Been looking all over for a figure drawing place to to improve my eye at work. Super stoked i…read morestumbled into Elissa's awesome sanctuary. Wonderful cozy studio i go to every Sunday evening, Elissa provides a very warm welcoming environment with friendly professional figure models. You can only get better by simply just doing the thing you wanna get good at, SDAL is a great place to provide that space for all levels.

We are so happy we found this place! My daughter wanted to draw and paint in an intimate studio,…read morewhere the owner cares. Elissa is the right person, and now, after more than two years, we share the feedback. It's a fantastic place. Elissa has coached her, encouraged, and she provides each student with instructions catered to her skill level, passion, and comfort zone. Our daughter plans to continue honing her skills for next couple of years, until the end of High school. 5 Stars!

Our child thrived in this art class. It was the highlight of her week. We are so grateful to the…read morestaff for coming up with such sweet and complex projects to challenge and delight our 7 year old and !

My daughter takes Cre8art Studio classes through her school's after-care program, and she…read moreabsolutely loves them! Every week she comes home excited to show the creative art projects she's made. The owner is fantastic -- super organized and truly on top of things, always sending emails and keeping parents informed and connected. I couldn't recommend Cre8art Studio more!

I wanted to take an art class now that I'm retired. I found Albert's studio to be the most…read morewelcoming and flexible in that I could pursue subjects that spoke to me. He has a great process that really develops your "eye" and skill set. I just followed Albert's guidance and found I could learn to draw a wide range of objects and figures and enjoy painting in oil or watercolor.

I have been attending Martin Fine Art classes for about 6 months. I am very pleased with my…read moreprogress. In class, I followed the typical process of starting with drawing, progressing to shading, then painting. I have developed the ability to see subtleties in images that I did not notice before. This alone has improved my work. I have learned to create virtually any color from a limited palette, which has greatly simplified my process compared to what I was doing prior to the class. Albert, the instructor, has a relaxed demeanor and I recommend Martin Fine Art if you want to improve your painting.

Loved the class and gorgeous charcuterie wood platter I have! I did this with a few girlfriends for…read morea birthday. It was a great experience because: 1) She went step by step and made it very easy 2) She was open to using other colors besides blues for the typical ocean design 3) She was also very friendly 4) You could use her expertise as needed for a certain step

Peg is great but Kay definitely has room for improvement in treating students. She was rude the…read moreentire class, responded rude, abruptly, and got really defensive when I asked for the contact information of the professor that I had liked. When I went to pick up my artwork i heard that professor no longer works there, I really hope she didn't get fired. I took two classes here, the first one in Oceanside with Peg which was amazing, the second one in Downtown SD which I am not going back to.

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

This is a course for amateurs and professionals who hope to learn the true method of Italian…read moreplastering. Regardless of which one you are, you'll leave this course confident and ready for business. Students lucky enough to take this course graduate part of an elite group of individuals with a skill level exceeding most any other plaster artist in the states. This is an incredibly impressive program that will wow any student - pro or amateur. This is a phenomenal program run by true professionals and gifted teacher, Ayn Riggs. (The proprietor of Italian Plasterworks, Solana Beach, CA). Prior to becoming an Italian plaster master, Ayn was a tech security genius. Ayn is a patient and relaxed instructor with a great sense of humor and one goal: your success in perfecting the true Italian method of plastering. (Even after students graduate they are encouraged to call Ayn directly with questions any time). Ayn offers a fascinating heap of knowledge that spans materials, how to handle clients, how to bid jobs, plaster technique, history of plaster methods, how to begin a business and build a portfolio, and more. We learned how to quote jobs accurately, estimate, order, mix, color tint, handle, apply, finish, cure, and enhance all of the plasters. Ayn has a style that is direct and honest with no-bullshit, and she's an exceptional, and enjoyable teacher to train under. Italian plaster runs around $10-$30/square foot, so I took this course hoping to learn to do my own house. I came an amateur, and left a confident professional. In my class were two other home owners with the same goals, as well as two professional house painters looking to add a skill to their trade. The course has 7-10 students at a time, and has previously had up to a year waiting list, with students flying in from all over the country. Lunch is included every day. We all graduated this program with 32 over-sized portfolio boards, showcasing 32, different stunning Italian Plaster finishes. I've set the boards around my house now, and am choosing which colors and plasters to put where. The different techniques we learned span old world, and uber-modern, to mid-century modern and more. Day 1 was spent prepping each "wall" board and fumbling with our trowels like morons. Day 2, we learned even more about the elements with which we worked, and fumbled more with our trowels. By day 3 of standing and pushing a trowel, my right shoulder was worked into a knot, and i was exhausted. (Word of advice, use your stool to sit on at every demo.) By day 4 your confidence begins to improve and you begin to actually have fun. Then you realize you still suck and class is almost over. Day 5 you can almost pronounce some of the Italian names of the products with which you've been working for a week. Day 6 you have 32 amazing boards **This course was so exhausting and intense, I cannot recommend attempting to work or even socialize (even after hours), for the six days you're in the course.

Ayn was extraordinarily patient with me and was very generous with her time when I dropped in to…read moresee the school. I had quite a bit of experience, but she essentially gave me a free lesson to bridge my substantial gap in knowledge. Using her products my project came out spectacularly well on the first try. It was a large bathroom so a lot was at stake. Thanks Ayn!

Great experience. I've taken a lot of paint and sip classes, but this is the only one that teaches…read moretechnical art

Been here twice and it's just fantastic. Amy is wonderful. This is great for a date night, girls…read morenight out, even for a solo night out. Our two themes there were date night (you and your partner work together to create 2 themed paintings) and then pet night (you email Amy a picture of your pet, she sketches it, and then you paint it). Amie provides everything and you BYOB and even food! I saw someone there eating a full on dinner while painting. She was totally fine with that. I love this place. Relaxed, fun, and personable. You can't go wrong.

During the Covid madness, although we are still in it, they forced you to take zoom classes. I let…read morethe front desk guy, don't recall name, know that the zoom lessons would not work in my house due to bandwidth and my family now working remotely. They refused to work with me, refused to help or pause my membership. I told them I would happily come back when the corona virus situation was over. He told me he would call me back once he spoke to the director on what they could do for me. I never received a phone call. I had to email them and let them know I wanted to cancel my account. Come to today. I called, hoping to bring my kids back because I received an email from them stating they were going reopen on June 6th. The same guy answered the phone and recalled me. I asked if students were now coming back. He said he remembered me, that he couldn't help me because I didn't want zoom and he didn't know when the students would be allowed back. I validated the email, "We are happy to announce that we re-opened on June 6th! Students may take lessons online or come in to our studio electively based on their feelings of safety. We will continue to provide online instruction to any student who prefers to continue distance learning." He flat out lied to me. Beware. If you have any issues they will not take care of you, or help you out.

We took our 2 kids kids here for about 3 years, everybody is super nice, however the kids progress…read morewas very slow it felt almost like they were taking their time & making lots of compliments to the kids so not much of a challenge & slow improvement that could have been done in half the time. Their policy on cancellation is also questionable has they want to keep charging for the all month plus in the summer if we wanted to take a break they wanted us to pay anyway.... We recently call to sign up one of the kids and they did not call us back, not nice...