Drawing for People Who Think They Can’t Draw (but actually can!)

AKA

Intro to Drawing

Monday OR Wednesday evenings, 6:30-8:30pm

Start date: Monday January 13 OR Wednesday January 15, 2025 (weekly, nine weeks)*

End date: Monday March 10, 2025 OR Wednesday March 12, 2025

Time: 6:30-8:30pm

Location: 3614 SE Division St. (Portland, OR)

Cost: $375

This 9 session, two hour class meets Monday OR Wednesday evenings, 6:30-8:30pm from January 13/15, 2025 through March 10/12 2025.

My goals for this class are to get you excited about drawing, and to break your assumptions about what drawing is. I believe that counter to popular assumption, everyone can draw. To me the key to drawing is seeing and then responding. If you can see, you can draw! This class won’t be about learning to measure perfectly, it will be about learning to see and to pay attention to your responses. We will cover various ways of looking and taking in what we see, and practice separating our “critic” self from our “expressing” self. Through this approach I hope to help get you excited about drawing, and help you begin to make drawings that “feel like you.”

If you are curious about drawing I hope you will take this class. If you have always wanted to draw and have been told or have come to believe that drawing is just “not for you,” I hope you will take this class. If you have drawn for a while and are quite good but sometimes hate it, this could be the class for you. If you aren’t sure you care about drawing but want a safe creative space to practice listening to your body, silencing your inner perfectionist, and making messes on paper just for fun, you should take this class. I hope that what I have to teach is useful both to people who have experience drawing, and to those who don’t. I am excited to explore, learn, and create with you! :)

/ Sarah Levy has studied with Phil Sylvester at The Drawing Studio in Portland, OR, and got her MFA in Drawing from the New York Academy of Art.

For anyone who has taken Phil’s Intro class before, my curriculum is very similar but my style of teaching is pretty different :)

All materials are provided. Please wear clothes that you won’t mind getting charcoal/graphite on to class :)

*You must be vaccinated with valid proof of vaccination to take this class. Mask-wearing will depend on state guidelines at the time.

Thank you so much and hope to see you soon!

*Monday classes WILL meet on holidays. If you ever cannot make your selected day you are welcome to attend class on the alternate day of the same week.

**CANCELLATION POLICY:

If you cancel 24 hours or more before class starts, I will refund you the cost of class minus $12 for the credit card processing fee.

Otherwise you have two classes to decide if you want to stay in class. If you tell me you want a refund by the end of the second class, I will refund you the cost of class minus $70.

*WHAT PREVIOUS STUDENTS ARE SAYING*

“Something miraculous happens to me every time I take one of Sarah’s classes. The practice of connecting eye, brain and hand to create something visual on paper makes me feel connected to the world around me in ways I have never experienced.

In her classes, Sarah manages to create a kind of safe space; a bubble where even those who believe they can’t draw can access this powerful connection with their surroundings and making marks on paper in response to it. She has ways of supporting drawers of all stages, offering a scaffolding of support that enables you to take the next step in seeing and mark making. I had never realized what an interior, meditative experience drawing can be, but I come out of every drawing session with Sarah transformed and seeing the world around me with fresh eyes.” - John

“Sarah is a phenomenal teacher who has figured out how to show real skills and technique without diminishing individual style. Her ability to keep people curious and engaged is unparalleled and I can't wait to take my next class with her!”

“I cannot recommend Sarah’s “Drawing for People Who Think They Can’t Draw” class highly enough. For years, adult onset “Perfection Paralysis” has prevented me from putting pencil to paper and experiencing the joy and creativity drawing provided in childhood. Enter Sarah’s class. It has been a most freeing experience. Perfection paralysis is gone and I once again feel the joy of drawing. I’m learning to not focus on if what I am drawing is any good but to instead let myself enjoy the process and discovery of creating. What a wonderful journey these 10 weeks of classes have been. So, do yourself a favor and take Sarah’s class!” - Tori

“This is my very first art class and with Sarah’s playful instruction and encouragement I’m learning how to draw! She’s been great at helping me to get out of my own way so that I can experiment with my drawing and be more expressive with capturing what I’m seeing. Sarah has also provided kind feedback that has helped me to not try so hard to get it “right” and to not be afraid of what I perceive as a mistake. She emphasizes the fun in drawing and that getting better just takes practice. I know that with all that she’s taught me I’ll be drawing and enjoying it for the rest of my life.” -Faith

“It's a scavenger hunt that takes you down unexpected routes and you find at the end that you're drawing without being scared.”

“Sarah’s class is part therapy, part drawing class, and part deep sea exploration." -Mary