A New Online Class Coming in January and A Tutorial To Share

I  hope  everyone  is  enjoying  their  Holiday  season.   It's  a  great  time  of  year,  and for  me  the  best  part  of  it  is    getting  my  family  together  in  one  room--every  year  as  my  family  grows,  it  becomes  more  difficult  to  do  this--so  I  really  appreciate  this  time  of  year  even  more.    This  year  we  had  an  addition  (my  Grandson),  and  next  year  there  will  be  another  Grandson  here---they're  so  much  fun  to  have!

 

But  once  life  gets  back  to  normal,  January  can  become  pretty  dull,  to  say  the  least.  And  I  think it's  the  best  time  of  year  for  new  online  classes--learning  new  techniques  and  networking  with  other  artists.

 

With  all  that  being  said,  I want to introduce you to Carla Sonheim, an illustrator and online art instructor known for using innovative exercises and techniques to help students of all levels embrace a more playful approach to creating art. She is the author of "Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun"

 

 

One  of  my  favorite  books  that  I  have--I  love  referring  to  it  when  I  need  some  inspiration.

 

She's  also  the author of  "The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone."

 

For the last three years her focus has been on creating engaging online art classes, where she teaches and also presents well-known guest artists. She made this Paper Doll tutorial in anticipation of her next online class, "2014: Year of the Fairy Tale," which begins January 20, 2014

 

So  here  is  her  quick and fun way to make original paper dolls... a perfect thing to do with your kids or to nurture the kid inside you... because we're never too old to play with paper dolls! Have fun!

 

Supplies  Needed:

- a small watercolor set

- #12 round paintbrush (or similar)

- 8"x10" sheet of 140# hot press watercolor paper (or similar)

- a regular pencil

- an eraser (I like kneaded rubber erasers)

- scissors

 

1. Gather your supplies.

 

 

2. Lightly sketch in an outline of your doll. Keep your hand loose, and try not to worry about exact proportions (sometimes the most charming characters emerge when we let go of perfection!).

 

 

3. Using lots of water, mix up a color to use as the skin tones. Paint face, arms and feet. When face has had a chance to dry, get some red pigment on your brush and "dot" it into the watercolor quickly. The color should begin to spread out a bit for some nice rosy cheeks.

 

 

 

4. Let dry completely

 

 

 5. Paint in some hair; let dry completely

 

 

 

6. Cut out your paper doll, and...

 

7. Play!

 

 

 

Very  fun!!  And  I  also  want  to  share  her  Paper  Doll video--this  is  a  great  introduction  to  her  new  class,  and  also  her  as  a  teacher,  if  you've  never  taken  any  of  her  other  online  classes--a  great  very  easy-to-follow  video--which  speaks  for  her  way  of  teaching--and that's  what  makes  for  a  great  class!

 

 

. You can  learn  more about "2014: Year of the Fairy Tale," which begins January 20, 2014  HERE--remember  this  is  for  the  whole  year--so  go  Check-It-Out!!

 

And  you can find out more about Carla and her art and classes  HERE.

 

 

My Finished Canvas & Starting 2 New Classes

Remember my canvas that I  started here--well I finished it--

I said that I had a plan for it, and this was the plan. I wanted to paint some faces (2 this time), but I always get a little nervous when I want to do these girls, because I'm  still fairly new at  it.   I just love creating them though-- they always seem to  tell me how to finish the piece. 

Now, my 2 new classes--well Suzi's is starting next week--it's the continuing Goddess and Poet class--

PIETY & PASSION (love it!).  And I was thinking of taking the graffiti art class with Traci Bautista, but I'm putting it on the back burner for now.  Julie Prichard and Chris Cozen are starting a new one April 1--Complex Collage.  She just put the video up on her website on Friday  (click on her name).  As soon as I saw what this class was all about, I knew that it was for me.  Everything that they talk about on what they will be teaching is exactly what I want to do.

So next week, after I come back from my show, I'm hoping to be a little richer : ) and I will be signing up for these 2--I'll probably be poorer, but I'm still signing up. 

Where I Was Last Year At This Time

Last year at this time I had just signed up for my first ever online workshop.  I was very cyber shy at the time--I was one of the 'lurkers'.  I loved the workshop and our group, but it took me a while to post my first comment, if you can believe that.  And when I posted my first photo of my art, it was a very big accomplishment for me--to actually expose my work online.  I've always been artsy in some form or another all my life, and I've sold my work at shows, but never showed it on the internet.

I also discovered the magazine Artful Blogging, and was immediately drawn to it.  I loved reading about all the different blogs, and looking at all the eye candy in it, never even thinking about having my own blog one day. But after connecting with all of the online artists, my confidence grew--you are all very encouraging and generous, and I've made many new artsy friends from everywhere.

So look at me now--I took a couple more workshops, and an actual class last fall, Mystele's, and I loved it. And this year, I'm starting another new class, and looking into another one at the end of January.  Plus, I now have my own blog--and you can't shut me up!  I think I've come a long way!!

And where else was I last year at this time--I was here :-D

I was in Disneyworld!  I love Disneyworld--I could live here, really!  I went with my husband and 33 year old son Scott  (he's a bigger kid than I am).  This was Cinderella's castle at night.  All the Christmas decorations were still up, and they were beautiful!  We went to Epcot and Animal Kingdom--

 I"d have to say the most impressive at night was Hollywood Studios--the first time we saw it at night, it really did take our breath away-

nothing was left undone!

And of course we went to Downtown Disney and went shopping, and a little more shopping.....and then we shopped again

There was a Lego store there, and do you believe that this whole family was made out of Legos? What else would you expect at Disneyworld?!

We also saw alot of Disney people

Look at that  blue sky--the weather was beautiful and warm the whole time that we were there.

They were everywhere!  Hey, we even saw Johnny Depp!

I would say that my only complaint about Disneyworld was the amount of people there.  I think I'm safe in saying that half  the population of the WORLD was there! And the crowds never let up the whole time that we were there, but that was okay.  What wasn't okay is that we had to come home : (

There was at least a foot of snow on the ground and it was 20 degrees, and  three days later, I was sitting in the dentist's chair getting an impacted wisdom tooth removed.

Unfortunately, we're not going anywhere this January, but on the bright side, I don't have to visit the dentist either : )  Gee, I wonder what I'll be writing about this time  next year?