Yan Art Studio

    From the first art class to the start of a career, this is where a journey begins.

    Class Information

    At Yan Art Studio, we believe in encouraging your personal creativity in a fun and nurturing studio environment. No cookie cutter art here!

    About Me

    Yan Zhang is an interdisciplinary artist based in the Greater Toronto Area. She has been honing her Chinese painting skills in a contemporary context for the past several years. Originally majoring in Chinese traditional figure painting, she blends watercolour, digital art, and surrealism with her twenty years of Chinese painting experience and creates her meticulous yet imaginative imagery. She has been tempted to push the traditional Chinese painting boundary. Her work aims to explore "the anxiety and struggle" to understand our complex emotions as well as the world around us.

    She has already been included in various important exhibitions and received several awards. One of her paintings, Ups and Downs, is part of permanent collections of the Chinese Cultural Center of Greater Toronto. Her artwork, Life in Swirl, was selected to display at the Senate Binsfeld Office Building in Michigan from October 2021 through September 2022. Yan earned her BFA and MA in Chinese Painting from Hubei Institute of Fine Arts. She received her MFA from Wayne State University, USA in 2022.

    Program

    Elementary Level

    Age 9-12 yrs.

    Saturday Afternoon 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm

    1.5 hours

    Basic sketch theories and technic, basics color theories and technic (e.g., watercolor and soft pastels painting skills).For students in the foundation class, we start to introduce basic still life drawing, including sketch and paint of simple objects to develop students' observation skills, attention to details and molding skills. Creative drawing practice will also be provided to further develop students' imaginability and creativity.

    Intermediate Level

    Age 12-14 yrs.

    Saturday Afternoon 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

    2 hours

    Professional training in sketch (still life, geometric form, human figures), color painting (e.g., , goauche acrylic and water color,clay modeling ). For students in the middle-level class, we start to provide professional training in higher-level still life sketch and painting, landscape, and human figures. The professional skills in using various materials such as watercolor, acrylic and pastels will be developed at this level.

    Advanced Level

    Age 13 yrs & up

    Saturday Morning 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

    2 hours

    Creating a portfolio, Advanced drawing & sketching, Acrylics and Watercolour Painting, working with the figure, Intro to Mixed Media, Interior design & Graphic design, architecture & 3-D Animation, Fashion Design, Illustration, Industrial Design and Fundamentals.

    Portfolio Prep

    Age 18 yrs & up

    Friday Evening 19:00 pm - 20:00 pm

    2 hours

    Prepare students to present a comprehensive portfolio of the highest quality work to meet university and college level. Students will benefit from individual and group attention in order to improve their standing during the application process.

    Adult Drawing and Painting

    Thursday 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

    3 hours

    Traditional Chinese painting techniques will be taught including Sketching, Baimiao,Gong-bi and Ink and wash painting. Available subject matters are flowers and birds in Gongbi, boneless or free style, traditional or contemporary landscape, figure etc. You will learn basic skills of brush holding and strokes, ink loading and color mixing, principles of composition step by step in a hands-on manor.