FINE ART CLASSES IN WHITLEY BAY

Turpentyne offers fine art classes and workshops for Ages 4 - Adults

Are your children showing an interest in creativity? Are you looking for a new activity for them that will occupy and challenge them whilst giving them a life-long skill?

If so, then fine art drawing and painting courses encourage imaginative thinking and are incredibly fun and, what’s more, are available right here in Whitley Bay.

Turpentyne already have an established and registered Arts Award Centre in Gosforth, and have recently opened a new studio on the first floor at 236 Whitley Road.

They offer term-time courses, as well as school break workshops for children from four years upwards. The courses are structured around the revolutionary concept that children are amazingly capable. They can learn to use art materials properly, they can see form and shadow, and they achieve much more artistically than many adults imagine!

Mediums taught include crayon (younger children), marker, charcoal, soft pastel, oil pastel, promarkers, watercolour paint, acrylic paint, acrylic inks and oil paint, and subjects include animals, cartooning, landscape, portraiture, still life, master studies and more.

Turpentyne courses are not your average messy arts and crafts. Students are taught how to "see" as an artist, fostering the understanding of how to draw and paint.

Younger students attend an hour-long weekly lesson, whereas older students' lessons last an hour and a half. Classes are offered Monday - Saturday; full details are available on their website. Bookings for all classes are essential. Unfortunately, no walk-ins are accepted.

Each student's curriculum will be constructed with their skills, interests and educational needs in mind. Materials will be selected by the teachers and rotated regularly to keep students engaged and challenged. Students will be allowed to advance to new and more challenging materials and subjects as their proficiency improves. All materials are supplied in class at no extra cost.

In addition to the building of confidence that results from the ability to render realistically, students also benefit from art instruction academically. A Stanford University study found that "children in the arts use linguistic and cognitive thinking skills -- such as longterm planning, critiquing and focused attention -- that can reap positive social and academic benefits".

Learning to draw and paint opens a child's eyes to the world in a way that they may have never seen before. They learn to see detail, measure visually, and problem solve, stretching their imaginations while drawing upon prior knowledge and engaging their brains in new ways.

To learn more about the Turpentyne studio and their available courses, visit their website.

Turpentyne, 236 Whitley Road, Whitley Bay, NE26 2TE www.turpentyne.com