William E. Elston: Classes: Home

Privacy Settings

Language Selector. Press to change the Cookie Notice language.

When you visit any web site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience.

Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.

In some cases, data obtained from cookies is shared with third parties and may be considered a “sale of personal information” under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). You can exercise your right to opt-out of that sharing at any time by disabling cookies.

Disable All

Enable All

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Show Cookies

Name

Description

Analytics Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources, so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies, we will not know when you have visited our site.

Show Cookies

Name

Description

Functional Cookies

These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.

Show Cookies

Name

Description

Targeting Cookies

These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Show Cookies

Name

Description

Category 5

Category 5 description...

Show Cookies

Name

Description

Category 6

Category 6 description...

Show Cookies

Name

Description

Cancel

Save & Close

MENU

William E. Elston

Classes

SCROLL DOWN

TOTAL LANDSCAPE

ONLINE GROUP CRITIQUES

ONLINE PRIVATE CRITIQUES

SESSION CREDIT WALLET

SUBSCRIPTIONS CLASS INQUIRIES

STUDENT LOGIN

TOTAL LANDSCAPE

ONLINE GROUP CRITIQUES

ONLINE PRIVATE CRITIQUES

SESSION CREDIT WALLET

OGC SUBSCRIPTIONS CLASS INQUIRIES

STUDENT LOGIN

Total Landscape

The Total Landscape presents different methods of representing the landscape, including painting en plein air, scaling up in the studio, working from memory and imagination. We also touch on the use of photo references, video references and digital manipulation of the landscape image. The instruction is based in historical traditions, including the history of technical evolution.

En Plein Air Sessions are held in the greater Seattle area, including Snoqualmie Valley, Snohomish Valley, Eastside, Pioneer Square, Washington Park Arboretum, Discovery Park, etc. Plein air sites are selected based on aesthetic interest and relative convenience.

Studio Sessions are held via interactive Zoom sessions and limited occupancy live studio demo.

Times

Times: This class meets from approx. mid-April to approx. mid-November, depending on weather conditions. Class times are 10 AM to 2:30 PM on either Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Alternate days may also be offered if weather is inclement on designated class days.
Equipment & Materials

Equipment & Materials: Session fees do not cover the cost of equipment and painting materials, including easels or other required items
Cancellation

Cancellation: Classes are scheduled based on the number of students enrolled. If insufficient enrollment results in a full cancellation, then a full refund will be made.
First Time Signup

First Time Signup: Discounts are available for either first time students or for students that have not been in class for two years or more. If either of these apply to you, please enter the coupon code listed below into the shopping cart coupon field, then click apply to receive your discount.
Enrolled Student Discount

Enrolled Student Discount: Students that are already enrolled and have remaining session credits will also receive a discount automatically, if they are logged in when they make the purchase.
Refund Policy

Refund Policy: Once purchased, Session Credits for Online Group Critique, Private Critique and Plein Air are non-refundable, unless the entire class is canceled by the instructor. There are no other exceptions.

Email: It is essential that I be able to reach you via email, for scheduling purposes, cancellations, etc. Please add my email address to your contact list to prevent these emails from being segregated into your SPAM folder. My address is [email protected] .
Subscriptions

Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions are available. Inquire via the SUBSCRIPTIONS sidebar link. There are two offerings: OGC Only; THE WHOLE SHEBANG, which includes Plein Air sessions and Online Group Critique sessions.
Pricing

Pricing: Session Credits are available in packages of 5, 10, 16 or 32. En Plein Air sessions are 2 session credits, Studio Demos and Online Group Critique sessions are 1 session credit. Your 'wallet' of session credits is incremented for only the classes that you take, and remaining session credits carry over to the following year.

En Plein Air session = 2 session credits
Studio Demos = 1 session credit

Session Credits can be purchased in various packages of 5, 10, 16 and 32. Click on the link in the sidebar, or on the wallet icon above.

Once signed up, you will receive an email with details about the class and login information for the website.

All enrollments, including Total Landscape, Online Group Critiques and Private Critiques come with access to private, password protected web pages that present resources for artists. These resources include recommended reading, materials lists, recommended apps, hundreds of artists' quotes, shop talk and links. These resources are revised and added to on a regular basis.

Online Group Critiques

Online Group Critiques are held every Tuesday at 4 PM PST. They begin with individual critiques of submitted works, sometimes with visual aids or source comparisons. The critique is followed with a special topic discussion of technical or art historical material. This includes an extensive slide show. Occasionally the special topic may include live, in-studio demonstration.

Archives

Archives: The critiques utilize the Zoom app and private, password accessible webpages. The web pages serve to aid the presentation and critique, and are archived along with a recording of the complete session. Currently there are over 100 hours of archived material, accessible by all participants enrolled in the program.
Single Sessions

Single Sessions: Single sessions are availabel via Venmo for $35 per session. Payment must be made in advance in order to receive the zoomlink. You can find me on Venmo as William Elston or username @jacquesboot. Single session participants do not have access to the archives.
Subscriptions

Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions are available. Inquire via the SUBSCRIPTIONS sidebar link. There are three offerings: OGC Only; OGC + Studio Demo, and THE WHOLE SHEBANG, which includes Plein Air sessions, Studio Demo sessions and Online Group Critique sessions.
Pricing

Pricing: Session Credits are available in packages of 5, 10, 16 or 32. En Plein Air sessions are 2 session credits, Studio Demos and Online Group Critique sessions are 1 session credit. Your 'wallet' of session credits is incremented for only the classes that you take, and remaining session credits carry over to the following year.
Refund Policy

Refund Policy: Once purchased, Session Credits for Online Group Critique, Private Critique and Plein Air are non-refundable, unless the entire class is canceled by the instructor. There are no other exceptions.

Email: It is essential that I be able to reach you via email, for scheduling purposes, cancellations, etc. Please add my email address to your contact list to prevent these emails from being segregated into your SPAM folder. My address is [email protected] .

Online Group Critique = 1 session credit

Session Credits can be purchased in various packages of 5, 10, 16 and 32. Click on the link in the sidebar, or on the wallet icon above.

Once signed up, you will receive an email with details about the class and login information for the website.

All enrollments, including Total Landscape, Online Group Critiques and Private Critiques come with access to private, password protected web pages that present resources for artists. These resources include recommended reading, materials lists, recommended apps, hundreds of artists' quotes, shop talk and links. These resources are revised and added to on a regular basis.

Online Private Critiques

Students occasionally need a “third eye,” someone that can tell them how their artwork “reads” to someone other than themselves. A critique can provide critical analysis of a painting’s composition, color, brushwork and narrative. Ongoing critiques can help the student develop the critical faculties essential to producing expressive and well executed art.

This service has been developed to provide critique on a per session/painting basis, with discounts for packages of multiple sessions.. It utilizes image annotation software in order to provide a comprehensive critique of a specific painting. The critique covers positive aspects of the painting, and highlights problem areas that the student may not be aware of.

Online Private Critiques are implemented on a private website, accessible only by the artist and the student. The process begins with the student signing up for the service, at which time they will be sent a username/password for the private website. They can then upload an image or images, depending on the number of sessions, using the page’s dropbox. Once the artist has reviewed the image, an annotated version will be made available on the website.

Refund Policy: Once purchased, Session Credits for Online Group Critique, Private Critique and Plein Air are non-refundable, unless the entire class is canceled by the instructor. There are no other exceptions.

Email: It is essential that I be able to reach you via email, for scheduling purposes, cancellations, etc. Please add my email address to your contact list to prevent these emails from being segregated into your SPAM folder. My address is [email protected] .

Online Private Critiques can also be purchased with session credits:

Online Private Critique = 4 session credits

Session Credits can be purchased in various packages of 5, 10, 16 and 32. Click on the link in the sidebar, or on the wallet icon above.

Online Private Critiques can also be purchased individually, or with a quantity discount if you purchase 5.

$100 per session

If you purchase 5 sessions you will get a $75 discount.
Just adjust the quantity for the item in the shopping cart and the discount will be automatically applied.

All enrollments, including Total Landscape, Online Group Critiques and Private Critiques come with access to private, password protected web pages that present resources for artists. These resources include recommended reading, materials lists, recommended apps, hundreds of artists' quotes, shop talk and links. These resources are revised and added to on a regular basis.

Session Credit Wallet

Purchase Session Credits

You can purchase session credits here, and apply them to Total Landscape Classes (2 credits for en plein air sessions, 1 credit for studio demo,) Online Group Critiques (1 credit) or Online Private Critiques (4 credits.)

Credits are incremented downward only for classes that you take, and session credits remaining at the end of the year carry over to the next year.

$125 for 5 session credits

A discount of $25 is applied if you are already enrolled in classes. You must be logged in to get this discount.

A New Student discount can be applied by entering this coupon code in the shopping cart:

1stTIMER-5

$235 for 10 session credits

A discount of $40 is applied if you are already enrolled in classes. You must be logged in to get this discount.

A New Student discount can be applied by entering this coupon code in the shopping cart:

1stTIMER-10

$370 for 16 session credits

A discount of $65 is applied if you are already enrolled in classes. You must be logged in to get this discount.

A New Student discount can be applied by entering this coupon code in the shopping cart:

1stTIMER-16

$660 for 32 session credits

A discount of $80 is applied if you are already enrolled in classes. You must be logged in to get this discount.

A New Student discount can be applied by entering this coupon code in the shopping cart:

1stTIMER-32

Refund Policy: Once purchased, Session Credits for Online Group Critique, Private Critique and Plein Air are non-refundable, unless the entire class is canceled by the instructor. There are no other exceptions.

Email: It is essential that I be able to reach you via email, for scheduling purposes, cancellations, etc. Please add my email address to your contact list to prevent these emails from being segregated into your SPAM folder. My address is [email protected] .

Bank Statement: Purchases will appear on your bank statement as WEELSTONFA.

All enrollments, including Total Landscape, Online Group Critiques and Private Critiques come with access to private, password protected web pages that present resources for artists. These resources include recommended reading, materials lists, recommended apps, hundreds of artists' quotes, shop talk and links. These resources are revised and added to on a regular basis.

Most Recent Blogposts

25th Anniversary of the Plein Air Workshop!

The end of this current plein air season will mark the 25th year that I've been offering private, ongoing plein air workshops in the Greater Seattle Area.

Not many people today realize that in 1995 I initiated the first plein air classes at what is now called The Gage Academy, but was then called the Academy of Realist Art. I had been teaching there for at least a year prior to this, at which time I tried to introduce sight-size and other 19th century derived academic practices. This was met with much resistance. In 1997 I parted company with the academy, and at the request of my students, spearheaded by artist Sue Perry, I began teaching the plein air classes independently.

Read More Comments

25th Anniversary of the Plein Air Workshop!

The end of this current plein air season will mark the 25th year that I've been offering private, ongoing plein air workshops in the Greater Seattle Area.

Not many people today realize that in 1995 I initiated the first plein air classes at what is now called The Gage Academy, but was then called the Academy of Realist Art. I had been teaching there for at least a year prior to this, at which time I tried to introduce sight-size and other 19th century derived academic practices. This was met with much resistance. In 1997 I parted company with the academy, and at the request of my students, spearheaded by artist Sue Perry, I began teaching the plein air classes independently.

Read More Comments

plein air seattle landscape oil painting classes

Plein Air Classes Resume

We've set a tentative date of June 10, 10am - 2:30pm for the resumption of Plein Air Class sessions in the Greater Seattle area. First session will meet at the home of one of the participants, featuring spacious decks with elevated views of Mt. Baker, the North Cascades and Lake Sammamish. More information can be found on the Classes page. #pleinairpainting,#greaterseattle,#outdoors,#landscapepainting,#oilpainting,#paintingclasses

Read More Comments

plein air classes landscape painting greater seattle oil painting

Plein Air Classes Resume

We've set a tentative date of June 10, 10am - 2:30pm for the resumption of Plein Air Class sessions in the Greater Seattle area. First session will meet at the home of one of the participants, featuring spacious decks with elevated views of Mt. Baker, the North Cascades and Lake Sammamish. More information can be found on the Classes page. #pleinairpainting,#greaterseattle,#outdoors,#landscapepainting,#oilpainting,#paintingclasses

Read More Comments