Chelsea Drawing & Painting Workshops
Classes in NYC

I took the Fundamentals of Drawing and Painting class and have enjoyed every minute of it! I highly recommend this class to anyone looking to build a strong foundation in drawing, whether you’re a complete beginner or returning to art after a long break. The instructor explains concepts like mark making, proportion, and measuring in a clear, systematic way that makes challenging techniques feel approachable. Learning to create a value scale completely changed how I think about light, depth, and form, and I was surprised by how much my drawings improved in just a few sessions. The class strikes a great balance between group demonstrations and personalized feedback, so you always know what to work on next without feeling overwhelmed. The learning environment is warm, supportive, and inspiring, with a small class size that encourages creativity while giving everyone plenty of individual attention. I left each session feeling more confident, motivated to keep practicing, and excited to continue taking classes with this instructor.

My girlfriend and I really enjoyed taking Fundamentals of Drawing & Painting and learned a great deal in a short amount of time. One of the most valuable concepts we learned was mark-making (mark-mapping), which helped us observe subjects more carefully and translate what we saw onto the page with greater confidence. We also gained a better understanding of proportion, value, light, and shadow, which made our drawings feel more accurate and dimensional. Raphael was an excellent teacher - patient, knowledgeable, and always willing to provide helpful feedback that met students where they were! The learning environment was welcoming and supportive, and it was inspiring to learn alongside other students who were equally excited to improve their skills. What we appreciated most was the focus on observation and process rather than perfection, which made the class approachable and enjoyable. We left feeling much more confident in our abilities and are excited to continue building on these fundamentals. We hope to keep learning and growing as artists with Raphael moving forward.

A serious class that doesn't take itself too seriously! Great for beginners. The intimidation I felt stepping into class vanished as soon as Raul started teaching. There's a brief presentation and you are thrown into the fire! The best way to learn is to do, I guess. Raul stays engaged with everyone as they create. He gives positive feedback as well as thoughtful suggestions to how you can add to your work. He doesn't just instruct, he teaches. Class feels like a casual conversation and we even learn a little bit of art history throughout. What made me choose this course as opposed to other highly rated courses, was the reviews saying how beginner friendly this series is. And I could see in the photos of the class that everyone seemed happy to be there. All art styles are encouraged, so it's a reassuring environment.

Had a great time in the fundamentals of drawing and painting class. It took place at Raphael's cozy home studio. I'm new to art and was nervous but in the end felt very comfortable. Raphael taught me a lot and I've been able to use some of the things I've learned on my own. There were students of various levels, some regulars and some new. They were all very nice and supportive. It's a great environment to learn about different types of art not just what you're interested in. I would definitely recommend this class if you're a beginner like me.

Great class - super relaxed and supportive atmosphere. Highly recommend

This art class profoundly improved both my technical skills and conceptual understanding. I learned how to create spatial depth using two-point perspective and how to render realistic lights and shadows using charcoal. A crucial part of this process was training my eye to observe colored objects and accurately translate their relative brightness and darkness into grayscale values. Beyond these techniques, diving into the philosophy behind artwork taught me that creating art is about communicating deeper meaning and intention, rather than just technical reproduction.

I really enjoyed this fundamental drawing class. The instructor is very professional and explains everything clearly with a lot of patience. He is always encouraging and makes sure every student feels supported and confident. I also really enjoy talking with him about different topics, from art to life, which makes the class feel even more inspiring. Through this course, I learned how to use charcoal to draw still life and how to use value to create a strong sense of three-dimensional form. I also improved my coloring techniques so my work looks more realistic. Overall, it has been a very enjoyable and inspiring experience.

We learned about mark making, proportion, value scales, blending with charcoal, using tools like compressed charcoal pencils, different sizes of erasers, tortillons (blending tool), and how to distinguish between color and value for black and white drawing. The learning environment is also incredible. The workshop is covered in art and quotes and teachings, and the experience is as much a philosophical one as it is an artistic one, which I enjoyed immensely. We learned about different aspects of Greek and Roman art philosophies, Japanese aesthetics and poetry, and how great artists like Leonardo Da Vinci thought about their pursuit of art. Our teacher provided us each with one-on-one instruction as we worked through our art, and demonstrated how to improve our techniques with each additional session.

This class was truly eye opening. I found it insightful in both drawing technigue & in "seeing/thinking" like an artist. What I learned about value & form, I believe, will really help me improve as an artist & I can't wait to start drawing more and apply it. I would highly recommend it for all levels.

This class is wonderful! I attended as a way to bring some creativity back into the cold winter months, as someone who has always loved art but never taken it very seriously. I learned a great deal about understanding proportion, value, and implementing color in a thoughtful way into a piece. The workshop is beautiful, and feels like the perfect place to be taking an art class. Rafael is a patient, kind, and funny instructor who makes sure to divide his time evenly amongst the students and give thoughtful feedback and aid on each piece. He encourages his students to think outside of the box, helps them take a step back when they are frustrated, and clearly cares deeply about art, his class, and his students. Would recommend to anyone!

I really enjoyed the courses! Raphael meets you where you’re at and helps develop you as an artist. I appreciate the techniques I learned over the three sessions that I’ll be able to take with me moving forward. Raphael taught me how to get proportions correct and a few tricks for breaking down complex objects into simple shapes. And through the use of charcoal, I was able to learn about the importance of contrasting light and dark values. I definitely recommend taking these classes regardless of skill level.

I have been drawing on my own since I was a child with only random art classes in high school as any training, so I finally decided to take a real art class and make some serious improvements. This class exceeded my expectations. Charcoal was a revelation and having Raphael push me to use very dark values was both terrifying and rewarding. The other students in the class were so wonderful to talk to and seeing the impressive work of the students who had been working with Raphael for a long time was so inspiring. I plan on taking more of his classes.

These classes were incredibly helpful and have improved my art exponentially. The instructor taught me how to draw correct proportions with a mark mapping technique. I’ve also learned how to draw with charcoal and how to blend values. His advice and teaching methods are very useful and easy to understand. I’ve been able to learn the importance of making mistakes as he reminds all of the students that erasing is necessary. I’d recommend this class to anyone, as he creates a welcoming environment and encourages students to engage with each other.

I had a really good time with this course! The instructor created a welcoming environment for everyone. As someone who has never did a class like this before, I felt like a learned a lot over the course of 3 weeks, and I hope to continue drawing as the class ends. One thing that the instructor said that really stuck with me was that drawing is not something I'll nail in 3 weeks, but it's a lifetime skill. I think before I was always hesitant to start drawing because of how bad I was and embarrassed I was show to others my progress. But from this course, I've learned that as long as long as I'm consistent and I have my artistic license, I'll continue to get better. I would highly recommend this course to anyone interested in drawing.

Rafael’s art class in Chelsea was such a wonderful experience. I hadn’t done art seriously in over a decade, so I came in feeling both excited and nervous, with pretty high expectations for myself. From the very first class, Rafael created a calm, supportive space that helped ease that pressure. He guided me in a way that allowed me to explore the subject freely and reconnect with a creative part of myself that I had truly missed. I took three classes, and each one felt like a meaningful refresher...not just technically, but emotionally as well. It reminded me why I loved making art in the first place. The environment is incredibly welcoming and friendly; everyone was chatty and open, which made the whole experience even more enjoyable. I’m already looking forward to taking more classes here and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to (re)discover their creativity in a supportive setting.

I enjoyed the class. The long class length is great. I really like being there for the 2 1/2 hours and just working on the art. Rafael has a fun personality and helps create a good environment. The other students are a good crowd as well. The learning style is basically just jumping in.

I had a really good time with this course! The instructor created a welcoming environment for everyone. As someone who has never did a class like this before, I felt like a learned a lot over the course of 3 weeks, and I hope to continue drawing as the class ends. One thing that the instructor said that really stuck with me was that drawing is not something I'll nail in 3 weeks, but it's a lifetime skill. I think before I was always hesitant to start drawing because of how bad I was and embarrassed I was show to others my progress. But from this course, I've learned that as long as long as I'm consistent and I have my artistic license, I'll continue to get better.

The long sessions are great, it’s a good opportunity to really get into what you’re doing. I enjoyed Rafael’s occasional digressions about life and art. If any suggestions it would be to send people home with a printout of some of the information he runs through on the first class in his powerpoint. I like to memorize some of the basic information about a domain to have some way to get my bearings as a beginner.