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

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

We have done a few camps now through Global Art San Diego to help fill in activity gaps when school…read moreis out and to give the kiddos an opportunity to learn art through different mediums/materials. As a mother who's always seeking new opportunities to expand my child's experience/ expression, I am thrilled that the kiddos enjoy this art studio so much. The kids always come back asking to attend another class because they had so much fun, made new friends, and are so proud of their final art work. I am always surprised with the art work they come home with... the art is very creative, fun, and beautiful. I love that they introduce different materials (different paints, clays, etc.) and the kids really take ownership in their art work. We proudly display many of their art pieces and even send some to grandparents to enjoy. It's a cute little family owned branch located in the same plaza at Bad Ass Coffee/ Pitchers Sports Bar in Rancho Penasquitos. Ms. Alicia is the Principal/ Branch Owner. She exercises strong communication, is very approachable and kind, and coordinates great lessons (so there's new activities throughout the week). I also appreciate that she has a team of assistants to coordinate each class and to ensure the kids are supported. Most of all, she creates wonderful memories during the moments the kids are out of school (saving the sanity of parents balancing work). We truly love our experience through Global Art SD PQ and intend to return as often as we can. Definitely recommended.

If you are looking for place to celebrate Birthday for your kid who loves to draw, you found it at…read moreGlobal Art San Diego PQ at 9926 Carmel Mountain Rd. St G, San Diego, 92129. Alicia and the teachers did an amazing party for my 8 years old daughter. The theme for the party was: Roses (3D clay painting). All guest learned new ways to draw and how to work with clay. The studio was decorated. My daughter even received a special gift. She and all of her friends will remember this party. THANK YOU Global Art.

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!

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

We went here for a guy's night out. Enjoyed ourselves. Welcoming place, snacks, beer and wine to…read morekick off a great experience. Never done pottery before. Ezra taught us the basics and helped us learn how to play with clay. We all ended up with small pots, some more "creative" than others... We picked up our pots that we dried and kilned with the choice of glaze that we wanted a few weeks later. The studio itself is very warm and welcoming and well appointed with all kinds of tools and storage spaces etc. I hope to explore clay more with Manzanita soon...

This place is amazing! Talk about being a staple in the community. You walk in and the environment…read morethat they have curated is an environment of inclusion first, followed by so much art and passion. Meha, Yasmine, and Ezra are just incredible. I had the opportunity to take a wheel class, Ezra was amazing! My kiddo is taking the teens class now and he is loving it!!! Everyone should come out and support this studio, they are bringing something super important to the community; art, ceramics, crafting and most importantly inclusion. Their love and passion pour out into every inch of this space. The members are willing to help us non-members and this is just a very special place.

Loved my experience here! We made reservations ahead of time for the $30 / 1hr wheeltime. This is…read moreperfect for beginners. They walk you through everything. You get two blobs of clay that you can make two items with. Maggie was super friendly and patient with explaining the process and helping us fix anything we messed up on. The price includes firing and glazing one of the two. You can pay an additional $15 to fire the second one. For the glaze they had a bunch of different colors which was nice. Shop is pretty small. There's 6 stations total for people to work at. Also only street parking so plan ahead.

This was my first time doing anything ceramics-related and I had such a positive experience! I…read morestumbled upon Teralta via their sister organization, Ceramic Arts, because we were interested in taking some sort of pottery class. We found that Ceramic Arts had "Wheel Time" where we can get an hour on the wheel just practicing and making anything we want, but they booked up pretty far out and we wanted to do this sooner. So, they directed us to Teralta Art. I was skeptical to book with Teralta at first since I like to see reviews of places before paying for it, but I am so glad I gave them a chance (if you're reading this and thinking the same thing -- DO IT!). We booked the 1-hour "Wheel Time" session where we got to play on the wheel. It was a Friday afternoon and we had such a pleasant experience with Maggie. She helped us center the clay on the wheel a couple of times and gave us tips on what to do, what types of things to make, some techniques, etc. We also chatted about Teralta's mission and I was so inspired by their vision. If you haven't seen on their website yet, they are a non-profit creating and increasing access to art for kids in the City Heights community. She told us more about this and I think it is a great addition to the larger San Diego community. The one hour flew by quickly! The next steps are that they will fire and glaze our work for us, then we can pick it up in 3 weeks. We got to choose the colors for them. Our experience here was so fun and positive, and I would absolutely recommend this activity to anyone! Thank you Maggie and Teralta Art for bringing this to the community -- we need more people like you!

TRAC is a great place to learn and build connection. The faculties here are so nice, and they are…read moreall very passionate about their job. Instructor here are very helpful as well. They taught me well, and I am able to pass my Pro Tools tests. Not only that, if you are willing to, you get to sign up for some intern experiences too. The facilities are nice too, all the studios are very impressive. There is just so much more good stuff to talk about. I just can't wait to take an other class here again! I highly recommend

I love this place! Fantastic studio setting, knowledgeable audio recording staff and relevant…read moretraining classes for home studio owners, artists and aspiring audio engineers.

Customer service was the worst I've ever encountered. I visited the gallery with my cousin who was…read morevery excited to show me her neighborhood. the woman who was at the gallery at the time of our Sunday August 18, 2024 around 2:00 pm I bought 2 hearts and my cousin bought stuff worth around $100 and the sales person wrapped the things and put them in one bag. My cousin asked for a second bag bec she's giving the things as presents ... the salesperson said NO ONE BAG PER CUSTOMER... she said it in a very rude way... my cousin said I'll pay for the bag ... she said no ... then she changed her mind and pulled out another bag ... by the way the bag I'm talking about is these tiny paper bags that you buy a dozen from target for $4.99 they are not fancy at all... My cousin took out $5 and gave them to her and the salesperson was so nervous and saying please step aside I want to help other customers and she yelled at her have a nice rest of your day. She was unprofessional and I will never go back to that store although I loved a piece there the horse they had at the entrance that I was planning on purchasing .... but I will never give a penny to this store .

One of the most interesting shops inside the Rancho Bernardo winery, not only to just browse and…read moreshop the mixture of objects they sell, most of them handcrafted by local artisans. The side of Icarus that I find more interested is the vast array of classes they offer: from oil painting to mini mosaic seascape to the most fascinating fascinator hat making! (I hope they keep teaching this class, as it is very unique and I missed the session in August). Classes prices varied, for example the fascinator one was $45 including all material, lasting 2 hours on a Sunday. What a nice way to spend a day at the winery! The workshop area is separated from the selling one, but it is also open space where visitors of the winery can freely enter and check those students taking the now so omnipresent everywhere wine and paint class. Demographics in these workshops tend to be mostly senior women, but of course they are open to everybody who wants to exploit their creative self at any age. Looking forward more interesting classes.