Are you looking for a painting class in Amsterdam where you can do your own thing, helped by a professional artist / teacher? At studio Groeten van Marc in Amsterdam West (De Baarsjes) you can start right away. Currently classes are on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm and on Wednesday 10.00 am and Friday 10.30 am as well as 2:30 pm. Costs are €20,- for a try out class and €230 for a 10 classes card. This blog is meant to give you an idea of ​​the projects students are working on. Painting lessons at Greetings from Marc are more than just a means to a technically good painting; you also get the opportunity to try out new materials (pastels, ink, monoprint, collage) and discover new styles and subjects. Teacher Rini Brakkee graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, and also took painting classes for years.

Book your try out class now: info@groetenvanmarc.nl

Painting classes

If you have not painted before, it can be nice to start with some exercises to learn how to mix paint, to show light and dark, and how to use the brush. You learn to paint with acrylic paint and with oil paint. Watercolor paint is also available.

a study of bottles in acrylic paint

practice mixing paint with the colour wheel

Drawing classes

For students who have not done anything about art for a long time, or who are still unsure about their skills, it is wise not to start painting right away, but first to practice observing, and then drawing what you see. Drawing from observation is the beginning of all visual art, even if you then proceed to work abstractly or by heart.
Often you only start to look at the world around you when you try to draw it. The big advantage over painting is that you do not have to take all technical aspects of the paint into account; drawing with pencil or charcoal is very direct.

portrait drawing with pencil

Making your own painting or drawing

Students of different levels, and with different interests are creating artworks side by side, so you see every sort of drawing and painting in the studio. From realistic oil paintings, to abstract monoprints and variations on famous paintings in acrylic paint. Inspiration can be found everywhere: in newspaper photos, nature, the people around you, memories, and the painting and drawing materials themselves. Here are some examples:

black and white painting after a photograph

drawing in pen and ink with “hairy” its theme

abstract oil painting

Learning to work in other media

In consultation it is also possible to work in other media. The teacher is capable of analyzing every art form, and helping you to implement the idea that you have in mind. Looking at your goals, your sketches and your ideas together often makes the final artwork better. For example, students have worked on artworks made of found objects, stop motion and interactive artificial intelligence. Its implementation may not be possible inside the studio space itself, but the process of sketching that precedes it is indeed possible.

a student working on a stop motion video