Tuition and workshops

Workshops

2020
Still Life Textures A Realistic Perspective Australian Pastel Expo Coloundra September 2020
Animal Textures A Realisitc Perspective   Australian Pastel Expo Coloundra September 2020

2019
Animal Textures A Realistic Perspective    Estuary Art Centre Orewa October 19 2019
Animals- A Photorealsitic Perspective IAPS Convention Albuquerque June 2019

2018
Waves in Pastel Kumeu Arts Centre October 2018
Waves in Pastel   Kumeu Art Centre November 2018

2017
1 Day workshop Kapiti Coast October 2017
Animal Portrait Workshop   Kumeu Art Centre August 2017
Animal Portrait Workshop   Howick July 2017
2 Day Workshop PANZ Convention Te Aroha March 2017

Private Tuition

I am currently offering private one on one lessons from my studio in Auckland. If you are a beginner in the use of pastel or have experience I can guide you with techniques, tools and materials, use of colour, and work process.

Tuition is $50 an hour. I am happy to work with individual budgets, whether you come weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

This is my studio space which I share with my husband Michael when he is free to work on his art. It used to be all his office but now is split 3/4 art studio.

Testimonials

Megan Holmes Private Student

I had noticed Julie's amazing art on face book and admired from afar for some months before I noticed someone on her comments talking about lessons. I thought holy moly! I wonder if I have the courage to send a message to an artist of Julies calibre and ask her to teach someone like me with no real art experience at all but a love of art and a want to create it?
Turns out I did and I am so grateful she said yes. Julie has so much patience and is very happy to share her amazing depth of knowledge and talk with you about any of her art pieces and the creative process behind them. I love realism and being able to learn that process is such a gift. I do get frustrated with myself sometimes (as most who put pencil to paper do I imagine) and Julie is so good at de-mistifying something that looks so complex but when broken down becomes achievable and something to grow from.
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. (a quote from William Ward)
Thanks Julie. I am inspired.

Isla Ferrer Private Student

I have had the pleasure of having individual lessons with Julie for over 4 months now. Her work is amazing and inspiring and I am always in awe when I step into her studio. She is so kind and an incredibly patient teacher, always taking the time to explain her techniques and happy to demonstrate over and over again! Julie generously shares everything she knows - not only her techniques but also how to develop and grow as an artist. This is invaluable to anyone who is starting out and it is wonderful to have a teacher who is so encouraging and supportive!!

Dave Saywell Private Student

'I wanted to learn new techniques such as using pastel pencils and sticks. I met Julie when she was working in an art shop and asked her if she was an artist. Julie gave me her card and I looked at her website and was amazed by her work – it was exactly the type of art work that I myself wanted to achieve.
I find myself looking forward to my weekly lesson and am grateful that Julie listens to the suggestions and requests I make. I find Julie to be professional, she makes my lessons easy to follow, is supportive and her feedback is invaluable.
Bottom line is that Julie is an awesome art tutor and I would highly recommend her to anyone.

Anne Cowell Private Student

Recently, I attended several private pastel lessons with Julie Freeman. Until then I had only learned pastels through online videos and classes, and my own experimentation. Julie covered all sorts of aspects such as selection of reference photos and how to get the best from them, as well as various ways to sketch the outline onto your paper. We discussed brands of paper and pastels, and how to select colours for the artwork.
One of the things I found invaluable was to watch her and understand the pressure that she uses – I just didn’t get that online! Julie showed me how to work in small areas the way she does – it’s very clean and tidy, and she’s amazing at it. However, I tried, but it didn’t work for me, as my brain prefers an ‘under painting’ so that I can get an idea of the values over the entire piece. Julie was happy to adapt to help me in the way I felt comfortable. Her blending techniques are great, and some of the things I came to understand is that pastel is more forgiving than I had thought, and one can change and ‘fix’ things, which has given me more confidence to experiment and push myself through any hiccups or problems I encounter. I also learned from Julie how to capture more detail and the importance of sharp pencils for this, and she provided so many tips and tricks which have come in very handy. These lessons have been a good investment.
Anne loves painting animals she has a facebook page under Anne Cowell Art

Julie Sheppard PANZ Scholarship Winner 2015

Julie had been to the Invercargill PANZ Conference and seen my work, so when she was awarded the scholarship chose me as her tutor for the day.
'For me it was great to see how a professional sets up their studio, lots of practical little things were helpful like seeing the different tools and noting down the brands so I could buy them my self, like a good scalpel and how to change the blades, how to sharpen a pastel pencil, and how to use a paint medium. I'm very visual so seeing this happen and how heavy to put it on was just what I needed. Julie showed me how to choose colours and blend them and then use the blended colours, soft and hard pastels, papers- oh It was wonderful ! We got down to business of techniques and laying down the pastels- I have to admit that at one point I got frustrated in my self as it was extending me so much. Julie was very supportive and patient! She gave lots of advice on being a professional too, which was really relevant to me and so appreciated. I've learned so much and it was lovely to meet Julie and her husband Michael. I can highly recommend Julie as a tutor and am excited to get my pastels out again.'
Julie is now a practising artist her work can be seen on www.juliesheppard.co.nz

Betsy Marks Private Student

I recently took a wonderful one-on-one 3-hour class with Julie, having admired her work on facebook for some time now. As it turns out, she's as skilled a teacher as she is an artist. I learned so much in the three hours with her, from tools and process to technique. I tend to be a bit impatient, especially when teachers talk rather than 'do' - but in this case, I furiously scribbled notes because everything she shared was valuable, and i didn't want to miss anything. I've put much of it into practice already. Then we moved onto the actual drawing/painting. I had asked to do waves and it was slow (or rather, I was slow!) and painstaking, and when I left i had only done the tiniest bit of a wave, but it was well worth the effort. The three hours were over in a flash. Julie is very generous with her knowledge and I went away having had a really great experience. If you get the opportunity, I really recommend a class with Julie. Thank you!

Workshops

PANZ National Convention Workshop 2017

My husband Michael and I were asked to teach two workshops
(2 days each) at this years National Convention in Te Aroha. We spent a lot of time preparing and discussing what we were going to include that we felt covered a range of techniques , and was also informative in our chosen style photo realism.

A decision was made to have 3 small studies (14cm x 14cm) that weren’t too difficult, but covered different types of mark making. I chose the enlarged section of a rose and a part of a sheep face, and Michael’s was a rusty lock on old wood. We knew it wasn’t realistic to complete all three over 2 days, but the unanimous decision by the students was to have a go and finish them in their own time at home.
We went over all the tools, and techniques we use, and also talked about photo realism and the use of photography in our work

Both workshops were very enjoyable, with 12 students in the first and 9 in the second, we managed to give everyone a good amount of time with personal discussions and tuition, a luxury of having two tutors. There was lots of laughter, and we felt everyone learnt a lot, which was confirmed with the positive feedback we received.

Many have since completed their small studies and we have seen some of them posted on the PANZ ( Pastel Artists of New Zealand) facebook page already.

Papakura Art Group

October 2016
I was invited out to the Papakura Art group ( Auckland) by Jan Hawkins, to do a talk and demo for a few hours. A lovely enthusiastic group pf of ladies who were attentive, asked lots of questions, and who were inspired to get into the wonderful medium of pastel

A follow up email was sent to me ' Thank you once again for you most informative demonstration today. We all gained a wonderful appreciation of what can be achieved with pastel sticks and pencils.'

Friends of the Auckland Botanic Gardens Painting Group

August 2016
I was asked by Janice who runs this group to come and give a talk about my pastel painting and do a short demonstration. I spoke about my journey into pastel, my work process and showed them some recent pastel paintings. I worked on a small rose demonstration and talked everyone through the process, showing my skills and techniques..
What a wonderful group of artists, very welcoming and enthusiastic, and weren't afraid to ask questions.
This is an email from Diana who was attending. 'Thank you Julie for a wonderful demonstration last Saturday at the Botanic Garden Friends Art meeting. I watched the faces of the other members as you painted and their eyes were fixed on you at work. They were as fascinated as I was. It was delightful to meet you and your husband, and to see your lovely work and watch you applying your technique was inspirational. My best wishes to you both, and continued success with your wonderful art.'

Te Aroha Arts Centre Waikato 2013

At the 2013 PANZ convention in Auckland Raewyn Magon asked if I would be willing to run aworkshop at the Te Aroha Arts Centre. in the Waikato. later that year. After a few weeksplanning the 2 day workshop took place Nov 9th./10th
With almost a full class the time went by rapidly. The day was a series of demonstrations of my process and techniques, followed by the artists having a go themselves. I had everyone work from the same image.
I also had a little time to demonstrate how I render cat hair on a portrait of my cat Casper.
They were a lovely hardworking group of ladies and the feedback was very positive, they were so generous in their words of encouragement and appreciation.
I may even be invited back !!
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Kumeu Art Centre

I recently taught a workshop at the Kumeu Art Centre here in Auckland. ( Oct 2018) The subject was 'Waves A Photorealistic Perspective' A full class with 12 students who worked diligently and enthusiastically. We covered different areas of the wave, using Prismacolour NuPastels and a white pastel pencil.