First Annual Master Skill Building Challenge, with guest juror James Gurney

We are pleased to announce our first Annual Master Skill Building Challenge, with Guest Juror James Gurney   Our primary goal at the Watts Atelier is to help our students become better, more skilled and more proficient artists.  It’s with this goal in mind that we have reached out to award winning artists and illustrators, and created… Continue reading


Skill Building Challenge 10 Winners announced! Cycle 9 Crit video released!

We would like to take a moment to congratulate the Winner and Honorable Mention of our Cycle 10 Skill Building Challenge. Our Skill Building Challenge entries are judged on the displayed comprehension of the lessons, and (most importantly) the improvement displayed by the internalization of those concepts and application of them over the course of… Continue reading


Skill Building Challenge Cycle 9 Winners Announced!

We would like to take a moment to congratulate the Winner and Honorable Mention of our Cycle 9 Skill Building Challenge. Our Skill Building Challenge entries are judged on the displayed comprehension of the lessons, and (most importantly) the improvement displayed by the internalization of those concepts and application of them over the course of… Continue reading


Skill Building Challenges; New Changes, New Incentives, New Learning Opportunities

  Here at the Watts Atelier, we are constantly striving to improve the learning experience for our students.  With this in mind, Jeff and his team of instructors recently took a close look at our Skill Building Challenges, and brainstormed ways to structure the challenges (as well as their rewards) to better help the skill advancement… Continue reading


Skill Building Challenge Cycle 8 Winners Announced!

  We would like to take a moment to congratulate the Winner and Honorable Mention of our Skill Building Challenge, Cycle 8. Our Skill Building Challenge entries are judged on the displayed comprehension of the lessons, and (most importantly) the improvement displayed by the internalization of those concepts and application of them over the course… Continue reading


Skill Building Cycle 7 winners, Cycle 8 announced!

We would like to take a moment to congratulate the Winner and Honorable Mention of our Skill Building Challenge, Cycle 7. Our Skill Building Challenge entries are judged on the displayed comprehension of the lessons, and (most importantly) the improvement displayed by the internalization of those concepts and application of them over the course of the… Continue reading


Skill Building Cycle 6 winners chosen, Cycle 7 announced!

We’d like to give a round of applause to all of the students who participated in our Cycle 6 Skill building Challenge.  Returning to the basics may seem like a “backwards” step initially, but there are few things more important than maintaining a strong foundation for your skills to grow upon. We would like to… Continue reading


Skill Building Challenge update: Cycle 5 winners chosen, Cycle 6 announced

Cycle 6 marked a very special first for our Skill Building Challenges, as all participants were given a brief critique of their work by our team at the Atelier.  It was thrilling to see everyone utilize their feedback and make such leaps in their skills in such a short amount of time.  Choosing a winner… Continue reading


Skill Building Challenge News; Cycle 4 winners, Cycle 5 announced!

The results of our Skill Building Challenge, Cycle 4 are in…!  This cycle saw our greatest turnout yet.  Our judges had a very difficult time choosing the winner of this cycle, but ultimately one student’s efforts claimed the winner’s prize.  Without further ado, we would like to congratulate the winner of our fourth Skill building Challenge..… Continue reading


Skill BuildingChallenges, Cycle 4 Now Live!

    Cycle 4 of our Skill building Challenges is now live and open for all participants of our online Atelier.  If you haven’t participated in our Skill Building challenges yet, now is the perfect time to start.  With new incentives and new “Path options” for  both the beginner and the advanced students, Cycle 4… Continue reading


Skill building Challenge news; Exciting Changes and Winner of Cycle 3 announced!

The results of our Skill Building Challenge, cycle 3 are in…! The winner will be receiving an original portrait drawing (pictured above) by Watts Atelier instructor Lucas Graciano. Our Skill Building Challenges are designed as a friendly competition that’s geared towards advancing the participants’ skill base. Each individual Skill building Challenge (which we refer to… Continue reading


Skill Building Challenge: Cycle 3 announced!

Cycle 3 of our Skill building Challenges is just around the corner.. For those of you new to our Skill Building Challenges, each cycle is broken into four individual one-week challenges, with a unified theme throughout all 4 weeks designed to push our students’ skills in a specify discipline from our online program.  While hard… Continue reading


The Skill Building Challenge Cycle 2 results are in!

  The results of our Skill Building Challenge, cycle 2 are in…! The winner  will be receiving an original portrait drawing (pictured above) by Watts Atelier instructor Erik Gist. Our Skill Building Challenges are designed as a friendly competition that’s geared towards advancing the participants’ skill base. Each individual Skill building Challenge (which we refer to as… Continue reading


Skill Building Challenge: Cycle 2 announced!

Announcing “Skill Building Challenge: Cycle 2, Embracing Portraiture”   Our first Skill Building Challenge was a great success;  The students who participated saw their skill levels jump in those short four weeks due to a dedicated schedule and the driving force that a bit of friendly competition brings.  Now that our first challenge, Cycle 1,… Continue reading


The Skill Building Challenge Cycle 1 results are in..!

  The results of our first Skill Building Challenge are in…! The winner, who we will announce shortly in this post, will be receiving an original figure drawing (pictured above) by Watts Atelier founder Jeff Watts. Our Skill Building Challenges are designed as a friendly competition that’s geared towards advancing the participants’ skill base.  Each… Continue reading