Cozy up inside with crafts! ๐Ÿงถ

Cozy up inside with crafts! ๐Ÿงถ
We're just a few days away from the equinox! If summer's kept you away and busy, slow down and settle in with fall and dig into some of those art projects!ย 

Come hang out at some of our free monthly meetups or sign up to take some classes! Try something new, revisit a medium you've been away from, or just see how others tackle a medium you know well! There's always something to learn!
Notes & Reminders
Punk Rock Flea Market!
We'll be at PRFM all this weekend at the Quality Flea Center on Capitol Hill!

Tons of amazing artists, vintage dealers, and thrift hoarder treasure troves will be there, along with us! We'll have our handmade inks, paints, and other goodies! Make plans to come check it all out!
Teen Art After School
The first 5-class series of our fall Teen Art Program, MAKING COMICS, is underway! You're welcome to join late, or you can plan ahead for the next two 5-class series, Fundamentals of Printmaking and/or The Art of Illustration!

Sign up for one or both! Don't forget, this program is FREE!

Have a younger kid? Coming soon in October...
This Week
Pastels are sometimes an overlooked as a medium, existing in a grey area between other materials, but that also means they hit a certain sweet spot. Explore Illustration in Oil Pastel and see what you can do with pastels!
TONIGHT, September 16, 6:00 PM: Shrinky dinks are still a thing, and they're more versatile than you might think! Draw some stuff, watch it shrink, then turn the shrunken goods into pins, brooches, jewelry, and more, at Shrink n' Drink! We'll bring the shrinks; you bring the drinks. ;) ๐Ÿธ(PS non-alcoholic stuff is totally cool! <3)

TONIGHT, September 16, 6:00 PM: Ballard Sketch Team meets at Hattie's Hat as always! Come hang out and doodle! See what others are up to (check out this cool drawing Michael did last time!) and be inspired! Toss ideas around! It's fun! ๐Ÿ” FREE MEETUP.

Wednesday, September 17, 5:30 PM: This month's Drawing Techniques will focus on working your imagination! Mix and match your favourite animals to create new critters while honing construction skills to make your creature more plausible! ๐Ÿ‰TWO SPOTS LEFT.

Thursday, September 18, 6:00 PM: Life's busy and there's always so much going on. It can be hard to find time to dedicate to crafting words and poetry. Make plans to join us at Part-Time Poets' Club! Put it on the calendar instead of waiting for time and space to magically appear! Get those words down and inspire others to do the same! ๐Ÿ’ป FREE MEETUP.

Friday, September 19, 11:00 AM: Okay, THIS ONE is the PENULTIMATE Botanical Sketching, for realisies. The one after this one on the 26th is the last one. Once October rolls in, there will be no more until spring! Let's enjoy this perfect weather and spend some time in the garden before the rain hits! ๐Ÿ—“๏ธ

Friday, September 19, 3:00 PM: Come create paintings with a medium that uses elements of both drawing and painting at Illustration in Oil Pastel! Oil pastels are wonderful for capturing a scene in a more impressionistic way. Come learn how!

Friday, September 19, 8:00 PM: Our monthly Figure Drawing session is here! No matter how many times you revisit it, the human body is beautiful, weird, and complicated. Whether you're brushing up your foundations or seeking deeper understanding of how the body moves, twists, bends, and settles, a live model helps, and company doesn't hurt! ๐Ÿ‘ฏโ€โ™‚๏ธ

Saturday, September 20, 5:30 PM: Learn the basics of Risograph printing and why everyone is so into it while making a set of custom bookplates for your wonderful collection of amazing books you'll read someday! Once you've adorned your tomes with your own ex libris mark, you'll definitely be inspired to tackle the pages... This probably isn't a callout post for anyone!! Nope! Join us for Custom Bookplates on Risograph!! ๐Ÿ“š

Sunday, September 21, 3:00 PM: You have another chance to Build a Website Like it's 1999! Our instructor got sick and we had to reschedule, but maybe this new date works better for you anyway? Come learn about, or revisit, when the Internet was simpler, better, and weirder, and make the hyperspecific site of your y2k dreams. :)

Notice: No Riff Raff League on September 21! It'll be back on the 28th!
Book Spotlight: Still True
Through this collection of essays, author and activist Reagan Jackson, chronicles her journey into the world of journalism. Art, cinema, social justice, feminism, Black reparations, health & reproductive rights, dance, education-while Jackson's subjects range far and wide, her writing brings an intimacy & immediacy to all.
New & Restocked!
Johnny Cynic zines n more!
New! We've got zines, stickers, and pinback buttons in from Johnny Cynic! Fun goodies in an easy to love retro style! ๐Ÿ‘€Zines are 18+, but the rest is clean(ish)!
Sculpting clay and more!
New and restocked!ย Got a shipment in from Activa last week with lots of cool stuff for sculptors, including silica gel for flower drying and taxidermy clay!! ๐Ÿ‡
Push/Pull Halloween 2025 inks
New! Our Halloween 2025 inks are now available in a set of half-sized bottles, perfect for enjoying a slightly less ridiculous amount of ink! Get in that spooky mood! ๐ŸŽƒ๐ŸŽƒ๐ŸŽƒ
SWORD DANCE
New!ย Morgan's new show, SWORD DANCE, opened to much fanfare Saturday night!

All prints in this series are signed limited editions of 10, so get them while they're here!
More miscellany~
Restocked!ย Lots of water brushes! We also have some fun little store-made primary/starter watercolor sets!

Also: We hear you on needing to restock colored pencils!! We're working on it! ๐Ÿ˜ญ
Look Ahead!
There are so many different stitches you can learn at Embroidery Stitch Sampler! ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿงต๐Ÿงต
Monday, September 22, 6 PM: Learn a bunch of new embroidery stitches in one go and level up your embroidery game at Embroidery Stitch Sampler! Your fall embroidery projects aren't gonna know what hit them! ๐Ÿงต

Tuesday, September 23, 6 PM: Get some fresh eyes on that piece you've been staring at for way too long at Fresh Look! Put your eyes on others' pieces instead and see what everyone else is up to! Share ideas and discuss direction, artistic visions, and more, in a supportive environment! ๐Ÿ‘€ FREE MEETUP.

Wednesday, September 24, 6 PM: This month's Watercolor Landscapes will focus on the pigment power of โ€œQuinacridone Pink.โ€ Explore the landscape attributes of still life with peppers, apples, and other fall staples! ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐Ÿซ‘๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ

Thursday, September 25, 6 PM: Intro to Needle Felting is everything you need to get started on stabbing random blobs of wool into submission! Is it your dream to felt a little figure of your cat out of their cat hair? Don't let your dreams be dreams. We'll have the needles. You do the stabbing! BYO cat hair if u want, or save that project for home. ;P ๐Ÿชก๐Ÿ™€

Friday, September 26, 10 AM: Make beautifully unique, individually made prints of your work on paper, on fabric, on whatever! All you have to do is carve that design out of a block! Learn how at our monthly Block Printing Workshop! Are you just making a giant stamp? Yes, basically! It's fun! โน๏ธ

Friday, September 26, 11 AM: It's the VERY LASTย Botanical Sketching at Ballard Locks of the year! Welcome the change of seasons with one last morning in the garden, learning to observe, as well as to sketch! ๐ŸŒฟ After this, the next Botanical Sketching isn't until March!

Friday, September 26, 3 PM: Craft your own characters, stories, and make-believe worlds while getting an introduction to storytelling and cartoon illustration in Cartooning & Character Design for Comics! Explore shapes to build characters, how body language and facial expressions help show who a character is, story and backstory elements, and the different types of characters that can be created, from people, to animals, to talking plants or objects.

Friday, September 26, 6 PM: Wow, is it the last Friday already? The first month of Halloween is nearly over and it's time to ring in the second month? Celebrate the spooky season, hang out with your fellow queer artists, and make some time to make art at QU-ART! ๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€๐ŸŒˆ FREE MEETUP.

Saturday, September 27, 11 AM: Capture a caricature of your favourite critter with Watercolor Pet Portraits, and get a better handle on the medium while you're at it, too. :) ๐Ÿถ

Saturday, September 27, 2:30 PM: Professional screen printing often utilises large setups and require lots of space, but DIY Screen Printing will teach you all the necessary fundamentals of screen printing on a DIY mini screen! ๐Ÿงค

Sunday, September 28, NOON: Why are so many artists in love with alcohol-based markers? Why are they so dang expensive? Are they really worth it? Intro to Alcohol Markers will demystify the medium for you! A set of 12 markers and paper pad ($75 value!) are included with the class! ๐ŸŠ

Sunday, September 28, 7:15 PM: Join us after hours for Riff Raff League! Process current events, focus your energy, and figure out what you and your neighbours can do about... at least one of the many things happening. ๐Ÿ˜ฉ
Adorable work from a past Watercolor Pet Portraits class!!