3 Weeks of Looking, Making & Learning

A supportive drawing class for anyone who wants to finally make time to draw.

This is a drawing class without a fixed subject. Bring whatever you want to draw: your hands, a favorite object, a portrait, a plant, a landscape, a photograph, something from your imagination—or simply a blank page and no idea where to begin.

The goal of these three weeks is not to produce a particular kind of drawing. It is to learn how to look, experiment, ask questions, and develop your own way of drawing.

You are encouraged to come to class with questions:

• How do I make this look more three-dimensional?
• How does shading actually work?
• How do I draw what I see instead of what I think I see?
• What is perspective, and how do I use it?
• How can I make something feel solid?
• How do I use hatching or cross-hatching?
• Why does my portrait look “off”?
• How do I draw hands?
• How do I know where the light is coming from?
• How can I make my drawing feel more like me?

We will use your questions as starting points for short demonstrations and exercises, and then you’ll return to your own drawing and try out what you’ve learned.

Week 1, Nov. 2nd — Seeing & Building

We begin with observation and the basic building blocks of drawing. We’ll explore:

• Seeing shapes, proportions, angles, and negative space
• Breaking complicated subjects into simple forms
• How to make objects feel three-dimensional
• Light and shadow
• Basic shading
• Contour and line quality
• Beginning to understand perspective

Your drawing: Work on anything you are interested in. We’ll use your individual projects to discover what techniques might help you move forward.

Week 2, Nov. 9th — Light, Texture & Space

This week, we dig deeper into making drawings feel convincing and alive. We’ll explore:

• Shading and value
• Light sources and cast shadows
• Hatching, cross-hatching, and other mark-making
• Texture
• Perspective and depth
• Overlapping forms
• Making surfaces and materials feel different
• How small changes can create a stronger sense of volume

You’ll continue developing your own drawing while receiving individual guidance and feedback.

Week 3, Nov. 16th — Finding Your Way of Drawing

The final week is about bringing the tools together and becoming more comfortable making your own decisions. We’ll explore:

• How to decide what to emphasize
• Composition
• Simplifying or exaggerating
• Working from observation, photographs, or imagination
• Developing your own mark-making
• When a drawing feels “finished”
• How to keep practicing after the class ends

There will be plenty of time to work independently, ask questions, experiment, and receive one-on-one support.

Who Is This Class For?

Everyone.

You don't need to be “good at drawing,” and you don't need to know what you want to draw before you arrive. This class is for beginners who have always wanted to draw, people returning to drawing after years away, and anyone who already draws but wants some guidance, encouragement, or dedicated time to develop their practice.

You bring curiosity. I’ll bring the support, demonstrations, and tools to help you figure things out.

By the end of the three weeks, the hope isn't that you will have learned how to draw everything. It's that you'll feel more confident looking at a subject and thinking:

“Okay. How can I figure this out?”

About the Instructor:

Lea Bäcksteiner

Lea is a fine art painter, muralist and illustrator with a Masters in Fine Arts and Illustration from the New Art School in Basel, Switzerland. Her range of artistic media includes oil, gouache, watercolor, ink, digital painting and murals. In addition to her work as an artist, Lea has a deep passion for teaching all about the arts (Watercolors, Drawing, Pastel, Clay figures, Art theory, Art history). She also provides illustrations for
 books, magazines and printed matter. Her style has been described as being playful, whimsical, minimalist and well-proportioned. As an accomplished artist, Lea has exhibited in New York City, Basel & Zürich (Switzerland) and Boston.
 Originally from Switzerland, she now lives and works in the greater Boston area.

*Class Registration, Cancellation & Refund Policy

To provide the best experience while keeping our programs sustainable, most classes require a minimum number of participants. Maxima Hive reserves the right to cancel or reschedule a class if the minimum enrollment is not met.

If We Cancel a Class

If Maxima Hive cancels a class, registered participants may choose one of the following:

• A full refund of the original method of payment.
• Store credit for the full registration amount, which may be used toward any purchase at Maxima Gift Center, Maxima Book Center, or any future Maxima Hive class or event.

We encourage participants to choose store credit whenever possible, as credit card processing fees are incurred when payments are processed and again when refunds are issued. Selecting store credit helps us reduce these costs and continue offering quality community programming.

Participant Cancellations

If you cancel your registration before the class or event, an 8% cancellation/restocking fee will be deducted from your refund. This fee helps offset the non-refundable credit card processing and administrative costs associated with your registration.

Instead of a refund, you may choose to receive 100% of your registration fee as store credit, with no cancellation fee deducted. Store credit may be used toward merchandise at Maxima Gift Center or Maxima Book Center, or toward any future Maxima Hive class or event.

Class Rescheduling

If a class is rescheduled, your registration will automatically be transferred to the new date. If you are unable to attend the new date, you may choose either a full refund or store credit.

Thank you for supporting local, small-business programming. Your understanding allows us to continue offering meaningful classes, workshops, and events for our community.