 8 students so that Mei-Ling can give ample attention and feedback to each student throughout each class. The course will start teaching the children the fundamental principles, techniques, skills, and confidence they need to draw for life.
Mei-Ling’s carefully designed exercises, instruction, and feedback will train each child’s ability to observe the subjects more accurately, which means they will be able to also draw them more accurately. Artists will grow rapidly once they are able to identify how their drawings differ from the subjects, because then they will be able to see how to improve their work. These classes will teach students this critical skill and develop their “artistic eye.” By improving their observation and drawing skills, students will improve the accuracy, detail, and sophistication of their drawings. These skills will help them in many other disciplines and areas of art and work. Students will draw subjects ranging from animals to still life, using graphite pencils, colored pencils, and conte crayons. They will learn how to apply observations about contours, space, proportion, and tonal values to draw and shade their subjects.
Mei-Ling’s students are always surprised at how rapidly their drawings improve, and they quickly gain confidence to stretch themselves and attempt more difficult drawings.
Note: Pumpkins above were drawn by the young students
REGISTER
Cancellation Policy
Testimonials
In the fall of 2021, I took a painting class at The W Gallery and loved it, but realized that my next step should be a drawing class, so I signed up for Mei-Ling Ellerman's 8-week "Learning to Draw for Life Level I" class on Zoom through The W Gallery. As a complete beginner, I was amazed at how much I learned and accomplished in just a few classes. Mei-Ling is a truly gifted teacher who taught us how to truly see our subjects in terms of light and dark and transfer those values onto paper. Mei-Ling continually shared her expertise on types of drawing paper, pencils, tools, and styles. She expertly guided us though short exercises and longer projects each week. I loved the class so much that I immediately took her next 8-week class (Level II) on Zoom focusing on figure drawing and portraiture. Again, I learned so much and look forward to taking more of her classes. - Sarah
I initially signed up for Mei-Ling’s drawing class with some trepidation. Although I really wanted to learn to draw, I wasn’t completely convinced that I could learn. I’ve been a painter for about ten years but I paint abstractly because I had never developed the art of drawing. Fortunately, Mei-Ling is a wonderful teacher – she is very supportive and encouraging. She broke down each assignment into manageable parts and gave very helpful feedback at each step in the process. After a few weeks, I realized that with some guidance and practice, I really could learn to draw!! I loved the class and am now taking her follow-up class which focuses on figure drawing and portraiture. - Judi Stein
My ten-year-old daughter had the pleasure of taking Ms. Ellerman’s Learning To Draw For Life – Level 1 this spring. We were amazed at the quality of the instruction and the work that our daughter produced in the class. The class was the perfect introduction to drawing technique for someone of her age and ability level. Ms. Ellerman created a supportive environment in which young artists could feel comfortable and confident sharing their work. At the same time, Ms. Ellerman knew precisely how to offer constructive criticism and push students to improve and tweak their work in a non-threatening, productive way. The course was well-organized, well-taught, and fun! I would recommend this class for students who already enjoy drawing and want to take their skill set to the next level. My daughter looks forward to continuing to cultivate her love of drawing under Ms. Ellerman’s direction. - Kristin H., Wayland Parent
My daughter Olivia loves taking art classes with Mei-Ling. She looks forward to the class time every week and is always excited to find out what they will draw that week. Mei-Ling has a very calm temperament and gives clear instructions which are easy to follow. She is very patient and is able to bring out the full potential of her students. The class size is kept small so that all students can have a good amount of attention from the instructor. Olivia says she enjoys being in Mei-Ling's class as Mei-Ling draws very well, gives good positive feedback and is always very encouraging. Olivia is looking forward to taking more classes and learning more drawing techniques from Mei-Ling! - Samantha
Making a Viewfinder Device
Supplies:1 piece of approximately 8x10 inch glass/acrylic/transparent stiff material – this is your picture plane. You can use a larger piece of glass but create a wider frame from black paper which still reduces your viewing area to approximately 6x8 inches.
Note: If you are using glass from a frame, you may want to fold pieces of masking/painter’s tape around it to protect yourself from the edges and to make it slightly less breakable.
1 Erasable whiteboard marker (preferably black)
1 Sharpie (ideally medium to fine tip. You can use the erasable marker if you don’t have a sharpie, but draw on the other side of the glass)
Piece of black or dark paper
1) Using a ruler, draw a line down the center of the glass horizontally and vertically, like crosshairs, with the permanent marker (or the erasable marker if you don’t have a permanent marker). If you use the erasable marker, then flip the glass over when you attach the black frame.
2) Cut the black paper to the same size as your picture plane, 8x10 etc. Draw an X on the paper, so that each line starts at one corner and runs to the corner diagonal to it.
Then, if you have an 8x10 piece of paper, measure one inch from the edge on all sides, but connect the lines where they touch the X. This will form a rectangle, that you can cut out, and it will leave you with approximately a 1-inch rectangular frame for the viewfinder. You can just tape it on.
Supply List
Supplies: A good online resource with discounted prices is Dick Blick. They also have stores but with a limited supply. Some supplies will be available on Amazon or at Michaels.~ Strathmore 400 white Drawing Pad (or a similar pad) 11”x14” (also available on Amazon or Michaels/Craft stores)
~ Strathmore Toned Gray Mixed Media pad 11”x14”
~ 1 rubber or plastic and 1 kneaded eraser (square grey)
~ 5 Graphite pencils: 2H, 2HB, 4B, 6B, 8B
~ Tortillon/blending tool
~ Pencil sharpener
~ Conte crayons in Pencil form (not the rectangular crayon sticks)– Black, white, and at least two red/skin color pencils. You can buy a set like Conté à Paris 6-Count Sketching Pencils Set, $16 on Amazon.
~ Colored pencil set, with at least 24 pencils, such as Prismacolor Premier or Faber-Castell Polychromos. Prismacolor pencils are more affordable, rich in color, and are fine for everyday art. My students tend to buy Prismacolor. Artists who focus on animal and botanical drawings tend to use Faber-Castell Polychromos, which are significantly more expensive, but layer better and are likely more erasable. Either are fine.
~ Small mirror for self-portrait (first class), either a small standing mirror or a mirror you can prop up at face level.
~ Viewfinder Tool (you will make one to use starting the second week). Requires a sheet of 8x10 glass (such as from a cheap photo frame), erasable black marker (whiteboard marker), a sharpie (indelible marker), and a sheet of black paper/construction paper.