Kids Art Classes
Cat illustration by Dean Stuart
Colorspace Arts Teen Studio (CATS)
This fall, Colorspace Arts is offering an after school art program for teens age 13-18. The program consists of 2 drawing courses, 1 painting course and a course on comics art. Each course consists of 16 classes that run through a semester. The teachers chosen for this program are highly skilled artists with experience in art education. The teaching is tailored to the skill level of the students. As students advance, higher level content will be added. A student can take 1 or multiple courses.
Learning to draw and paint is enriching. A solid foundation prepares the student for a future in the creative fields. In an engaging environment, students gain technical skills and cultivate their artistic sensibility. Developing a habit of journaling in a sketchbook will be encouraged. Classes starts with quick studies leading to a final project that can be included in the student's portfolio.
To register for CATS, please fill out the Registration Form and read the Studio Policies then click the "book now" button and pay the $160 deposit.
Tuition
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$640 per course, paid in full or in 2 installments
Deposit
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$160 (non-refundable to be applied towards tuition) is required upon registration to secure a spot.
Tuition Deadlines
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August 1st, 2025: $320 (pay $160 if deposit already paid)
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October 1, 2025: $320 if paying in installments
Starts Aug 18
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Starts Aug 19
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Painting
Monday, 4:30PM- 6:30PM
16 classes 8/18-12/22
Instructor: Calvin Lai
Course Description:
Through still lifes, landscapes, and people, we will explore concepts such as composition, painting techniques, color theory, value, perspective, and narration. The process of painting, which differs from drawing, will also be emphasized. But the most important element that will be fostered is how to take what inspires us from our environment and translate it through paints. In this unique course, not only will inspiration be cultivated, but each student will be given the space and time to artistically express it.
About Calvin Lai:
Calvin Lai’s painting process is a mixture of seeing, distorting, and reinterpreting with a goal of combining realism with a more expressive way of painting. He studied drawing and printmaking at San Francisco State University, and then in 2008 he enrolled in the Academy of Art for illustration but found that he preferred the fine arts instead. He now works as a full time oil painter and lives in the Bay Area. Since then he has continued to develop and refine his oil painting skills and has been shown nationally in galleries, group exhibitions and juried shows. He has executed a large number of commissioned portraits over the past several years, and his paintings have appeared in numerous publications. Calvin has taught in a variety of settings from private instruction to group classes (online as well as in person). Currently, he is on the faculty at the California College of the Arts as a painting instructor.
Tuesday Drawing
Tuesday, 4:30PM- 6:30PM
16 classes 8/19-12/16
Instructor: Alex Rosmarin
Course Description:
This class will teach basic skills in composing pictures. Lessons will cover: creating a sense of space, arranging things in that space, and designing those things, and characters. Work will mostly be done in class using simple materials. The emphasis will be on drawing from imagination, but there will be lessons on drawing from the live model and on using reference.
About Alex Rosmarin:
Alex Rosmarin is an artist from Oakland, California. He studied painting at CCAC in the nineties, and has since continued painting, drawing, printmaking, showing, and teaching. He is involved in working from the live model, and from imagination, and is interested in how the two modes are both different and complementary. He has been keeping sketch books as a daily practice since childhood.
Wednesday Drawing
Wednesday, 4:30PM- 6:30PM
16 classes 8/20-12/17
Instructor: Mildred Hankinson
Course Description:
Students will learn the fundamentals of drawing — seeing, shading, and sketching — in an engaging classroom environment that enhances their skill as well as their creativity. Quick studies will be combined with long-term projects so that each student finishes the school year with a well-rounded portfolio of work.
About Mildred Hankinson:
Mildred Hankinson is an artist and instructor from San Francisco, CA. She studied fine art and illustration at the Academy of Art University, and has taught drawing and painting throughout the Bay Area for over a decade. Her work has been featured in multiple publications as both an illustrator and contributing artist.
Intro to Comics
Thursday, 4:30PM- 6:30PM
16 classes 8/21-12/18
Instructor: Dean Stuart
Course Description:
This course will be an introduction to the art of creating comics. We'll cover character design, world building, story development, and panel layout as well as learning composition, perspective drawing We will also go over different drawing techniques, using different pen,brushes, nibs, inks, and watercolor. Students are encouraged to bring forward their own characters, voices and stories while we hone our craft, and at the end of the 16 weeks we will be creating full pages of our own comics!
About Dean Stuart:
Dean is an author and illustrator who's been published in Boom! comics, Darkhorse, and Penguin Random House. His most recent work is the award winning graphic novel 'Cassi and the House of Memories'. Dean is also a gallery artist and has shown his work in Portland, New York, San Francisco, and Oakland. Dean works out of his studio at Helvella Art in Oakland.
Curriculum Outline: Week 1-2: Learning the basics Collaborative comic exercises, getting to know each other, and learning that comics can be easy. These first two sessions will be brainstorming ideas, learning the basics and fundamentals of comics and how they work. Week 3-4: Tools and Techniques We will explore different methods of drawing with different drawing tools, using light tables, ink washes, halftones, and more. Week 5-6: Sketching and composing our page Deeper dive in making a comic from scratch-concepting ideas, creating thumbnails, designing a page, composing panels. Week 7-8: Character design Creating characters, character design and putting them in stories Week 9-10: Environments and world building Taking ideas from our sketchbooks and placing them in comic form. Perspective drawing and using different POV and camera angles. Week 11-12: Coloring comics We will explore techniques using traditional media, watercolor, markers, color pencils. Week 13-16: Sketch to Finish With everything you learned you will make your own 1 to 2 page comic with your own character/environment designs. We will utilize the new skills of storyboarding, penciling, inking, and coloring to make your own amazing comic.
