Workshops & Events

Save up to 25% during a 90-day period when you attend:

1. All SketchTribe, iPad Drawing, Special Technique workshops

2. All weekly Drawing Lab sessions (except Draw With Your Kids)

Get started now! Total cost is $475. Enjoy the benefits of the Scribbles Institute Season Pass for the next 3 months. We look forward to drawing with you.

Season Pass Sign Up

This basic workshop is a great way to prepare for our other SketchTribe workshops. What You’ll Learn: Introduction to sketching techniques and strategies for drawing from life and imagination. Explore composition and capturing subject matter quickly. We’ll spend time in the studio for introductory lessons; then go outside to sketch architecture and trees. Open to adult beginners. Where: The Scribbles Institute When: Saturday, 2016, 1-4pm Cost: $45 Materials needed: Sketchbook and 2B-9B drawing pencils (We’ve got lots of different pencils and pens for you to try.) Refreshments served.

Intro to Sketchbooking Sign Up

We’ll find some excellent vantage points to sketch the hustle and bustle of Santa Cruz. What You’ll Learn: Practice quickly capturing buildings, trees, and Surf City’s fascinating street life. Open to adult beginners. When: Saturday, 2016, 1-4pm Where: Meet with Rob at location to be announced. Cost: $45 Materials needed: Sketchbook and 2B-9B drawing pencils (various ink pens are cool to try too!)

View Urban Workshop Pics!

Relax at this scenic ranch setting while improving your observational drawing skills. This field-sketching adventure explores composition and how to capture subject matter quickly while drawing historic buildings, animals, trees, and farm equipment. Open to adults, all skill levels—especially beginners Where: Wilder Ranch State Park (Directions: Click Here). Meet Rob at the Victorian yellow house near the entrance, starting at 12:30pm. When: Saturday, 2016, 1-4pm Cost: $45 Materials needed: Sketchbook and 2B-9B drawing pencils (various ink pens are cool to try too!). Portable chair or camping stool recommended. Bring a jacket just in case it gets breezy. Workshop is limited to 12 participants.

Wilder Ranch Sign Up Wilder Ranch Pics

Stroll, with sketchbook in hand, through a wide variety of plant and tree species in this tranquil setting overlooking the Monterey Bay. What You’ll Learn: Practice outdoor field sketching skills while observing various plants and trees. Open to adult beginners Where: UCSC Arboretum (Directions: Click Here). Rob will be at Norrie’s Gift Shop near the entrance, starting at 12:30. When: Saturday, 2016, 1-4pm Cost: $45 Materials needed: Sketchbook and 2B-9B drawing pencils (various ink pens are cool to try too!); a portable chair or camping stool is recommended.

UCSC Arboretum Sketching Sign Up UCSC Arboretum Pics

Enjoy meeting other like-minded iPad sketchers in a friendly studio environment. Absolute beginners and experienced digital natives welcome! The focus of our free Meetups is drawing on the Apple iPad. Exchange ideas about basic drawing techniques, using basic tools in iPad apps, and comparing different styli for tablets. We have all kinds of cool things in the studio to draw. Bring your iPad and your imagination and get ready to have fun drawing. Refreshments served. Where: The Scribbles Institute.  When: Saturday, September 122016, 1-4pm Cost: FREE! Materials needed: Your trusty iPad!

Join Our iPad Drawing Meetup

iPad Workshop Update!
Because of the massive update to the Paper 53 drawing app, just a couple of days ago, our September 19 iPad Drawing Workshop has been postponed. I’ve got to restructure the workshop to integrate the app’s new features—lots of interesting changes! We’ll keep you advised of the new date.

Workshop Details: Our iPad Beginners Drawing Workshop introduces adult beginners to basic digital drawing skills. What You’ll Learn: Get familiar with the tools and features in the Paper 53 app as you sketch from life and imagination. Learn how to create, organize, and share your work. If you’ve taken this workshop before, Rob will have more advanced lessons for you to work on, too. Where: The Scribbles Institute.  When: Saturday, 2016, 1-4pm! Cost: $45 Materials needed: iPad with latest version of Paper 53 loaded and stylus (we have various styli on hand that you can try).  Refreshments served. Workshop is limited to 10 participants.

iPad Drawing For Beginners Sign Up

iPads are very cool for sketching the Santa Cruz nightlife. This adult beginners workshop takes place on the bluff, overlooking the Wharf. What You’ll Learn: Get familiar with the tools and features in the Paper 53 app. Learn iPad sketching techniques for quickly capturing vibrant lights and reflections. Where: Meet with Rob at a Westcliff parking location to be announced.  When: Tuesday, 2016, 7-9pm Cost: $45 Materials needed: iPad with latest version of Paper 53 loaded and stylus.  Workshop is limited to 10 participants.

iPad Night-Sketching Sign Up

In our popular Pastel Drawing  workshop, Cathy Patton, a local artist and teacher, will be showing us basic skills in composition & blending colors. If you’ve taken this workshop before, Cathy will have more advanced lessons for you to work on, too. Limited seating. Where: The Scribbles Institute 303 Potrero #59 Santa Cruz When: Saturday, 2016, 1-4pm Cost: $45 (materials included) Refreshments served

Pastel Drawing Sign Up

What you’ll learn: Begin with foundational skills by learning to express yourself with lines, shapes, patterns, and rhythm. You’ll learn to draw out your inner artist and learn basic composition skills while listening to different genres of music. If you’ve taken this workshop before, Rob will have more advanced lessons for you to work on, too Where: The Scribbles Institute 303 Potrero #59 Santa Cruz, California When: Saturday, 2016, 1-4pm Cost: $45 (materials included) Limited seating. Deadline to register: October 14, 2015

Abstract/Expressive Sign Up

Adult beginners explore using Prismacolor pencils to achieve realism while drawing simple objects. What You’ll Learn: Blending colors, 3D modeling, measuring proportions. Recommended prerequisite: Level 1 Drawing Lab skills. Limited seating. Where: The Scribbles Institute 303 Potrero #59 Santa Cruz When: Saturday, 2016, 1-4pm Cost: $45 (materials included)

Prismacolor Pencil Drawing Basics

This special workshop is for youth students, ages 10-17 years, interested in learning how to sketch concepts and characters for animation, game design, and comics.

What you’ll learn: Santa Cruz book illustrator and comic artist, Brian Bowes will introduce young artists to basic character concept sketching skills. You’ll explore drawing 3D form, how to sketch characters in scene situations with pencil, pens, and charcoal. The emphasis of this workshop is to have fun learning new techniques in sketching a lot of ideas rather than spending a lot of time on highly detailed drawings. Supplies needed: Sketchbook (We have pencils, pens, and other materials to use.)

Who this workshop is for: Youth sketchers, 10-17 years

Where: The Scribbles Institute 303 Potrero #59 Santa Cruz, California

When: Saturday, 2016, 1-4pm

Cost: $45 Limited seating. Refreshments served

Guest Workshop Instructor: Brian Bowes works professionally as an illustrator, and art instructor. Brian has illustrated numerous books and his work has been collected by University Libraries from around the world as well as the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the United States Library of Congress. He graduated with Distinction from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 2006 with a BFA in Illustration, and is currently on target to receive an MFA in Illustration through Hartford University in 2016. He volunteered as the Illustrator Coordinator for the San Francisco North & East Bay region of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) from 2012 to 2014. Brain’s unique and thoughtful illustrations have satisfied a wide variety of professional and private clients.

Visit Brian Bowes’ Website

Youth Character Sketching Sign Up

Santa Cruz Celebrates the Joy of Drawing! The 4th Annual DrawFest is a Santa Cruz event promoting drawing as a way to make the world a better place. This special, nightlong event is in conjunction with the Santa Cruz First Friday Art Tour. Where: The Scribbles Institute When: Friday, October, 2016, 6-9:30pm Cost: Free! Materials needed: We’ve got all the drawing materials you’ll need. All you need to bring is your desire to draw.

Our lively Sketchup gatherings have become a popular First Friday Art Tour event for anyone interested in drawing—beginners & pros alike! Share your ideas or phobias about drawing. Experiment with materials. Get some free coaching. Enjoy a conversation over some pencil doodles or dive into some charcoal sketches from life. This is a great opportunity to meet fellow sketchers. Got a sketchbook? Bring it along. A fun, creative evening for the whole family—and it’s FREE! Where: The Scribbles Institute. When: Friday, June 5, 6-9:30pm Cost: Free!

DrawFest Pics!

Join the fun! Our Santa Cruz Drawing Meetups and iPad Drawing Meetups are great for test-driving the Scribbles Institute studio. Meet like minded sketchy folks. Free activities, demos, lessons, refreshments, and more!

Drawing SketchupDetails

Extremely Fun Drawing Skills For Absolute Beginners—Especially Adults Who Think They Can’t Draw. Rob Court travels to the coolest art store on the planet to conduct his popular drawing workshop. Reconnect with your childhood thrill of drawing as you’re introduced to basic observational drawing skills and techniques. What you’ll learn: We’ll start by learning the overhand, underhand, and tripod pencil grips. Then we’ll begin building foundational skills by drawing with lines, shapes, and patterns. You’ll be introduced to drawing from observation and composition as you learn to measure proportions and see positive/negative space. When: Saturday, December 5, 1-3pm Where: Lenz Arts 142 River Street on the corner of North Pacific and River Street in beautiful Santa Cruz, California Cost: Free! Materials needed: Sketchbook (8.5 x 11″ preferred), Drawing pencils (4B, 6B, 9B recommended)

Beginners Workshop Pics!

Beginners Workshop Info

Happy sketchers, young and old, visit our booth at the Church Street Fair in Santa Cruz. We offer free lessons as well space for sketchers to unleash their freestyle drawing powers. Participants are free to draw for as long as they want and return the next day. The fair is part of the Cabrillo Contemporary Music Festival and attracts a huge Central Coast crowd as well as visitors from around the world.
Where: On Church Street, in front of the Civic Auditorium, downtown Santa Cruz Cost: Free

Church St. Fair Pics!

We’re proud to collaborate with Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH) in engaging events for the whole family such as Art That Moves. Rob Court helps museum participants learn to draw action sports figures such as surfers, skateboarders, snowboarders, and cyclists.

Art That Moves Pics!