Collection: Short Courses

Develop your drawing skills and unleash your creativity in structured, live online classes led by Rachel Fairfax. Designed to mimic a studio-style experience, each lesson focuses on a specific theme with practical drawing exercises, demonstrations, and interactive engagement.

Develop your drawing skills and unleash your creativity in structured, live online classes led by Rachel Fairfax. Designed to mimic a studio-style experience, each lesson focuses on a specific theme with practical drawing exercises, demonstrations, and interactive engagement.

Reignite your curiosity in this engaging course designed for beginners or those returning to the sketchbook. Explore observational foundations—line, tone, and perspective—while gaining confidence in creating drawings from life. Each week you’ll develop skills through expressive use of charcoal, Conté, ink and pastel, working from images and objects, inspired by the vibrant NAS campus.

Are you new to painting or looking to expand your practice? In this inspiring course you will explore materials and techniques, including gouache, acrylic paint, and collage. Emphasizing play, experimentation, and introducing historical references, you’ll build confidence, develop personal expression, and discover new ways of making paintings beyond representation.

Do you want to take a deeper dive into the complex and exciting world of the Australian Art industry? In this short course you’ll discover a creative industry that is a rich and layered entity, bridging public and commercial galleries, auction houses and corporate collections. 

This exciting course combines textiles with creative drawing using diverse techniques with paper, fabric, collage, assemblage. Including sketching, painting, weaving and embroidering lines on the surface of papers and textiles, exploring the materiality of different surfaces. 

Would you like to take a line for a walk with experimental contour drawing? How about tapping into your creativity and becoming one with ink while drawing? Experience the art of using your whole being when you draw, and see your drawing expand beyond its current horizon.

Capturing the subtle details of the face requires strong observational and drawing skills, and learning to draw portraits becomes achievable when broken down into key components. By understanding these foundational principles, you’ll enhance your portraits and enrich your sketchbook with greater confidence.

This hands-on workshop will strengthen your drawing practice and introduce you to the magic of analogue animation methods. You’ll explore dynamic mark-making, gestural drawing, and develop strategies for capturing movement and complete a short animation.

Learn to take full creative control of your camera through hands-on sessions in manual exposure, depth of field, and motion. Put exposure and composition principles into practice in the studio and outdoors. Gain confidence in developing your technical skills, creative vision, and digital workflow for polished, expressive photography. 

Are you interested in the history of drawing and would like to refine your skills? Learn the classical drawing techniques of silverpoint on prepared paper, red and black chalk on tinted paper and ink drawing with reed pen, quill and brush. With demonstrations and practical methods to inspire your contemporary drawing practice.  

This course explores techniques and mediums of acrylic painting, composition, colour, representation, collage and the use of text in art. Experiment with abstracting from reality including landscape elements, still life, space or the figure.

Explore the varied processes of screenprinting starting with basic stencils and moving into photographic techniques. Learn how to create original prints from drawings, photographs and existing images, as well as how to use the darkroom and the computer for photographic processes with image separations and colour mixing. 

Learn the fine art of copper plate etching, a medium both steeped in tradition and one that allows for exciting approaches to contemporary art making. In this 2-day workshop discover various methods to create a small edition of prints in the beautiful NAS etching studios.  

Learn to draw forms and structures of the human head, facial features, body dynamics and discover the connection between the ‘character’ and the ‘face’. Using pencil, charcoal, ink, wash and collage, to make quick sketches and sustained drawings from plaster casts, live models and a self-portrait.

Are you eager to begin your drawing journey and unlock your innate creativity? Join this beginner’s course to develop essential drawing skills, gain confidence and teach you solid foundations upon which to build your art practice.

In this two-day workshop, you will learn how to hand build three-dimensional forms and sculptural wall works out of clay. Working with slab building techniques, explore ceramic forms as well as surface design and decoration through a use of slip, underglaze, sgraffito and carving techniques to create personal stories with clay. 

Join a comprehensive, foundation course in figure drawing to develop your technical skills and gain confidence in capturing the human form in dynamic poses in the drawing studio and in real-world environments. 

Explore the representational, atmospheric, and emotive possibilities of tonal drawing. Working from set ups and life models, you will learn to perceive and convey lights and darks in your work in a friendly and supportive environment.

If you love contemporary art and are thinking about starting a collection but aren’t sure where to begin, this course introduces you to the art world, exploring the different motivations people have for collecting art, whether for investment, aesthetic satisfaction or simply fascination. Learn from experts and gain the confidence to navigate the gallery system.