Workshop | Freehand Magic: Charcoal Still Life Drawing Without the Grid

Forget the grid—this class will teach you how to trust your eyes, intuition, and muscle memory to sketch with confidence, no measuring required! In the freehand approach, we focus on seeing shapes, angles, and proportions directly, training your brain to pick up on the relationships between natural and decorative objects. Perfect for students who want to practice observation skills, spatial awareness, and mastering light, shadow, and texture to make your still life pop—all while building a more confident, free-flowing approach to charcoal drawing!

Some drawing experience recommended.

Bring smock and gloves if desired.

Supplies included.

Instructor Information:

Renée Rey, an award-winning artist born in Sagamihara, Japan, lives and works in Delray Beach, Florida.

Rey’s artwork has been recognized in national awards and exhibitions by notable museum and gallery professionals including Jade Dellinger, Director of Exhibits & Collections, Bob Rauschenberg Gallery, Fort Myers, FL; Julie Sasse, Chief Curator, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson AZ; Erin Wright, Commissioning Editor and Producer, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; and Gisela Carbonell, Curator, Cornell Fine Arts Museum, .

Honored with the 2024 Dina Baker Fund Grant from the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County, Rey's work has graced galleries across the globe. Recent solo shows include Bailey Contemporary Arts Gallery, Pompano Beach, FL, Tauni De Lessep Gallery at Palm Beach Atlantic University, West Palm Beach, FL, and the Hammond Hall Gallery, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL. Her group exhibitions span the Baker Museum, Naples, FL, Flatiron Gallery, New York, NY, Studio 33, Spain, Art Brut Biennale, Netherlands, and Project Space Brut, South Korea.

Rey was awarded artist residencies at Bailey Contemporary Arts (2023-2024), School of Visual Arts in New York (2019), and Sun Peaks Center for Art and Sustainability (2016). Her art is in the collections of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., New York, NY, First Albany, New York, NY, and Wasmer Art Collection at Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL.

She served as the International Curator for the 2021 art exhibition "Lo Cierto Es Lo Incierto" held in Soriano, Uruguay.

A dynamic lecturer, Rey has inspired students at Florida Gulf Coast University, New College, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. With nearly a decade of teaching drawing, painting, and creativity in Florida, Rey brings a wealth of experience and education to her work. Her background includes extensive undergraduate coursework in drawing, painting, 3-D design, performance art, and art history and graduate courses in film and computer art. She holds an MBA in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an A.A.S. in Interior Design from Parsons School of Design, an M.A. in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and a B.A. in Judaic Studies from the University at Albany. This diverse educational foundation infuses her artistic practice with exceptional depth and perspective.

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