Needham Community Education

In person or virtual NCE's talented art instructor, Eddie Bruckner, offers private/semi-private lessons both online via Zoom and in-person at your home! Lessons are a minimum of 2 hours long, and each registration allows for 1 person (or 2 people together) to schedule either two 2-hour lessons or four 2-hour lessons directly with Eddie. Open to students of all levels who wish to improve their artistic skills in the medium of their choice. Eddie is typically available for private lessons weekdays during the day as well as some evenings and weekends. Lesson packs are valid until June 30, 2026. There are no refunds or credits for unused time.

Watercolor pencils are a truly unique artistic invention. The versatility of watercolor (or water-soluble) pencil allows you to experience the joys of drawing and painting simultaneously! They are fun and easy to use, whether you are in the studio or on the go. Great for the beginner artist, watercolor pencils are easy to manipulate and offer a lot of control. In this online course, your instructor will guide your learning through demonstrations and a series of drawing/painting exercises, including how to create flat washes, transparent glazes, blending and mixing colors on the palette, and using the watercolor pencils as drawing instruments, making opaque layers, soft gradations and textured strokes, and special effects. Tips and tricks will be revealed along the way. Individual instruction will be provided, with an emphasis on promoting self-expression. All levels are welcome for this relaxed, introductory course. A materials list can be found here.

Bring your drawings to life with the rich layered color of professional colored pencils. Learn essential techniques for shading, blending, and building depth while exploring color theory and composition. Each class offers step-by-step instruction, creative projects, and personalized feedback from professional artist Eddie Bruckner. Whether you’re new to drawing or looking to refine your skills, this course will help you create vibrant, realistic artwork, one layer at a time. A materials list can be found here. Limited to 15.

Unleash your expressiveness and creativity! Professional artist, Eddie Bruckner, will teach you fundamental art concepts that will enable you to express yourself using graphite pencils, sticks, chalk, and charcoal on paper. You will learn about expressive lines and shapes, movement, rhythm and texture. Demonstrations will include important expressive drawing techniques that encourage reactive and intuitive artmaking. Whether a beginner or an avid artist, this workshop will provide exercises in strengthening your observational drawing skills. You’ll learn new ways to view and interpret the world around us, discover how to make compositional choices, and depict form, light and shadow. Beginners-experienced artists are welcome. A materials list can be found here. Limited to 15

This class will introduce abstract painting concepts to artists of all levels. Come experiment and expand your visual boundaries! Explore the visual language of painting in a non-objective, non-figurative fashion and interpret what you see or feel around you as a reflection of your feelings and mood using acrylics. You’ll learn new ways to view and interpret the world and discover how to make compositional choices through line, form, shape, color, texture, and more. Try new and exciting products to build up texture, work colors together, and use a variety of alternative mediums to build up a surface, impasto, texture, gloss, matte, embedding objects into paints. You will be guided through a series of exercises designed to master these important abstract painting concepts and techniques to make great abstract paintings. A materials list can be found here.

If you enjoy working with color, you will LOVE pastels! Discover the beauty of pastels—a medium that combines the immediacy of drawing with the rich color of painting. While there are numerous types of pastels, this introductory class will explore soft pastels (dry sticks of color, not oil pastels). Soft pastels are vibrant in color and are versatile, forgiving, and fun! Depending on the way you use them, you can draw and paint with pastels to create artwork that ranges from detailed sketches to vibrant and expressive paintings. This class will explore various pastel techniques, blending, the use of colored papers, color theory, value, composition, and other topics. Through a variety of exercises and guided projects, students will learn how to use soft pastels to create beautiful landscapes, colorful florals, and more. In addition to step-by-step group instruction, students will receive individualized feedback to help you achieve your goals. This class is intended for beginners with or without a drawing background, as well as advanced artists who would like to explore a new medium or advance their skills. A materials list can be found here.