The Drawing Studio

In class, students will create a mixed media portrait using collage, drawing, and painting. The process is guided in clear stages, allowing each student to build a cohesive artwork step by step while making personal choices along the way.

Students will explore how to combine materials, layer imagery, and add visual storytelling through color, texture, and mark-making. Prompts are simple and flexible, supporting both beginners and experienced artists without overwhelming the process.

The art is the outcome, but the experience is where the magic resides. This is identity work, storytelling, documentation. Each participant will leave with a completed portrait that reflects their perspective, identity, and creative voice. One portrait, built in layers. Each phase adds something new, allowing students to choose how within each phase.

Materials not provided. Please bring the following supplies:

-Journals or loose paper for writing

-Pens for writing prompts

-Printed portraits (We will take and print the portraits during the first class session)

-Magazine images or materials they connect with

-Props (fabric, jewelry, objects, symbolic items) or change of clothes for styling (Session 1)

-Any meaningful text, poems, or writings they want to include

-Markers (optional)

-Anything else that makes the portrait more personal and intimate to you