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4-7 yrs Art Fundamentals

ONILINE / IN-STUDIO

4-7 yrs

50 minutes weekly

online: $125 monthly

in-studio:  $150 monthly


High-quality art materials are included into the in-studio price. Sibling 15% off

They are curious and self-confident, open to new ideas, and certain about what they like. They are what many adult artists dream to be.

We find it very important for young artists to know that Fine Art is not about just following step-by-step instructions. We teach them to create something brand new, using the endless resource of their imagination. All they need is encouragement and advice, which we are always happy to provide.

Each lesson covers an important art concept, needed for fluent representational drawing and painting. It is combined with a short intro to a cultural phenomenon: a style, and epoch, or a single artist. Students get to create their original artworks from scratch within the guidelines of the topic. Each topic can be adjusted to a variety of skill levels.

We start a lesson with a short lecture and demonstration (live in studios, pre-recorded for online lessons). Teachers provide advice, help, correct the digital image of a student's work, explain what works in particular cases and what does not, and why.

This class is ongoing, students can join anytime. Important concepts like drawing humans and animals, nature, and architecture are repeated every 1-2 months, each time associated with a new topic and art material. Topic rotation is 2-3 years. Art materials we master: acrylics, watercolor, pastels, pencil, markers, clay.

* Your child is ready for an in-person instructional class when:

1) feels comfortable when she's left in a new place with a new person, without a parent;

2) is ready to follow teacher's directions;

3) while drawing at home, draws recognizable figures and objects (not abstract shapes), and colors within the outlines.

Topics for winter-Spring 2025:

Medieval Knight and a dragon composition - stained glass imitation.

Drawing a pokemon.

Lunar New Year symbol and celebrations.

Painting rain. Watercolor.

Medieval paintings of mom and baby.

Designing an object that will exist 100 year from now.

Titian. Portrait of mom. Achieving likeness.

Drawing a Comic / Manga character. Pencil, markers.

Impressionism: painting flowers, acrylics.

Impressionism: painting a landscape (master copy), acrylics.

Art nouveau and jewelry design. Watercolor, markers.

Making a poster delivering a strong message.

Painting a scene from your favorite movie.

Drawing a person doing sports.

Color and color theory. Color schemes. Creating a composition using monochromatic or complementary color palettes.




Location
Day & Time
Class Name
Class Teacher
Room
Register
Mountain View
Tuesday 4:00 - 4:50 PM
2
Mountain View
Tuesday 5:00 - 5:50 PM
2
Mountain View
Wednesday 3:30 - 4:20 PM
1
Mountain View
Sunday 9:00 - 9:50 PM
2
Mountain View
Saturday 9:00 - 9:50 PM
1
Mountain View
Saturday 10:00 - 10:50 PM
1
Mountain View
Sunday 10:00 - 10:50 PM
2
Online
Friday 4:00 - 4:50 PM
San Francisco
Tuesday 4:00 PM - 4:50 PM
1603
San Francisco
Tuesday 5:00 PM - 5:50 PM
1603
San Francisco
Saturday 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM
1603
San Francisco
Saturday 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM
1603
San Jose
Tuesday 3:30 - 4:20 PM
1
San Jose
Saturday 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM
1
San Jose
Saturday 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
1
San Jose
Sunday 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM
1
San Jose
Sunday 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
1
San Rafael
Saturday 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM
San Rafael
Saturday 10:00 AM - 10:50 PM

Materials we provide for in-studio classes,

and recommend for the online lessons:

Paint:
- set of acrylic paint (at least these colors - black, white. red. blue. yellow, green. brown, orange, purple). Recommended brand - Basics by Liquitex 
- watercolor paint, preferably in dry pans form. Recommended brand - Artist’s Loft by Michaels
Set of soft pastels. Recommended brand - Artist’s Loft by Michaels 

Drawing Medium:
- regular HB pencil
- eraser
- optional: set of graphite pencils of different softness (2H, H, B, 2B, 4B etc)
- colored pencils. Recommended brand - Prismacolor 
- optional: markers. Recommended brand - Copics 
- liners or sharpie pens. 

Tools:
- brushes - flat and round (pointy). Use separate brushes for acrylic and watercolor paint.
- wooden clay sculpting tools
- paper plates for mixing paint
- water bucket or cup
- scissors 
- glue stick

Clay:
- Air-dry clay - white. Recommended brand - Crayola 
- Oven baked clay - white. Recommended brand - Sculpey 
- Modeling clay - multiple colors. Recommended brand - Claytoon 

Surfaces:
- painting boards or mixed media paper, 8’’x10'’ or bigger - good for acrylic paint, coloring pencils, markers and graphite pencils.
- canvases, 8’’x10’’ or bigger - for acrylic paint only
- watercolor paper, 8’’x10’’ or bigger - for watercolor paint
- sketchbook or loose sketch paper (printing paper is ok) - any size
- construction paper (multiple colors), 11’’x14’’ or bigger

My 5 year old daughter has been coming to Teacher Maria's class for a year since she was 4. She really enjoyed Maria's class and learned so much from her. Since English was not my daughter's primary language, Teacher Maria graciously agreed for me to stay and translate until my daughter is comfortable. Every week they explore different theme and art medium, which makes it fun for the kids. Teacher Maria is very clear on what she wants kids to get out of each lesson. Within that parameter, she allows them to run free with what their hearts desire. The outcome is not copy cat art work but wonderfully unique art work created by each child. I am so impressed with Teacher Maria's ability to work with each child individually and encourage them to do the best they can! My daughter can't wait to return to another year of drawing with Teacher Maria!


Pei-Hua Wang

Mountain View, CA

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My 7-year-old daughter has been enrolling in Art school of SF bay(Mountain view) for more than1.5 years. She fell in love with it at her first class. The art projects are always fun and stimulating, different each week, covering art /culture from different countries of the world. The class environment is relaxing and teachers are all very encouraging. I highly recommend it!


Hui Zhao

Mountain View, CA

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From a perspective of a father of a 6 yr old, I would highly recommend this place. Maria is a great teacher and is very good with kids. After three months my 6-yr old son went from doodling to something that resembles drawing. It's a long and difficult process but I can see that Maria puts a lot of effort into it and always encourages the kids to be their best. My son does not like to skip the art class, which tells me that he enjoys it. And I can see the results that I like. Again, highly recommended.


S C.

Palo Alto, CA

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My young son has taken classes in Mountain View with Masha and now a week of camp in San Jose with Maria and Marina. Every class he learns something. In the camp they were indoors for 6+ hours and he was never bored. The teachers played games and kept it fun, while guiding the students. My kid even skipped lunch one day he was so engaged in his project.


John L.

Mountain View, CA

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My 7 y.o. daughter has been taking classes here for over a year now and we couldn't be happier with the school! The teacher, Maria, inspires the love of art and teaches them new skills every class. I can see my daughter's amazing progress. And what's more important, she loves the classes and always can't wait to come back! I appreciate their make up policy and love their new studio: very spacious and bright!


Galina T.

San Jose, CA

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This is our third year with Art school of SF Bay. All lessons are informative, very well led and guided. Students get instant comments and instructions from a teacher and apply to their work. Lessons teach not only art techniques but also a history. My children are always enthusiastic about upcoming lesson and very excited to share their complete works. I could clearly see the progress!


Shushanik A.

San Jose, CA

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We are in love with this art school. My 7yo son really loves it and when we were trying to switch to something easier - like in the school - he was so upset they're completely different. Here they teach techniques, different material to deal with, different type of coloring and so on and so on. So he's really improved his draw skills; also he is extremely happy to go there and try something new.


Natalie Alshevskaya

Mountain View, CA

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TL/DR: My 5 year old daughter attended to separate camps at the school this summer and they were incredible. Long form: I grew up surrounded by art. I have close friends that are professional artists (painters, dancers, photographers, sculptors and so on) I'm married to an amazing photographer, my stepmother is a (great and inspiring) public school art teacher. I've taken a lot of art classes and know enough to see that, with a few exceptions, most people are doing it all wrong. Some (most) err on the side of concentrating on the "how" and not the "why". You can always tell when that's the case by the cookie-cutter results. Others have a fast and loose approach that is fun and creative, but leaves students on their own when it comes to theory and technique. While much better than the former, and a lot more fun, those tend to be really hit-or-miss when it comest to actually learning anything. This school is one of those rare examples that just nails it. The work that my daughter brought back was both sophisticated (incredibly sophisticated all things considered) but also clearly her own. She has been drawing and painting a lot since (on her own, we never push this on her) and I can tell that she's thinking about composition, uses negative space effectively, and generally speaking went from doodling to a form of self-expression. It's mind-blowing, really. That, and she begs to go back. If you have an opportunity to enroll your kid in any of these classes, don't miss your chance.


Alex F.

San Francisco, CA

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