I've always been drawn to nature and revisited landscape painting with oil paints about 7 years ago…read moreafter having not painted since grade school. I've been quite fortunate to have painted with several very talented painters who happened to be instructors, as well. The Art Academy has given me the impetus to paint not only more often, but with confidence, especially, at the painting's sometimes difficult initial stages. I dove into the class after having had it recommended by an artist friend of mine. After several years in Stuart's studio class I've learned an entirely new approach to both studio painting and my original goals for plein air techniques. I'd recommend this course for painters at every skill level. Jim M.

Highly recommend Art Academy of San Diego! Stuart is a skilled artist and personable guide to…read morecreating your art. -CynC

This was such a fun and wholesome experience. I cannot wait to do another class with my girls. Brie…read morewas so lovely and helpful throughout the entire time. She was patient and helped me when I couldn't keep up in certain parts of the class. The experience is definitely a must.

I took the 5-week Form and Function class with Misha, where I learned to throw, trim, and glaze for…read morethe first time. While I walked away with new skills and 4 pieces that I am proud of, I found Misha's style of instruction difficult to follow and unpleasant at times. Misha began the first class by telling us that she will intervene if she notices our projects going south. However, on multiple occasions she purposefully stayed quiet when a student was having trouble and then when it was too late to save the piece, she said, "I was waiting for you to ask a question." This resulted in students having to scrap their projects without time to retry. I understand that Misha aims to strike a balance between hands-on assistance and letting students figure things out on their own, but her lack of intervention felt like punishment for not following her instructions well enough. I also found it challenging that Misha structured her classes by verbally explaining all of the tasks of the day at the beginning of class. After this intro, she did not speak much for the rest of the class. During several classes, she began to work on personal projects and did not seem approachable for questions. I would have appreciated a few more demonstrations and for instructions to be repeated throughout the class. Because this was a class intended for beginners, I expected a bit more patience and active involvement from Misha. The 5-week course was structured well and allowed students to learn the entire process making ceramics, but the style of instruction made the course harder than it had to be.

Date night! Everything thing went well from beginning to end! Cristina was informative, patient,…read moreand made class fun. We had a great time making bowls! Now some friends are wanting to experience the same thing. Thank you, Cristina!

Overview: loved this beginner class, great instructions and demo, beautiful finished product…read more ---- I saw their place on instagram and they had a special price for their anniversary, their 90-min wheel class was for $50 instead of their usual $80. I've thrown on a wheel in the past but this was a great opportunity to refresh those days! Parking was a little difficult, there is a paid parking lot, but luckily I was able to find street parking. Very clear demo and explanations, with a small class size (I think there was 8 of us). Our instructor Cristina does the demo first and then we try it and she is there to help us if needed. Once you finish your projects you can engrave designs into your pieces so I drew a little cat face on the bottom of the bowl. Unfortunately bc it was on the bottom of the bowl where the glaze pools, it was basically hidden by the glaze :( I wish I had known beforehand, then I would've chosen a better placement for the face. If you tilt it in the right lighting you can see the cat, but it's a beautiful bowl regardless! I like that they take care of everything else after you make the pieces, they trim, glaze, and fire it for you and you just have to be patient and wait for that email to come through that your piece is ready for pick up (4-6 weeks). From the class (3/7) to getting the bowl in my hands (4/10) took a month and a few days, due to the many pieces they have to fire. They have specific days and times for piece pick-up which they list on their email. ---- Overall: a great time for beginners or people with past experience, I'm happy with my piece and it reignited a dormant passion!

I love the bright open feeling of the new studio. (Today was my first day in the new space.) Annie…read moreis a patient teacher. She helped me with all the basics and then the challenges when I tried something new. She also has helped people with a lot of experience refine their technique and also top take on new challenges. The studio has the warm feeling of a community and now that we are in a new, larger space, there is finally room for a few more potters.

Popped in to check this adorable little shop out. Possibly greeted by the owner. No greetings…read morewhatsoever, just a big "No openings, try other pottery shops in San Diego" with a smile. How disappointing. I guess we will check out other shops for our creativity.

I signed up for the 4 week stained glass class with Robby and I am so grateful that I did! I hadn't…read moredone stained glass in 10 years and Robby was patient and very helpful with sharing techniques and procedures. He also does glass repairs, offers studio time, and sells glass in the shop. He does it all and is so talented!! Thank you!

Robbie at the glass orchid is a magician. My old Tiffany style lamp had 2 broken panes. The…read morerepair work is undetectable from the original panes. The shade looks like new. I highly recommend the talented repair person at this shop.

Lovely experience Relaxing and creative…read more Can't recommend it enough This was my second paint your pet class Will definitely attend a 3rd time

I went on my own and had a wonderful time painting. Even though I don't have a pet and could have…read morepainted from any wildlife image I found online, I was able to paint my favorite stuffed animals. With LJs instruction it turned out amazing and my husband wants to put it up in the house. Thank you LJ for a wonderful no fuss evening!

Josie is an insightful, patient and talented artist, mentor, teacher and coach. There is no one…read moreelse in San Diego I could recommend more for encaustic instruction and workshops! I thorough enjoyed my private classes with Josie the way she so warmly and generously shares her studio, space and materials. I am looking forward to my next opportunity to plug in to a workshop or just spend a relaxing afternoon in her backyard studio. Josie is simply a delight.

I have taken three private workshops with Ms. Rodriguez and I have loved them all. She is both a…read moretalented artist and kind and patient teacher. She welcomed me into her home which is a treasure trove of her gorgeous artwork and taught me a bit about encaustics before we entered her free standing studio amid the gardens behind the house. It's truly a serene and inspiring atmosphere in which to work and learn. Ms. Rodriguez is warm and generous with her students and she is an excellent teacher. Starting as a novice I have gained enough skill from her workshops to set up and work in my own studio at home. I wholeheartedly recommend these classes to anyone wishing to learn or advance in the encaustic medium.

UPDATE because I was thinking about this place, as I got an email from them. I get them often and…read morealways look forward to it. About 6 months before we moved from Oceanside to Temecula area, I planned on attending Watts Atelier. I did a lot of research and found them because I wanted to study anatomy, for my sculptures. Sadly, the class didn't fill up enough, for them to justify that specific class. I went to the facility priorly though. I was soo blown away by the atmosphere. Wonderful! I longed to go there and just sit, if I needed to. Sometimes you just know. Your spirit shines. I watched a demo of a portrait drawing and felt incredibly inspired by it. If I lived closer, I'd find a way to go there. I recommend them whole heartedly.

Mastery of any kind is not an easy road. Getting anywhere near the vicinity of mastery is pretty…read moregrueling. And when you start it will be frustrating and somewhat demoralizing. But nothing worth having is easy, right? Known around the world for its reputation, Watts is one of the few ateliers in the country reviving the tradition of 19th century studio study in Europe. I learned there is no 'right way to draw' in my undergrad program and I have nice, shiny diploma to prove it. But the collective energy of hundreds of years of artists like Fechin or Bouguereau have developed a way to see the human figure in greater depth and knowledge than any technique I've come across. I'm seeing my diploma has the right spirit, just not the proper guidance, so I've decided to move to Southern California to even get near this ancient knowledge I need to become a better draftsman. I discovered Watts through a rabbit hole of instructional drawing videos and landing on a video of the owner, Jeff discussing how to be a successful artist, which had all the right affirmations I was looking for. Based on what I saw, I decided to test drive their two week boot camp in August to see if I could cut it at a place like this. I was woefully unprepared and could barely hold the conte properly, let alone put anything on paper that didn't look like seismograph output. I was overwhelmed by all of the information that I was lacking - angles, proportions, plumb lines, perspective, curves vs. straights and on and on. I nearly gave up, but Jeff and Krista encouraged me to stick it out, and with the help of the instructors and other students, I had a small breakthrough. It just took a push for me to realize I knew more than I thought and was capable of understanding their technique. With that, I decided to move to the San Diego area to study as long as I can at Watts with a full-load of classes in the winter term. I am currently in week seven and will be here for the foreseeable future, nothing I've ever done has come close to teaching me this much. They are proponents of the Frank Reilly method of representational drawing and you work mostly in charcoal on newsprint for speed and efficiency. Mixing demos with one on one instruction, the skill you get to see inform your own work is mind-bending. There's no coddling here, so if you're a mildly skilled artist you will be humbled, but if you're looking for someone to stroke your ego (ahem, Chai T.) you may want to go to a wine & paint. Their program is not the hardest thing I've done, but it is up there, and I have this innate desire to keep it going. I came here to hone old skills I forgot I had after nearly 15 years focusing on visual and UI design. While I am far from being proficient, the process is invigorating. You're not learning to draw, you're learning how to build a human being on paper. And the more I learn, the more I want to know - forcing the strange, underhand grip of the charcoal to put marks on paper that come close (hopefully) to what's in my head. I have a whole range of classes from 20 minute head lay-ins, figure two, three and five minute quick sketch, fundamentals, facial expressions and even painterly drawing and I'm still reeling (in the best way possible). Jeff conjures up a certain type of energy that starts with him and permeates through the instructors down to the other students. Everyone is here to learn from the best and so willing to help one another out as no one is at the same level. I am absorbing more in two months than my whole undergrad program ever got close to, and my goal is to become proficient by the time I'm 40 and take my career in a whole different direction. If you're not serious, it may nudge you out fairly quickly, but if you have this desire to create art that you can't explain away, you will most likely find what you're looking for here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX0MrnzBJ8M