Sketch To Series: A Six Week Online Course With Alaina

Sketch to Series is an invitation to slow down and work with what is already present in your practice. Rather than chasing new ideas or finished outcomes, this course asks you to pay close attention—to your marks, materials, instincts, and repetitions—and let them guide the work forward.

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Sketch To Series: Shaping Your Style

Over six weeks, we’ll treat the sketchbook as a living studio: a place for experimentation, decision-making, and discovery. You’ll work alongside me in real time as I move through my own process, showing you not just what I do, but how I listen, edit, and shape a body of work.

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Where We’ll Begin

I’ll guide you in moving beyond trying everything at once and toward listening for what’s already present in your work. Together, we’ll notice what repeats—forms, gestures, materials—and learn how to trust those patterns as meaningful direction.

Shift from Experimenting to Listening

I support you in learning when to push a piece further and when to let it rest. Editing becomes an act of care rather than criticism, helping you finish work with clarity and confidence instead of overworking.

Edit With Intention

Instead of treating each piece as separate, I guide you in noticing how your works relate. You’ll learn how consistent choices—what you repeat, what you limit, and what you allow to shift—gradually shape a style that feels intentional and grounded.

Shaping Your Style

By the end of our time together, I help you articulate where your work is going next. You’ll leave with a cohesive body of work—and the tools to continue developing it on your own, long after the workshop ends.

Find Direction You Can Carry Forward

Meet Your Instructor

Alaina Enslen is a mixed media artist, encaustic educator, and longtime teacher who believes your style is already in your hands—you just need time, materials, and the right questions to uncover it. She’s spent over two decades helping artists move from “trying everything” to making work that feels cohesive, intentional, and deeply their own.

Working with wax, cloth, paper, and salvaged materials, Alaina’s teaching focuses on process, repetition, and editing as tools for shaping style. Her classes are known for being generous, grounded, and quietly transformative.

Reflections from Students

 “I came away from the class with some beautiful pieces and a solid understanding of the encaustic painting process and the desire to create more.  We used a variety of materials including beeswax, pigment, paper, wood, and cloth.

More than anything, the class was fun!  I highly, highly recommend taking an encaustic course from Alaina, who is so inspiring and a true creative genius.”

— Mary P.

“I absolutely LOVED your monotype class. I’ve taken Paula Roland’s class, as well as a paper and monotype wokshop with Laura Moriarty at R&F. So I thought I knew my stuff, but you definitely demonstrated new ways of working for me. It’s got me jazzed to start working with paper again! You set yourself apart with your gently demeanor and meditations on ma. And the music— fabulous. Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it.”

— Sally H.

“I have taken several classes with Alaina. She is a very skilled encaustic artist and encourages every student to express their own style in wax. Wax and Blooms was my favorite class as I love to incorporate nature into my art. I would highly recommend any of Alaina’s classes!”

Cathy L.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • You are encouraged to use materials that you are most enjoying now and in the Sketch To Series Ebook there is a material list of what I will be using for demonstrations.

    If you have specific questions, please reach out to Alaina at hello@alainaenslen.com

  • You’ll receive immediate access to the course and the Sketch to Series: Shaping Your Style ebook upon enrollment. Our live sessions begin March 3rd.

  • When you enroll in Sketch to Series, you’ll receive:

    • Six structured modules that guide you from intuitive sketching through shaping a cohesive series

    • Four live sessions with me, including mentoring, critique, and guided discussion

    • A 60-page Sketch to Series: Shaping Your Style ebook to support your process throughout the class

    • Lifetime access to all course materials, so you can revisit them anytime

    • Access to my Community Studio + Field, a shared space for reflection, conversation, and ongoing support

    • Full access to my Cloth & Wax online class, expanding your material exploration beyond this workshop

  • Yes. When you join Sketch to Series, you’ll have access to my community, Studio + Field—a quiet, supportive space to share work, reflect, and stay connected throughout the course. It’s a place for thoughtful conversation, optional sharing, and seeing how others are working through similar questions. You’re welcome to participate as much or as little as feels right for you.

  • You can email Alaina at hello@alainaenslen.com or reach out in our community, Studio + Field.