I have been inundating myself with art these days and I love it:
in·un·date /ˈinənˌdāt/ Verb
1- Flood
2- Overwhelm with things or people
Synonynms:
flood deluge overflow swamp submerge overwhelm
Yep, that's me, that definition fits. Not only have I been painting, making journals, sketching - yada yada yada but I have been taking multiple online classes all at the same time.
The most interesting thing I find about looking at other artists work, taking classes and trying things out is how now matter what - two artists' work will never, ever, ever look the same. And I don't just mean because one may have a better technique than another but rather it is each persons interpretation of the piece that makes each piece different.
There is so much talk about copying artists and copyrights and so on and I just so do not believe in that. If someone copies my work I am flattered - it will never look like my work and my work will never look like theirs. That's just the nature of creativity.
I take classes to improve my own technique and mostly to look at a new or different way of doing things. Not every artists' techniques work for everyone. I am trying to be better at faces - I don't really want to do realistic faces, I want to do my own version of what I see in my head. So even though I may take classes that are showing how to paint realistic faces, it is just so that I can improve the technique to get to where I want - not because I want to create realistic faces. Does that make sense?
So to share with you some of the awesome classes I have been taking here is my list.
Junelle Jacobsens' The Art of Spring where I am really learning to "just let go" and "go for it" so even though I probably will never draw sheep or birds or cows (sorry Junelle) as my main focus - Junelle's technique is so cool that I learn to relax when I try out things. Check out her blog here to see more of her amazing work.
Next is Christy Thomlinsons' She Art 3 Workshop. Christy has moved to a different style and the way she makes faces come together amazes me. She blobs on the paint smushes it around with her fingers and voila - a face! She makes me believe it is easy. (I actually just finished this one).
Joanne Sharpe is teaching me how to draw letters. I have been so impatient with this class because it is really teacher student style where she really makes us do work to exercise the technique - ugh - no just kidding I am learning a lot but really have to muster up the energy for this one - it is a great class and I am taking it because I want to be able to write my words on my painting with my own handwriting since every time I try it I really, really dislike my handwriting and usually end up wiping it out and starting over with printed text!
I also finally finished a class from Jenny Doh on The Key to Getting Published and Building Creative Momentum. I love Jenny Doh and if you do not know her and you are an artist you must get to know her. She is on my list of favorite people to meet one day.
Finally the one I am really immersed in right now is Jeanne Oliver's The Journey of letting go. This is an amazing class and I cannot believe how she packs in information in one class (puts me to shame!). I am learning things I always wanted to do but never got around to like making coptic stitched journals and painting in muted tones. Love this class and I am learning a lot along the way.
And as I have mentioned I also have a new upcoming class called Collage Plus which you can find out more about right here. It starts on June 3rd but there is an early bird price if you register now! Take a peek at the preview if you have not already seen it!
Have a great day and I hope you learn something new today
