For children and high school students of Qatar, summer just became merrier. The Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCU-Q) has unveiled its Summer Programme packed with a dozen cool courses and the spread is quite interesting.
While the assortment of programmes for children and high school students of various age groups are scheduled to be held during the last week in June and the first weeks of August, it might be better to book your place fast as the seats are fast filling – the Art Fun, Tea Party, for ages four to seven, is already sold out.
Moreover, the early bird rate is on until May 29 – standard rates apply from June 1 to June 25, followed by last minute rates thereafter. Booking a bundle of a one and a two week programme together in August will earn you a 5 per cent discount. Community gives you a glimpse on what’s offer.
Art Exploration for ages 8 to 12 is about creating mythical and fantasy creatures. Children will design, develop and create a mythical creature using painting, collage and clay skills, as they, along with their instructor Verity Watkins, “will delve deep into our imagination to create the most weird and wonderful creatures”. A successful animal portrait artist and art teacher from the UK, Watkins taught at a Secondary School in Hampshire in the UK for nearly seven years before coming to Doha seven years ago with her family.
The outline states that the course will involve the class looking at Mythical Creatures, Gargoyles, Grotesques and Flanimals and then coming up with their own creature designs on paper. “We will paint our creature onto large paper using collage in a variety of materials to add details and texture. We will make our creature out of clay learning how to mold and sculpt shapes and add features and details. We will name our creature and write a story about it. We will decorate our clay creature with paint or collage tissue paper,” the notes say. The class will be held from June 26 to June 30, from 9:30am to 12:30pm, and it is priced at QR825, if you book early.
On those same days and time – and price – there is also Fashion Illustration for ages 13 and above, by instructor Yang Soon Ju, who is an artist, designer and applied scientist from Korea. “This course will enable students to understand a variety of media and techniques to create fashion illustrations with different fashion fabrics,” the VCU-Q says, “Participants will also be introduced to diverse fashion drawings and fashion illustrators. This course will provide an opportunity of placing two or more fashion figures in a page of portfolio drawing, in a way that reflects knowledge of fashion figures and design layout with a combination of lecture, demonstration, and studio time.”
Some of the aspects that the class will cover are a brief introduction to the art of fashion illustration, major materials, and basic techniques; drawing fashion figures and sketch garments, covering various garments and garment details; and a brief introduction to design process to create a fashion collection.
In the Print Workshop, for ages 8 to 12, students will design a pattern and will learn to cut a rubber-printing block using specialist-cutting tools. They will also print the block in a repeat pattern and create a 2-colour print. Also taught by Watkins, the two-day course will be held on July 3 and 4, from 9am to 1pm, and is priced at QR440.
Instructor Charlene Kasdorf, who has lived and worked as an artist, illustrator, and educator in Canada, Thailand, Switzerland, the UK, and now Qatar, seeks to put wings to young imagination in the class titled Illustrated Ideas, for ages six to nine. The course promises to be colourful, explorative, and even a bit silly, but more importantly to enable children “to capture their spontaneous imagination through various illustration methods”. Students are guided via imaginative activities and one-on-one mentoring using pencil, inks, gouache, and watercolours, says VCU-Q.
“Students create their own characters, scenarios, and environments – and are given space to explore the unexpected. The group will build on their technical knowledge of tools, colour, and design, as well as learn from the work of contemporary illustrators. The group will be supported through one-on-one guidance and group sharing. Each student is encouraged to bring in and share his or her favourite books/toys/stuffed animals,” VCU-Q points out.
From 3D characters to inky lines and stories to unique marks and contrasting mediums, the class traverses a variety of areas to get the creative juices running. From August 7 to August 18, from Sunday through Thursday, 9am to 1pm, the 10-day course is priced at QR2,200.
Then, there are a bunch of other courses – more details on the VCU-Q website – such as Expressive Drawing & Painting for ages six to nine (July 31-August 4, QR1,100); Creative Discovery for ages 10 to 15 (August 7-18, QR2,200); Arts Intensive for ages 16 and above (July 31 to August 4, QR1,100); Fashion Design Portfolio for ages 14 and above (August 7-18, QR2,200); and Experimental Print & Collage for ages 10 to 15 (July 31 to August 4, QR1,100).