Color Pencil Beasties

May 29, 2026

Schedule: 9am-4pm Fri

Instructor: Helen Shafer Garcia

Registration Deadline: May 18

Out of stock

Description

Animals make us laugh and bring contentment to our lives. Spend the day creating imaginative color pencil portraits of assorted beasties. Don’t worry about drawing abilities. This is about learning to see, blending colors and layering to create depth and saturation of color. Pencil technique demos include blending, hatching, directional lines, and burnishing. Giving permission to yourself to create is the first step. We’ll paint rice papers with various acrylics for backgrounds to provide a toothy surface for color pencils, and then use water soluble pens to create an underpainting of values. Your beastie will include adornments to complete the ensemble. Materials Fee includes: rice papers, chart pack pens, white and colored acrylic inks, drawing and tracing papers, acrylic paints, photo references of animals and outfits.

Class size 15

Level Beginner and above

Student Supply List See supply list

  • Tuition $200
  • Materials Fee $15

Instructor

Photo of Helen Shafer Garcia

Helen Shafer Garcia

Helen Shafer Garcia is a painter, a mixed media, book arts and ceramics artist, and an award-winning illustrator. Helen's watercolor illustrations have graced the cover of brochures, garden articles, and advertisements of numerous international resorts and magazines for more than 30 years. Awards include four San Diego Press Club First Place Awards of Excellence in Illustration for San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles Magazine.…Read More

Helen Shafer Garcia is a painter, a mixed media, book arts and ceramics artist, and an award-winning illustrator. Helen’s watercolor illustrations have graced the cover of brochures, garden articles, and advertisements of numerous international resorts and magazines for more than 30 years. Awards include four San Diego Press Club First Place Awards of Excellence in Illustration for San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles Magazine. Her works and articles have been published in Southwest Art; Cloth, Paper, Scissors; San Diego Home and Garden Lifestyles, and Studios magazines. Helen holds a BA degree in fine arts with an emphasis in illustration and ceramics. She is a signature member of the San Diego Watercolor Society and teaches watercolor and mixed media workshops internationally and across the U.S.

Instructor Website

Workshops

Color Pencil Beasties

Watercolor Biomorphic

Watercolor Collage: Enlightened Fauna

Registration Policies & Waiting Lists

Class Confirmation

You will receive a confirmation of your workshop registration via email about a week prior to the class. If you do not have an email address, you will receive a snail-mail confirmation. Please check the online class listing for supplies to bring to class (there will also be a link to the Supply List in your class confirmation). Some supplies may need to be ordered well ahead of time.

Please note that your class registration will not be confirmed without full payment.

Please read your class confirmation carefully as it may include a supply list and other important details, and note our community standards on our Planning Your Workshop Experience page.

Materials Fees
Many classes have materials fees in addition to the tuition. These are identified in the class listing and are usually paid with the tuition payment; however, in some cases materials fees are paid directly to the instructor at class time (check the class listing).

Cancellation Policy
While we recognize that life intrudes and plans change, in consideration of the time and energy instructors invest in preparing for classes, we must adhere to the following cancellation policies:

Student cancellations

> Cancellations made 30 days or more before the start date of the workshop are eligible for a 75% refund OR a gift certificate in the full amount. The gift certificate can be applied to workshops or lodging one year from the date of cancellation and is transferable.

> Cancellations made 29 days or fewer before the start date of the workshop are not eligible for refunds or gift certificates. We encourage all students to purchase trip insurance, which is available for a reasonable fee.

> Cancellation requests must be made by contacting our office at info@shakeragalley.org or (608) 987-3292.

If you have booked lodging with Shake Rag Alley in conjunction with your class and cancel less than seven days in advance of your reservation, a $50 cancellation fee will apply.

Cancellations by Shake Rag Alley

> If Shake Rag Alley must cancel a class for any reason, you will be notified via email or phone and will be eligible for a full refund or, if you prefer, a transferable gift certificate. You may also consider donating your refund to support our operations or scholarships.

If you have booked lodging with Shake Rag Alley in conjunction with a class canceled by Shake Rag Alley, you may receive a full refund on lodging or gift certificate should you wish to cancel.

Waiting Lists

If a workshop you are interested in is sold out, please fill out this waiting list form. We will contact you if a spot becomes available. The class code requested on the form is the Workshop ID shown at left, beneath the Add to Cart button.