The Exchange Street Gallery, located at the Artists League of the Sandhills in Aberdeen, presents its Art Instructors' Exhibit in the gallery for the month of January.

On Sunday, Jan. 8, from 2 to 5 p.m., the League will host a reception during which the instructors will demonstrate in oil, acrylics, watercolor, collage, soft pastels, pencil drawing, alcohol-based inks and digital art. This reception is free and open to those interested.

"If you would like to learn to paint or you have years of experience, there will be a class for you," says a spokesman. "These demos offer an excellent opportunity to meet the instructors, view their work, ask questions and see them demonstrate in their media; most importantly, sign-up for classes will be available."

There will be classes for everyone. For example, for beginners there are several classes offered in drawing. Many artists want to jump into painting without the basics that will enhance their painting skills.

"Drawing and Sketching" with Pat McMahon is a class specifically for the beginning artist or those artists who have not had lessons in light, shading, perspective and drawing.

Barbara Sickenberger can teach anyone to draw, and her upcoming class "Where Do I Begin? Drawing Prep for a Still Life Painting" will take you to the next level. Each student will learn drawing preparation for subsequent still-life painting, including selecting subjects, arranging the composition, and finishing a sketch, complete with proportion and value study.

JJ Love will give the artist a little different perspective. In "Point-of-View City Drawing," learn to draw a city from a birds-eye-view, from a distance at eye level, and from a worm's-eye view.

"These drawing exercises will establish skills that will improve all your art," says the spokesman.

"Follow the Leader" with instructor Joan Williams is not only a beginning oil painting class, but a truly unique experience.

"If you ever felt you might like to try painting in oil, but lacked confidence or felt you had no skills, then this is the class for you," says the spokesman. "All materials will be provided; you only need to come expecting to have an exciting day, learn some basic skills and go home with a completed painting."

Diane Kraudelt began drawing as a youngster, trained to be a commercial artist, and will teach a beginning oil painting class, "Creating with Oils." This class will help participants start the process of creating with oils. Oil painting is very versatile, varying from thick, rich impasto techniques to thin layer glazing techniques, which give a luminous depth to a painting. These techniques as well as brushes, paints, canvas preparation, color mixing and more are explained during this two-week class for beginning oil painters.

Linda Bruening will offer two classes, the first of which is "Getting from the Drawing to the Oil Painting: How Do I Begin?"

"Transferring your idea to the canvas and beginning to paint is the starting point," says the spokesman. "You have begun painting in oils but are having problems with the book instructions or understanding what the terms mean or the practical applications. If so, this class is for you."

Bruening has been teaching at the League since 2007. Her second class, "Using Impasto Techniques in Oils or Acrylics," will be tailored for the intermediate painter, and she will share her techniques from glazing to impasto.

In "Painting the Human Form Abstractly," JJ Love will teach the artist to paint quickly and abstractly from life in this short pose class. Students will paint a live model, for a series of three to four paintings, increasing the abstraction and composition each time.

"Any paint media is welcome," says the spokesman.

Picasso looked at the world in a different way, and in doing so created a new art form that shows multiple perspectives of an image, while also breaking down the form into simpler shapes.

JJ Love will take the artist into the world of "Cubist Form Painting."

"Learn to sketch and then paint like a cubist over the course of two days," says the spokesman.

Breaking down a landscape, portrait or still life into value patterns is one of the most important things an artist can do to prepare for a successful painting. In Betty Dibartolomeo's "Understanding Light and Shadow," participants will learn how to explore all possibilities of light and shadow patterns and finally how to relate those values to color.

Betty Hendrix, a longtime member and instructor at the Artists League, is a Signature Member of the Colored Pencil Society of America and a member of the Pastel Society of North Carolina. Her drawings and paintings have been juried into more than 60 national and international exhibitions around the country.

Hendrix will be offering several classes in beginning colored pencil and soft pastel. Learn about the various supplies available in colored pencils and basic application techniques. "Soft Pastels" is a medium that is easy to learn and full of color and fun. Follow up with an intermediate/advanced class, "Colored Pencil on Mylar," and an intermediate/ advanced class, "Soft Pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes Paper."

June Rollins packs the house with her watercolor classes, and it is expected that she will do the same when she teaches a beginning alcohol ink class, "Dreamscaping"

"Bring out your inner artist with a spirit of play using alcohol inks, a highly unpredictable but extremely forgiving, unconventional medium that has the look of stained glass," says a spokesman.

The newest instructor at the League has all her participants exclaiming how organized and thorough she is, giving everyone detailed written instructions on what she goes over in the class.

Loretta Moskal will again teach "Introduction to Chinese Brush Painting," and no experience is necessary. This watercolor class will cover the use and versatility of what are called the four treasures: the Ink Stick, the Ink Stone, the Paper and the Brush. She will also cover the strokes that the artist needs to master: the Four Gentlemen. Painting demonstrations, practice handouts and personal help will be provided.

As a follow-up, Moskal will offer "Intermediate Chinese Brush Painting: The Lotus, the Kingfisher and Koi." This class will go deeper into planning the painting composition and subjects, loading the brush for one-stroke application, using color washes to create atmosphere and the idea of water, painting the Lotus, and painting Koi under the water. She will also introduce bird painting through the painting of the colorful Kingfisher.

Irene Dobson will be teaching "Watercolors Fast and Loose" - painting loose and juicy watercolors using wet into wet washes as well as a more controlled method using >dry brush with lots of water. >

Karen Walker, a most popular instructor, will review the basic techniques for applying and lifting ink, adding texture and more in "Ink Refresher." Some ink painting experience is required.

Though Sandy Stratil started out as a watercolor painter, in the last several years, she moved to mixed media and collage works. This class, "Collaging Out of the Box," will introduce students to collage using tissue paper, found objects, materials and photo-transfers. Anyone is welcome to take this workshop, both those who have had it before and new students. No special experience is required.

Ann Campbell, award winner and working artist in her 25th year teaching drawing and painting at Sandhills Community College, will join Barbara Sickenberger to teach a class in "Spirituality in Art" combining watercolor and Haiku poetry.

Looking for a different way to paint? Try "Digital Art: Brushes, Brushes Everywhere but Not a Drop of Paint."

JJ Love will teach participants to manipulate digital brushes to create any brush stroke imaginable and create brushes to be used for painting or stamping. All students must have their own laptop and a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Watch for additional classes to be scheduled throughout the year with the following instructors: "Watercolor on Yupo" with Tommy McDonell; "Watercolor" with Andrea Schmidt; "Learn to Journal: Simple Contour Ink Drawing with Watercolor or Watercolor Pencils" with Betty Hendrix; "Break it Down: Geometric Abstract" with JJ Love; "Intermediate Ink Painting" with Karen Walker.

The Artists League is located at 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen.

For more information, call (910) 944-3979 or visit -website at www.artistleague. org.

The League office is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, noon to 3 p.m.