The National Art Honor Society (NAHS) had an enlightening artistic experience on Feb. 2, 2021.

Each member was able to participate in several virtual information sessions presented by Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) professor Heather Deyling and director Kalen Curtis. These sessions are an annual event, and each artist is encouraged to grow their artistic skills. 

Deyling began the presentation describing how to draw her landscape picture with watercolor. During Deyling’s instruction, the NAHS members drew their own landscapes.

“I really enjoyed watching Professor Deyling create her watercolor landscape,” said NAHS sponsor and art teacher Anita Hunter. “It’s not very often you have the opportunity to see an artist create a work from start to finish while demonstrating each step and technique. I also enjoyed watching our NAHS members engage in the activity and focus on following the steps and techniques demonstrated.”

“I really enjoyed the workshop because it was a really cool way for all of us in NAHS to be able to attend an event together with everything going on with COVID-19,” said NAHS secretary senior Georgia Gansereit.

“I especially loved that we were [using] the same concepts [of watercolor], but the [landscapes] that we wanted to do,” said sophomore Sophia Rhoades. “It’s like you do what you want to do, but you learn a skill from what you want to do.”

As opposed to previous years when NAHS members were invited to the university-level art programs at the Savannah college, the workshop was staged virtually, raising several challenges.

“Preparing all the supply kits and organizing spaces so we could stay socially distanced was really the biggest challenge,” said Hunter. “Some of our NAHS members are virtual, so providing them supply kits was also a big challenge. Some of our NAHS face-to-face members came in advance of the workshop to prepare and organize supply kits for everyone.”

“Our opportunities for personal growth experiences are very limited,” Hunter added. “I still wanted my students to have a similar experience, but in a COVID safe way.

Throughout this pandemic, SCAD has offered many workshop experiences to both art educators and their students, so asking them to provide a virtual workshop for us was a great option and solution to providing a valuable experience for our NAHS members.”

“I think the fact that we were able to not only listen to the instructions but also see what Professor Deyling was drawing—like her techniques—was really helpful,” said Rhoades. 

Gansereit’s favorite part of the workshop was “learning all of the different ways to layer and add texture to watercolor because it was something [she] had never really seen before.” 

“Overall, the SCAD workshop was a really fun experience, and I would totally do it again,” said the senior.