In this course, students will be encouraged to connect to their unconscious through drawing. Students explore what happens when they try to let go of conscious thinking and work more intuitively in their art practice. During each class, students will practice automatic drawing (similar to what the Surrealists were doing in the 1920s), free-form drawing and 'no-editing' exercises. The creation of ink blots and doodling will be used as starting points for picture making. The course will also include meditation exercises and drawing inspired from dreams. Drawing materials and process will focus on mixed media and collage. By doing this work, students will explore what lies below the surface in their unconscious while finding new images and techniques for their art practice. This class is ideal for those who love to draw and are curious to see what new images might come up during these explorations. Suitable for all levels. THURSDAYS, JAN 8 - APR 2, 6PM - 9PM IN-PERSON

This continuation of Landscape Painting Now I focuses on contemporary landscape concepts such as constructed realities, abstracted topographies and complicated vistas. Instructor will present a selection of artists each week based on these themes including, Gillian Carnegie, Mark Tansey, Cecily Brown, Andreas Erikson, Luc Tuymans and Francis Alys to name a few. Students will select one artist per week to do further research on and make a landscape painting based on something they learned from this artist. Students can paint in a medium of their choice including watercolour, gouache, acrylic or oils. It is not necessary to have completed Landscape Painting Now I, however some painting experience is recommended. FRIDAYS, JAN 9 - APR 3, 2PM - 5PM ONLINE

This course will focus primarily on contemporary painting because the twentieth century brought radical changes in art which were accompanied by fierce debates regarding the place of painting in contemporary culture. This course will examine how and why the medium of painting has not only persisted in the twenty-first century, but expanded and evolved alongside changes in art, technology, politics, and other factors, developing a unique energy and diversity. Course will include group discussions, image presentations, hands-on activities and gallery visits. This is a required course for Certificate of Visual Arts students, however anyone interested in what is going in the art world today is welcome to register. Contemporary Art I is not a prerequisite for this second part of this course. THURSDAYS, JAN 8 - APR 2, 2PM - 5PM IN-PERSON

This course explores drawing from the 1960s to the present day, focusing on how contemporary artists use drawing as a tool for expression, experimentation, and conceptual exploration. Through image presentations and discussions, students will examine the work of influential artists who have expanded the boundaries of drawing in diverse and innovative ways. Weekly projects will encourage a variety of techniques and materials, from traditional to mixed and experimental media. The course concludes with a final project that reflects each student’s personal engagement with a contemporary approach or idea. This course provides an ideal way to learn about art history and drawing practice at the same time. Suitable for all levels. THURSDAYS, JAN 8 - APR 2, 10AM - 1PM ONLINE

This course gives students a foundational understanding of the development of Modern and Contemporary art. Starting from the Romantic movement, through Realism, Impressionism, Cubism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Conceptual Art to the Contemporary period, this course follows the major developments of the 19th and 20th centuries through to the turn of the millennium. The course will also reflect on how art history is enriched by non-European and feminist interventions. Students will be encouraged to become knowledgeable participants in the ongoing debates about what art is, who it's for, and who gets to benefit from it. Course format is based on lectures and class discussions. Suitable for all levels. THURSDAYS, JAN 8 - APR 2, 10AM - 1PM IN-PERSON

In this course, students will explore different ways of depicting the city through drawing. Students will use a range of drawing materials including graphite pencils, charcoal, conté crayon, watersoluable graphite and pastels. Students will learn the use of linear and atmospheric perspective, ways of depicting movement, and fragmented points-of-view. Source material includes student-supplied photographs, found online images, film stills, as well as memory and imagined spaces. An emphasis will also be on a range of formats from small to large scale as well as long or wide surfaces. This course will encourage students to see their everyday urban environment in a new way. Suitable for all levels. THURSDAYS, JAN 8 - APR 2, 2PM - 5PM ONLINE

This hands-on painting course uses examples from art history to focus on how artists use colour. Students will make studies from reference paintings and then allow the artists’ approaches to colour to inform their own work. The course begins with the use of colour in the early Renaissance, and then moves through work by artists in the Baroque and Rococo eras, Impressionism, early Modernism, and Pop Art, concluding with exploring the diverse approaches to colour in Contemporary Art. This course will provide a great way to discover how art from the past can inform paintings that are being made today. Students can work in acrylic or oil. Some painting experience recommended. WEDNESDAYS, JAN 7 - APR 1, 10AM - 1PM IN-PERSON

Do you see people sitting on a park bench or in a café sketching and wish you could do that too? Would you like to draw what you see around you while wandering through a city? Students will learn the basic techniques necessary to draw architecture, interiors of buildings, people, gardens and parks, and be introduced to the best materials to carry for sketching on-site, as well as how to use photography to document ideas for at-home drawing. The course will include walking around downtown as well as going to local parks and public spaces. During inclement weather, class outings will include going inside buildings such as the Atrium, the Empress Hotel and the Royal British Columbia Museum. This is a great course to take for those who will be travelling to an urban location and would like to do some drawing while there. (There will be an additional fee for museum entrance). Suitable for all levels. TUESDAYS, JAN 6 - MAR 31, 10AM - 1PM IN-PERSON

This course introduces students to the elements of design (line, value, shape/volume, texture, space and motion), and the principles of design (process, unity, emphasis and focal point, scale and proportion, and balance and rhythm. Weekly assignments are given in conjunction with a visual presentation of the subject matter discussed. Students assemble a reference book with emphasis on small-scale collage exercises to develop an understanding of how design can be applied across mediums such as drawing, painting, textiles, photography or graphic design. Suitable for all levels. FRIDAYS, JAN 9 - APR 3, 2PM - 5PM IN-PERSON

In this course students will explore a range of themes inspired by art history and trends in contemporary art. These themes will include genres such as landscape, portraiture, still life, and various approaches to abstraction, as well as broader themes such as formalism and conceptualism. These themes will give students an opportunity to practice painterly techniques such as colour mixing, glazing, underpainting, and various approaches to mark-making. Experimenting with a range of themes is an excellent way for students to discover their own direction and personal interests as they develop a painting practice. Students can use acrylic or oil. Some painting experience recommended. WEDNESDAYS, JAN 7 - APR 1, 6PM - 9PM IN-PERSON

Building on a basic knowledge of paint handling and colour, this course presents students with a range of projects that explore possible approaches to painting in terms of subject matter, style and technique. Students work from a range of historical models, including representation and abstraction to gain a better sense of the ideas, methods, and formal issues that can support their own vision. Course will include painting from a model as well as a range of other choices for subject matter. Class projects are accompanied by slide presentations. Prerequisite: Painting: Introduction I or some painting experience. WEDNESDAYS, JAN 7 - APR 1, 2PM - 5PM IN-PERSON

This course focuses on creating dramatic or subtle effects of light in painting. Students will explore various kinds of tonal ranges in painting by making works that focus only on dark values, others that contain only light values, as well as works that have a wide range of contrasting values of both light and dark. Students will learn how glazing can complicate effects of light and how colour can be used to affect our perception of light and shadows. An understanding of value, which includes light and shadow, leads to strong and dynamic paintings. Some painting experience recommended. TUESDAYS, JAN 6 - MAR 31, 6PM - 9PM ONLINE