Over the years I’ve had a lot of people tell me horror stories about their art classes in both grade school and high school. Due to these experiences, such as an art teacher tearing up a kid’s art in front of the whole class, many quit taking art, though they have a love for it.

I decided that I’d create an online art class that was kinder and gentler. Obviously you won’t need to do a public critique like you would in a live class.  I’m focusing on the basics, but explaining every step. I’ll tell you why I’m showing you everything.  I was never the kind of teacher to poke fun at  my students but I’ve designed a gentle approach to this class.

I’m using PDFs with clear instructions, sharp photos as well as live UStream videos. Using UStream allows me to record up to 3 hours of video and save it for you to peruse as you wish. It allows me to interact with you live..

Taking this class will teach you better how to use a pencil to create an image in your art journal. I’ll answer questions about other media if asked. I’ll be a resource to you while you take this class.

Check out the class supply list and a more detailed description here.

Though I had my pochade box at the ready for my trip to Maine, in absence of the other things I needed to get ready. I spent no time in Maine painting. I’m regretting that now, but the reality of it is that what I really needed was to relax and not think for a few days.

Sometimes I make art on auto pilot and sometimes it involves a lot of thinking on my part. Sometimes I just don’t feel it. I know that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. During my time in Maine, though my pochade never left my trunk, it was at ready in a moment’s notice, I just didn’t feel it.

Instead of my intended 4 days of arting, I kicked back, relaxed and spent a lot of time talking to my family. It’s not often I get to see both of my brothers, my Grandmother as well as my parents when I visit, so it was especially nice to see them all.

So today amid the mix of household chores that need completing I plan on getting back into the process of art. I’m going to start right now, my pochade box is still at the ready. I’m going to head outside to the patio with my coffee and paint some cloud portraits. Care to join me?

6-26-10 art journal
Originally uploaded by sketchbookbuttons

I love this little ink and watercolor WDM page.

Love this person's art on flickr happy to have stumbled upon their sketchbook flip through on YouTube.

Art Journal
Originally uploaded by ekoblisk

Lovely little contour line drawing, again one of those core drawing exercises you do a lot of in art 101.

I used to be very competitive. I played sports, raced mountain bikes, drove ATV at breakneck speeds through the woods all with the intention of winning, even when there was really no winning. In some cases I raced against myself. Could I ride that trail faster than I did the week before, lift more weight than I did the day before, run the trail faster, could I get a better batting average. I exuded frustration when I wasn’t better or the best.

At some point anger took over and my competitive nature became asinine. I was competitive in situations where it wasn’t warranted.

And then I lost it. I lost interest in competing against myself and others. I saw my behavior and realized that I was angry. Sure you could say I was also driven to succeed. And In a manner I had succeeded in my goal- getting out of small town Maine getting a free ride to UMaine and doing the best I felt I could do.

When I got to college I had pretty much given up on academic competition. I was happy to get the grades I got but I was shocked at the competition in the art room. I was still competitive with myself (mostly with biking) but the art room competition got to me. Crawled under my skin and frustrated me. The women it seemed were less competitive than the men but were competitive in a different way. The men outright would say “I’ll do this better than you.”

I’ve left that sort of insanity behind and I’m happier for it. When I created the artjournaling.ning.com site it was to connect with other art journalers and people who worked int eh book format. I never expected it to take off the way it has. I’m very excited, pleased and happy to see it take off. Most of all I’m really excited to see all of the journalers and artists working together to learn, expand their knowledge and technique skills and chatting and making friends. I’m really excited to have been able to have met and worked with all the fantastic artists who have created workshops. It’s truly something that I’ve felt has become so much more than what I expected.

The thing with the ning site is that it’s not competitive. There is no judgment only working together.

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Light/Dark study #1
Originally uploaded by Archcomix

Great study of light and dark on faces.

Some links from tongiht's ustream.

http://www.journalgirl.com
http://www.dirtyfootprints-studio.com
http://www.artsee.me
http://eveline-timeless.blogspot.com
http://rhomany.org.uk
http://www.artisticbiker.com
http://artjournaling.ning.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leslieherger/4167031739/in/set-72057594051974975/
http://www.make-the-cut.com
http://www.artfire.com/users/comfortableshoes
http://www.comfortableshoesstudio.com/old-skool-art-drawing-101.html
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/journalartista
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/maraspires-tv

Art makes me happy. I get euphoric when I paint draw and create a lot. These last several days when I’ve been out and about painting and working in my studio I’ve been happy, high and elated. I never felt teh need for outisde substances to alter my mood and perception of reality.

For all I’ve written here about how frustrating college was for me, how I screwed around for much of my time, I’ll point out a few classes where I was ecstatic to be taking them. First off my figure drawing class in summer of 1996 had a fantastic professor who really inspired me. I grew in leaps and bounds in that class. The same professor taught monotype/printing that same summer. I made a ton of work.* My 3^rd year I took a printmaking class that focused on woodcuts, lino cuts and lithography. I loved every minute of that class. I’m still a huge fan of printmaking and wish I had the equipment for it.

The major difference in these classes was that the professors LOVED what they were teaching. Sikora clearly loved printmaking and figure drawing. The man exuded love for art. When I think to the kind of teacher I want to be I hear his eurotrash accent in my ear describing how to draw a breast. It was his idea that I stole to play instrumental music in the studio. I had several other professors who motivated me but Sikora was amazing to me.

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Upcoming stuff!

The ZINE (top Secret Project!) will be available for sale as of 9/1/2010. We’ve got some great stuff going into it and 6 great contributors. See the post at ArtJournaling.Ning.com I’m very excited. The money for this round is going to support the site as well as to help put a roof on the studio building of one our members.

I’ll be UStreaming every Monday at 6pm EST from my studio. This is exciting for me as I get to showcase my art and bookbinding.

I’m selling my art on Artfire now. Currently I have some hand paintings from the Twitter hand experiment up and some cloud studies. You can see them here.

My drawing class will go live September 6^st. I’m going to start to sell spots starting a little later this week, you can learn more here and purchase spots from there. Cost is $35 per spot and the class will last Until the End of October. 8 weeks of intense drawing instruction and ideas on how to mix it up with mixed media materials. It’s going to be great.

I'm really really excited for all the great stuff going on this fall. This fall will be simply amazing!