Continuing & Professional Education

Visual Arts

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No longer accepting program applications – courses continue to be offered

Students currently enrolled in the programs will be able to continue their studies and should plan to meet their program requirements by June 30, 2023.
Currently enrolled and wondering how many courses you have left? View your Advisement Report: Bear Tracks > Manage Classes > Academic Requirements > Click on your program or 'view report as pdf'

Visual Arts individual courses are not affected by these changes and will continue to be offered to anyone who wants to hone their art skills or learn new techniques. Click on the course names below to enrol or to learn more about our offerings—and look for new and exciting art classes coming soon!

Give your art prac­tice the ded­i­ca­tion it deserves by expand­ing your knowl­edge and explor­ing new skills with our Visu­al Arts course col­lec­tion.

Geared at begin­ners and casu­al artists of all lev­els, our diverse port­fo­lio of cours­es will present you with new and excit­ing ways of engag­ing with your art. Explore fun­da­men­tal con­cepts in tra­di­tion­al areas such as draw­ing, paint­ing, design, and his­to­ry as you receive feed­back and prac­tice under the guid­ance of pro­fes­sion­al artists.

                                                                                                                                       

I learned a lot about dif­fer­ent tech­niques. Get­ting advice and feed­back from the instruc­tors was very help­ful, and I liked the sense of com­mu­ni­ty I got from inter­act­ing with oth­er stu­dents, see­ing what they were doing, and learn­ing from them.

Visu­al Arts student

The instruc­tors were very knowl­edge­able. I learned a lot from them.

Visu­al Arts student

This was a won­der­ful intro­duc­tion to art. I would rec­om­mend it to anyone.

Visual Arts None - collection of courses student

Develop your creative thinking and refine your individual mode of expression.

Gain insight into the history of art and find inspiration in pivotal art movements.

Explore different techniques and create a substantial body of work.

Register Today

This course serves as an introduction to western art, focusing largely on artists and objects that comprise the art history canon, from early 14th century art to modern art of the 20th century. In this introduction to the discipline of art history, you will be exposed to various artistic movements, and will be provided with a working knowledge of art history terminology.
Not currently scheduled – new schedules announced each June and November.
Course overview
Drawing is one of the cornerstones of art training and is fundamental for visual arts. Learn the essentials of drawing from observation. Employing pencil, conté, or charcoal on paper, class projects use still-life motifs to introduce you to the basic elements of drawing line, form, tone, and texture. Develop your awareness of seeing and understanding the factors that work in good picture-making and apply them to produce a finished drawing.
Not currently scheduled – new schedules announced each June and November.
Course overview
Build on your drawing and design skills as you apply them to the principles and techniques of painting. Work in oil or acrylic to bring your own style to still life motifs in exercises that examine the planning, development, and composition of paintings. Completion of EXART 3003 and EXART 3005 is strongly recommended.
Not currently scheduled – new schedules announced each June and November.
Course overview
Apply your basic painting skills as you further explore techniques, colour theories, and descriptive and interpretative methods of oil or acrylic painting in the studio. Completion of EXART 3010 is strongly recommended.
Not currently scheduled – new schedules announced each June and November.
Course overview
This course is concerned with the compositional realization of the portrait. While painting from a model, you will become familiar with the art and historical approaches toward creating a successful portrait. Capturing likeness and expression will be emphasized. Become familiar with the bone and muscle structure of the human head as well as with the Western European technique of building flesh tones through layers. Completion of EXART 3010 is strongly recommended.
Not currently scheduled – new schedules announced each June and November.
Course overview
Explore the principles of drawing from the life model. A number of exercises, including quick and sustained studies, the study of basic human anatomy, and the relationship of the figure versus background, are employed to assist you in drawing the human form. Pencil, conté, and charcoal are recommended drawing media. Completion of EXART 3006 is strongly recommended.
Not currently scheduled – new schedules announced each June and November.
Course overview
Participants will learn the basics of watercolour painting such as colour mixing, flat wash, graded wash, and wet-in-wet technique. Properties of individual watercolour pigments will be addressed. In addition to working with still life motif, students will be introduced to landscape painting, floral study and abstract work.
Not currently scheduled – new schedules announced each June and November.
Course overview
Build on your skills from Drawing I and further explore the fundamental elements of line, shape, texture, space, tonal value, and compositional principles and considerations such as figure-ground relationships, rhythm, and scale. Employing dry and wet media on paper, projects will focus on observational drawing from still-life and the human figure. While emphasis will be on representational drawing, achromatic linear, and tonal value studies, the use of colour, abstraction, and collage will be introduced. Completion of EXART 3005 is strongly recommended.
Not currently scheduled – new schedules announced each June and November.
Course overview
Working on location en plein air is an excellent way to carry skills out of the studio and into the day-to-day practice of making art. Work on location at various sites and work in different media to stretch your limits and make drawing more accessible. Develop sketchbook skills where any location and any time become the mantra of your art making. Pen and ink is a portable flexible media which may be drawn, painted, splattered, and pushed to the limit to acquire results while on location. Depending on the skill sets of the students, oil pastels will be used as a bridge between drawing and painting. Completion of EXART 3006 is strongly recommended.
Not currently scheduled – new schedules announced each June and November.
Course overview
This course aims to expand spontaneity in your picture-making. Pursue drawing with mixed media such as charcoal, graphite, ink, watercolour and acrylics. Experiment with brush, pen and other drawing instruments. You will learn various strategies to work with mixed media and methods to effectively integrate them in your work. Expressive use of media to convey feelings will also be explored. Completion of EXART 3005 is strongly recommended.
Not currently scheduled – new schedules announced each June and November.
Course overview
  • Tuition is paid on a course-by-course basis as you reg­is­ter for your classes.
  • Eli­gi­ble for the Cana­da-Alber­ta Job Grant.

  • Unless specified in the course description, art supplies and textbooks are not included in course fees. Costs range from $100 to $150 for introductory courses and up to $200 for advanced courses.

Bursaries and funding opportunities
Funding source
Eligibility
Amount
Apply by
Canada-Alberta Job Grant 

Available for businesses in all sectors across Alberta

 Two-thirds of the training costs (up to 100% if hiring an unemployed Albertan)
any time
Canada Training Benefit 

Residents of Canada, 25-65 years old, who have $10,000-150,000 in earnings for work.

 $250+
income tax return
Skilled Immigrant Micro-Loan 

Whether you intend to work in the same field you trained in outside of Canada, or you wish to apply your transferable skills to a new career, this low-interest loan helps you cover the cost of education and related living expenses.

 Up to $15,000 loan
N/A
Alumni Professional Development Grant 

Any graduate of the University of Alberta

 Up to $500 anually
monthly deadline
HRDF 

Employed by the University of Alberta as Non-Academic Staff (NASA)

 $750 annually
Dec / Mar / Jun / Sep

Looking for something different?

Over 300 courses and 40 programs to help you build the skills you need.

  • Questions: codesign@ualberta.ca
  • 780-492-7237

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