I would like to take a moment to welcome you to Watts Atelier of the Arts. I hope you are as excited to start this discipline of drawing as I was some 25 years ago. The technique we will be teaching you is a very unique one. It has given me thousands of hours of pleasure both as a student and now as a teacher and professional.

I would like to make it known before you start that this method of working is not one of immediate gratification. One must understand that learning and progress in art comes from doing–painting, drawing, studying–and we get from it what we put into it. There is no shortcut to experience!

In representational art, drawing is one of the basic skills necessary to communicate one’s artistic message. The repeated practice of drawing from life renews our skills so that we can express our ideas with less struggling during the painting process.

Good drawing is successful coordination of eye, mind and hand. To draw well, artists must develop the ability to look at their subjects and see relationships and proportions among shapes. When successful these relationships and proportions also guide the viewer’s eye through paintings.

As with anything worth doing, there will be difficult times. Some of you will need to unlearn some old habits, others will need to open their eyes to new possibilities. The role of the instructor(s) will be to train your eye through constant demonstrations and critiques.  We will attempt to encourage and inspire you through this difficult but worthwhile pursuit. The teaching style will be direct and to the point. My hopes are that within each one of you we will be able to spark the love of learning to draw, and ultimately to paint. The environment has been designed to inspire and intrigue students, not to intimidate. It has helped produce some incredible artists, which I hope will continue on to great things in the not so distant future.

One last point: realize that each one of us shares the same gift, from the same giver, and that we are all companions in the same struggle, the same dream. That dream is to paint, draw and create from the heart, which requires leaving your ego at the door. Jeff Watts – Founder Watts Atelier of the Arts