Big Mind Photography & Creative Writing

Students learn the basics of photography composition and essential narrative elements to produce their own photos and accompanying prose or poetry. This course embodies the "Big Mind" concept of dispensing with borders, boundaries, and limits to creativity. No camera equipment is necessary in class.

Winter Words On Paper

A creative writing workshop in fiction and memoir for adult writers open to community participants with varying degrees of writing expertise. Students follow a traditional format where group members critique one another's work with the instructor's guidance. Literature is presented for discussion and writing assignments may be assigned to complete in class. The goal is to instill respect and compassion in the critique process while helping participants improve their writing and literary analysis.

Drawing the Figure: Understanding Proportions

This class is good for all levels, but especially beginners who wanting to understand proportions more accurately. Using angular gesture, head heights, sight sizing, and positive-negative space, students create figures that are more accurate within their environment. Class works with both nude models and clothed models. (Note: 4-week class)

Everyday Perspective

Students work from museum grounds, art in the museum galleries, the perspective of the building, and plaster cast models in the studio. Take complex objects and simplify them into cubes, and rectangles using correct perspective - teaching the brain to look at everyday visuals such as art, landscape, and buildings in perspective. Focus on 1-point and 2-point perspective in addition to sight lines in landscapes, objects, and buildings where there may not be a vanishing point.

Beginning Drawing

Whether just beginning or looking to brush up on the fundamentals, this class examines the core principles of drawing. Study includes deciding where to start, measuring, finding values, using light and shadow, creating textures and exaggerating atmosphere.

Life Drawing Studio - Morning

Working from the human figure benefits from exercising the fundamentals of rhythm, balance, form, and gesture. Its study is basic to most all image making. Both morning and evening life drawing groups meet on a continuing basis, working with professional, nude models. Since sessions are a self-guided format, a basic understanding of technique and tools is suggested. Work in the medium of your choice. Painting, modeling (with clay or wax) is encouraged in addition to the use of dry drawing media. Studio sessions meet in Pancoe Art Ed Center. Punch card will be issued at first participation and expire 3 months from purchase. Please call 910.395.5999 ext.1029 for more information. Life Drawing Studio does not meet Feb 21 or Mar 28.

Life Drawing Studio - Evening

Working from the human figure exercises the fundamentals of rhythm, balance, form, and gesture. Its study is basic to most all image making. Both morning and evening life drawing groups meet on a continuing basis, working with professional, nude models. Since sessions are a self-guided format, a basic understanding of technique and tools is suggested. Work in the medium of your choice. Painting, modeling (with clay or wax) is encouraged in addition to the use of dry drawing media. Studio sessions meet in Pancoe Art Ed Center. Punch card will be issued at first participation and expire 3 months from purchase. Please call 910.395.5999 ext.1029 for more information. Life Drawing Studio does not meet Feb 21 or Mar 28.

Painting a Master Copy - Girl with the Pearl Earring, 3 day Intensive

Create your very own copy of Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring - arguably one of the most famous paintings of all times. Through Vermeer's masterpiece you have a chance to explore the process of accurate drawing, flesh tone mixing, color harmony, subtlety of edges and as such receive an insight into painting ideas and language that is common across styles and periods and applicable to any artist's own studio practice. Copying masterworks is one of the best ways to assimilate painting techniques and advance your studio practice as well as gain a further insight in appreciating master works. This is a three day intensive class with 6 hours of painting a day, and a break for lunch.

Introduction to Watercolor: Basic Techniques

Participants devote each session to a basic principle of drawing and painting. Course develops skills in drawing, composition and color. Instruction is tailored to each student's skill level. Students are invited to participate in 'art duets' - sketching and painting a subject in common with the instructor. Topics covered include composition, perspective, values studies, color theory and harmonies. Subjects include architecture, landscapes and botanicals.

Color Luminosity in Landscapes

Learn to utilize color to give luminosity to your oil and acrylic paintings. Based upon the concepts explored by Claude Monet and other early 20th century Impressionists, we fill our landscape paintings with light and color, layering our colors to create visual interest and vibration. Instruction includes demonstrations, lectures and lots of individual attention.

Colored Pencil: Skin Tones and Portraits

Render skin tones and portraits in colored pencil at an Intermediate to Advanced level. In addition to class exercises, the student has the opportunity to work on a portrait of their choosing done mostly at home and critiqued weekly in the class. (This class requires that you have colored pencil experience or have completed either the Beginner Course or the Textures course taught by Glenn Davis)

Painting People in Watercolor

Students learn to represent the human form with watercolor, working from both live models and photo reference.

Exploring Watercolor: The Travel Sketchbook

This two-session course introduces and explores techniques for developing a travel or daily sketchbook journal. Students touch on watercolor fundamentals as well as building confidence with loose control and quick studies. Includes instructor demo and discussion along with plenty of fun exercises. We'll look at additional ways to combine collage and ephemera into your unique travel or daily sketchbook.

Creative Compositions

Whether painter, printer or mixed media artist, compositional design is the foundation for building dynamic works. Students address common design problems and issues with templates for successful compositions. Principles of balance, unity, variety, sacred geometry and the power of 3's covered. All levels welcome.

Big Mind Photography & Creative Writing

Students learn the basics of photography composition and essential narrative elements to produce their own photos and accompanying prose or poetry. This course embodies the "Big Mind" concept of dispensing with borders, boundaries, and limits to creativity. No camera equipment is necessary in class.

Basic Digital Single Lens Reflex Photography: Camera Functions & Storage

Learn the parts and functions of the DSLR. Use of the controls on the camera to alter shutter speed, aperture, and light sensitivity will be explained as well as digital workflow, file types/management and storage. Students are introduced to basic image manipulation using computers and software.

Intermediate DSLR Photography: Capturing A Vision

This class is intended for the photographer that has a working knowledge of the camera and wants to take the next step of creating beautiful photographs. Explore subject matter, composition, and find new ways to capture our photographic vision. Participants should not bring their cameras to class. We learn through group directed photo assignments and critique of images.

Interiors: Photography Inside Wilmington's Familiar Places

Each session takes place inside one of the familiar places in Wilmington. Instructor emails weekly shoot locations and meets students to answer any technical or composition questions. We spend two hours capturing compositions. Last session meets in Pancoe Art Ed. Center, CAM, where students share the best and worst of images in a group critique.

Registration Guidelines

Classes and workshops are small, and space is limited. Students are encouraged to register at the earliest opportunity in the event a popular course fills quickly. Waiting until the last moment to register may also result in disappointment if a course is cancelled due to low enrollment. There is a 10% increase in tuition roughly one week before start date. Specific amounts and dates are indicated with each session.

• Students may register online, by phone or in person. Registration opens for each session on different dates. Check Session Headings for details. CAM members enjoy discounted tuition.

• Registration is complete and confirmed when payment is received and processed.

• Refunds will not be issued for withdrawals from a class or workshop within 72 hours before start time. However, tuition (less 10%) will be transferred to student's choice of a future class or workshop.

• Students who withdraw within 24 hours of start time will receive credit for tuition less 50%

• No refunds or transfers will be given once the class has started.

• Students who are not in attendance and have not been in touch with the Museum School office will be charged the full price of the class or workshop.

• If class or workshop does not make minimum enrollment, it will be cancelled and enrolled students will receive their choice of 100% refund or transfer of tuition.