If you are seeking a superior art school in San Francisco, Art School of Sf Bay is by far the best choice. Assessed my son's skill level to his objective of being exposed to visual art techniques (composition, perspective, and color theory using a variety of media including oil, acrylics, conte, watercolor, ink, and charcoal) to his goal of preparing his portfolio for a prestigious art high school, best flexible price offered for time allowance and adjustable days and hours, personal attention to refine skills, available online classes given the current Covid 19 conditions, safe and artistic environment, friendly instructors, and most importantly responsive to my inquires. My son is going to truly miss Ms Endi for offering her best to ensure he has the artist perspective and skills to move forward with his artistic goals.

Joel P.

San Francisco, CA

____________________

Wonderful art school! My 13 yr old daughter has attended this school for about 2 years now and enjoys it very much! The teachers are very professional, engaging and attentive. They give great feedback, and help to look at your artwork from a different point of view. Student learning various techniques of arts through observing works of classical artists. When the weather is nice, they also have class outdoors!

Natalia D.

Mountain View, CA

____________________

It is very important for an artist to grow, and for a beginner it is very difficult to grow without guidance. Maria gives me the exact guidance that I need. Honest professional critique that helps me see my mistakes and understand why some things aren't working in my painting/drawing. And she always tells me what IS working, which is also quite important. One - because it shows me that, in fact, I did learn something from my previous mistakes and actually improving. And two - because without any positive feedback one might get discouraged very soon. I attended several of her adult classes and later took personal lessons and I am happy that I did. It was a really good kickstart. She helped me to overcome my fear of "white canvas". There was no pressure to make a masterpiece the 1st time. We drew simple objects/figures with ink and it didn't matter if they didn't come out perfect. Again, Maria knows very well how to balance positive feedback with constructive criticism that at the same time makes you feel a little bit proud of your work while learning how to improve. Maria is also very knowledgeable of art history, and will always give references to various artists that apply to the kind of work I am doing. Which is also very important, b.c. we learn a lot by looking at other people's successful work and I personally don't always know what to look for. Bottom line, I recommend Maria for any level artists - whether this is your 1st time holding a pencil/brush, or you want to improve on your skills, she will help you. She is very professional and a sweet person overall.

Maria T.

San Francisco, CA

_____________

This is an excellent art school. My daughter has been taking classes and summer camps there for 4 years since she was 10, and she enjoys every minute of it! Maria is a loving teacher, very talented artist, went through rigorous art school training. Other teachers there are talented and patient too. They offer solid training in drawing/sculpture/digital art, foster personal style in a supportive environment. Their landscape summer camp is a particularly nice opportunity for the young artists to go outside to observe and draw in the park, and it's interesting to know how your kid portrait a lonely tree or a hungry fat goose. The digital art camp's teacher is very professional, even my daughter who draws with Photoshops hours everyday said she learned a lot from the teacher. I'm amazed how my daughter's art has thrived over these years. For kids who love art, this is the definitely the place to go.

Alice K.

Sunnyvale, CA

___________________

This class helped my child advance her artistic skills, especially for life drawing. The skills she learned apply to digital and physical space as well. It was a valuable experience!

Kathy K.

Menlo Park, CA

_____________

My daughter just completed a 14 week art class with Cody Blocker. She learned so much, was engaged in the online curriculum each week and really enjoyed the class. Cody was a great teacher: giving direction, active tutorials and gave individual feedback. Great class!

Shushanik A.

San Jose, CA

_____________

We are in love with this art school. My 7yo son really loves it and when we were trying to switch to something easier - like in the school - he was so upset they're completely different. Here they teach techniques, different material to deal with, different type of coloring and so on and so on. So he's really improved his draw skills; also he is extremely happy to go there and try something new.

Natalie Alshevskaya

Mountain View, CA

___________________

TL/DR: My 5 year old daughter attended to separate camps at the school this summer and they were incredible. Long form: I grew up surrounded by art. I have close friends that are professional artists (painters, dancers, photographers, sculptors and so on) I'm married to an amazing photographer, my stepmother is a (great and inspiring) public school art teacher. I've taken a lot of art classes and know enough to see that, with a few exceptions, most people are doing it all wrong. Some (most) err on the side of concentrating on the "how" and not the "why". You can always tell when that's the case by the cookie-cutter results. Others have a fast and loose approach that is fun and creative, but leaves students on their own when it comes to theory and technique. While much better than the former, and a lot more fun, those tend to be really hit-or-miss when it comest to actually learning anything. This school is one of those rare examples that just nails it. The work that my daughter brought back was both sophisticated (incredibly sophisticated all things considered) but also clearly her own. She has been drawing and painting a lot since (on her own, we never push this on her) and I can tell that she's thinking about composition, uses negative space effectively, and generally speaking went from doodling to a form of self-expression. It's mind-blowing, really. That, and she begs to go back. If you have an opportunity to enroll your kid in any of these classes, don't miss your chance.

Amy Cole

San Francisco, CA