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Mitchell Wood

I offer private instruction in painting in acrylic, oil, gouache, and tempera, and in drawing in pencil, oil, chalk pastels, and charcoal.

Together, we cover basic instruction in color theory and mixing, shapes, tones, composition, and perspective techniques, as well as background information on historical and contemporary fine artists. Instruction and practice in traditional genres such as still life, landscape, and portraits is included according to student interest and choice of subject matter. I encourage students to choose personal subject matter because I believe that if you paint or draw something you love and care about, you will become increasingly drawn into the work.

Please see testimonials below.

Mitchell Wood

The price structure for instruction is as follows:

Hourly instruction: I charge $95/hour; I recommend a minimum of an hour-and-a-half session. Or you may purchase a package of three 90-minute lessons for $395.00.

Please call 510-604-0036, or email me at Bethpaints@gmail.com, to schedule a package of lessons or a private lesson.  24 hrs cancellation notice is required or the full fee will be charged.

Testimonials:

“I studied with Beth Hird for 4 months. We met on weekends at her very charming studio on Gilman, next to the tracks. I came into the lessons having drawn since I was a child, but with no real painting experience. Beth’s lessons provided a solid introduction to the fundamentals of working with color and handling paint, from choosing colors to mixing techniques to brushwork and beyond.

When I started with Beth, I was preparing to enter my first year of college art education. I would have been sorely underprepared for classes dealing with color had I not worked with Beth. I feel that after spending a little over a summer with Beth, I was at no disadvantage in keeping up in my color theory and design classes compared with students who had been painting for years.

More importantly, time spent with Beth allowed me to form a social relationship with a professional artist. Beth and I spent many sessions exploring what art meant to us through her lessons and in conversation, and she consistently shared helpful, insightful, and meaningful ideas and experiences with me. Beth is not just a professional painter and highly educated fine artist; she is a traveled, down-to-earth, knowledgeable, insightful, caring person.

Beth is for real. I would recommend college to someone who wants to (try to) make money from their work. I would recommend Beth Hird to someone wanting to nurture and develop a truly loving connection to their art in the presence of one who has dedicated their life to such a passion. I hope to work with Beth every time I return to the Bay Area.”

~ Mitchell Wood