Fundamentals of Drawing & Painting (For Two)

My girlfriend and I really enjoyed taking Fundamentals of Drawing & Painting and learned a great deal in a short amount of time. One of the most valuable concepts we learned was mark-making (mark-mapping), which helped us observe subjects more carefully and translate what we saw onto the page with greater confidence. We also gained a better understanding of proportion, value, light, and shadow, which made our drawings feel more accurate and dimensional. Raphael was an excellent teacher - patient, knowledgeable, and always willing to provide helpful feedback that met students where they were! The learning environment was welcoming and supportive, and it was inspiring to learn alongside other students who were equally excited to improve their skills. What we appreciated most was the focus on observation and process rather than perfection, which made the class approachable and enjoyable. We left feeling much more confident in our abilities and are excited to continue building on these fundamentals. We hope to keep learning and growing as artists with Raphael moving forward.

A serious class that doesn't take itself too seriously! Great for beginners. The intimidation I felt stepping into class vanished as soon as Raul started teaching. There's a brief presentation and you are thrown into the fire! The best way to learn is to do, I guess. Raul stays engaged with everyone as they create. He gives positive feedback as well as thoughtful suggestions to how you can add to your work. He doesn't just instruct, he teaches. Class feels like a casual conversation and we even learn a little bit of art history throughout. What made me choose this course as opposed to other highly rated courses, was the reviews saying how beginner friendly this series is. And I could see in the photos of the class that everyone seemed happy to be there. All art styles are encouraged, so it's a reassuring environment.

The Fundamentals of Drawing Class with Raphael was a delight. The studio was bursting with inspiration, filled with paintings, drawings, and unique objects to draw. Our instructor was incredibly knowledgeable and guided us through the fundamental elements of art at the start of the first class. There were several stations set up around the room with still life to draw. One had an antique mechanical object, there were several with dried flowers in vases, and some students picked out various objects from around the room to draw. The process involved creating a smaller sketch, followed by a larger, more detailed piece using charcoal and optionally soft pastel for colour. Our instructor would pop by, offering valuable tips and encouragement. The class had a chill vibe, with a short break in the middle for sharing our work and sketches from the prior week — the instructor encourages everyone to spend a few minutes every day on sketching in between classes. Overall, I enjoyed the class very much!

I really enjoyed my experience in the class. The instructor provides helpful tips and tricks to improve your skills. It's a solid length class /value and I enjoy doing the homework (the instructor applies the right amount of pressure to encourage you to actually do it). It was fun to have the opportunity to do it with my friend and im looking forward to trying other variations of it in the future.

Excellent class, better than expected. Raphael is a great teacher. We worked on one charcoal drawing over all three classes which was a great way to learn and really focus on the details.

At first, I was intimidated to take a drawing course since I had no drawing experience, but I’m so glad I did. Raphael is a warm and inviting teacher, and there is absolutely no judgment in the class. He helps bring out each student’s unique style during one-on-ones and provides great critiques. You can tell Raphael truly loves art! Through this course, I learned shading techniques, depth perception, and proportions —all of which are foundational to drawing. I’m excited to apply these skills in future work, and I am retaking another class.

My husband and I took this course as a way to get reintroduced into drawing and could not have asked for a better teacher than Raphael to ignite our passion to explore the arts and also appreciate life around us through the lens of an artist. Raphael not only teaches techniques such as mark mapping, grayscale values and working with charcoal, but also helps with your mindset towards the arts. I am a perfectionist and the arts always intimidated me because I always compared myself to artists who worked years at their craft and found my own art lacking. Raphael helped me overcome that mental obstacle and encouraged us to embrace our mistakes and reiterated that as a beginner its normal to make mistakes and that there is no shame in making them. Mistakes help us grow and even start to understand how to improve and even great artists take years to feel satisfied with their works. We are both so appreciative of being able to work in his art studio and have a meditative space to draw and polish our observation skills as we work on still life. It has felt like a little pocket space outside of the hustle and bustle of the city outside. Our skills have improved drastically from the first session to the last and we are looking forward to booking more time with Raphael who has been an incredible teacher. We love that he encourages us to appreciate our peer's work and share the things we love about their work because seeing their growth and talent is inspiring and their encouraging comments definitely make you feel more accomplished about your own work. I highly recommend Raphael and his class whether you are a budding artist or an already accomplished one because he is an encouraging and funny teacher. Always walk out of his class with a smile because we had a great time even after a long day.

Learned a lot and very enjoyable.