Visual Artist Tanya Petruk

A Glimpse Into My In-Studio Art Classes

Art Classes Inside Look

I’ve been teaching art classes in my Whitby art studio for several years now. I teach kids and adults art classes.  My teaching style is more “free-range” – I don’t assign everyone the same project. I want each art class student to discover their own strengths and passions. They can choose to work in many mediums and can change mediums, or not, from project to project.

I can and do still provide actual instruction in technical aspects of drawing and painting. I know from experience that technique is the one aspect of an art education that has been sorely lacking in postmodern art schools for decades. Having come up through this system myself I have gained technical knowledge not from apprenticeship as classical artists once did, but from personal research, experimentation and experience.

Here are some examples of student work:

The artists range in age from 7 to14.

We also do printmaking. Using block printing ink and handprinting processes we’ve created collagraphs and linocuts in the studio. The blue bunny (above) is a linocut by a young student in my Saturday class.

We also use professional quality materials when painting in watercolour. I feel quite strongly that children should learn with quality materials in order to get good results. This abstract watercolour (above) is by a young student of mine. We used M. Graham tube watercolour paint on 200 pound watercolour paper. When painting in acrylics the students use a good range of acrylic mediums  as well as acrylic paints, so that they gain a greater knowledge of the materials and expressive possibilities in their work.

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This summer I have planned day classes during the weekdays in July. The summer classes are structured in a week by week registration schedule. The rate is $15.00 per hour, a real bargain considering the customized, individual instruction where we talk about art history, styles of art and artists while we work and use the same materials that I use in my professional practice.

Check out my Art Classes page on this website for schedule details and email me to register at tanya@petruk.net.