Posted on August 16, 2018March 10, 2021 by

FREE! Kids Online Art Class – 6 Lessons

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“Kids Art Week” FREE!
with Carla Sonheim, Lynn Whipple & Diane Culhane
6 Video Lessons

Click HERE to see the lessons and go to www.carlasonheim.com for more!

Carla Sonheim, author of “Drawing Lab,” would like to invite you and your kids to join us for a week of creativity and fun. Carla is joined by artist-teachers Lynn Whipple and Diane Culhane and they have created six video lessons for kids of all ages. All you need are some basic art supplies and less than an hour a day!

… and, it’s FREE!

kawdiane1

kawlynn2
kawlynn3

picassodog

Schedule:

Class Itinerary

Lesson 1: Picasso Dogs with Carla

Lesson 2: Crayon Resist Night Sky with Diane

Lesson 3: Leaf Printing with Lynn

Lesson 4: Nature Faces with Lynn

Lesson 5: Oil Pastel & Paint with Diane

Lesson 6: Modigliani Portraits with Carla

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Supplies Needed:

Tempera or acrylic paint, markers, crayons, watercolors, pencils, oil pastels, imagination and sense of fun!

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Who we are:

Collectively, Carla Sonheim, Lynn Whipple, and Diane Culhane are professional artists and educators who teach all ages.

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:

• Each day during the week of class, you will receive an email with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.

• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.

• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, we are always available to look at your work via email.)

• The class materials will be up and available forever.

• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes and a “test” video to make sure you can receive/view everything (if you can view the above video, you should be able to view the class videos).

QUESTIONS? [email protected]

FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

Posted on August 16, 2018March 10, 2021 by

Kids Art Week 2018

https://www.vimeo.com/279547908

Kids Art Week 2018
A Free Online Art Class
Instructor: Carla Sonheim
One-Week, 5-Lesson Class

~~July 23-27, 2018~~ Available NOW!

Welcome to this year’s KIDS ART WEEK!

This is our fourth year, and each year over 5,000 individuals and families have joined in. It’s one of the most enjoyable and rewarding projects we do… kids’ art is the best!

This is an online art class for kids (and kids of all ages). Each day you’ll receive for five days you’ll receive a 15-minute video with instructions on how to make five different animal creations. There is a community forum (optional, via FB) where we can share our projects and see what others from all over the world have made, too!

P.S. This is for kids of ALL ages, so if this looks fun to you, please sign up even if you’re not technically kid-aged! 😉

I look forward to seeing your artwork!

Carla

___________________________

This year’s projects:

Monday, July 23, 2018
Put a Beak On It!

Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Folded Butterflies

Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Taped Rainbow Animals

Thursday, July 26, 2018
Folded Critter-Puppets with Luna
Special Guest Teacher: Luna Russell

Friday, July 27, 2018
Picasso Dogs 3D

The supplies you will need:

• watercolors, paintbrush
• markers
• colored pencils
• oil pastels
• watercolor paper
• blue painter’s tape or masking tape
• scissors
• a stapler

Thank you for being a part of KIDS ART WEEK 2018!

________________________

bionewbw
Carla Sonheim is a creativity workshop instructor known for her fun and innovative projects and techniques designed to help adult students recover a more spontaneous, playful approach to creating. She is the author of Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun, a bestselling book, having sold over 100,000 copies!

Two more books were released Fall 2012: Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals: A Mixed-Media Workshop (Quarry Books) and The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone (Perigee Books), and in 2013 she co-authored Creative Photography Lab with her husband, Steve Sonheim.

One of her students writes, “Carla just shines and is so gentle and generous that you will work hard all day and come out energised and inspired. Most importantly though, [her] class was a touchstone in my artistic journey, giving me the courage to stop resisting, and open myself to my creative voice.”

Carla lives in Seattle, Washington.

Posted on June 1, 2018March 10, 2021 by

"Y" is for Yellow Summer

Y is for Yellow (Summer!): A 26-Lesson Class
Instructor: Carla Sonheim
Drawing, Painting, Mixed-Media • $99
Class Dates: June 22 – August 3, 2018
Note: Even though class has started, you are welcome to join in anytime!

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“Y” is For Yellow!
(And no, we won’t paint everything yellow! 😀 )

In this class we will march through the alphabet as a fun way to move through our lessons (“P” is for Picasso! “C” is for Collage!), while tackling the more serious question,

“How do you create a body of work?”

As mixed-media artists we are always trying new media and experimenting with new techniques — which is awesome! But what can happen is we don’t take the time to focus long enough on the things we really love so that we can create a cohesive series that is uniquely ours.
I have found a lot of value working in series over the years; choosing and sticking with one media/subject matter for a period of time really has helped me… and I will share with you what I can about the process.
Are you ready to work hard in a fun environment? Let’s refine, focus, and create a body of work this year!
Summer Session!
In 2016 we ran “Y is for Yellow” as a year-long class. We are re-running the class over six weeks this summer, with the all of the videos for each original session dropped every other Friday… it is a lot of content! But by giving it to you all at once, you will be encouraged to pick and choose the lessons that are particularly interesting to you this summer, and leave the rest for later (you have forever access!).
Lessons A – J
Friday, June 22, 2018
10 Drawing Assignments • 4 Mixed-Media Lessons
Friday, July 6, 2018
Lesson K – R
8 Drawing Assignment – 3 Mixed-Media Lessons
Friday, July 20, 2018
Lessons S – Z
8 Drawing Assignments – 3 Mixed -Media Lessons
If you missed “Y is for Yellow” the first time, please join us now! (And if you have a busy summer, don’t worry! You can always do this as a self-study class.) If you previously signed up for “Y is for Yellow” and would like to join in this summer, email me and I will put you on the list.
As a shorter, summer program, I think participants can decide to approach it two ways:
1.
Focus more on the series aspect of the class. Spend the six weeks going through the stages of researching & playing, resting, focusing & deciding, working (in tandem with a few others for support and accountability), and finishing!
2.
Focus more on just playing in the studio with the drawing and mixed-media assignments. There are 26 drawing assignments and 10 mixed-media assignments… so much content! But you are invited to pick and choose the assignments that speak to you the most and leave the rest for self-study later.
Please consider joining the fun… great lessons for families, too! The cost is $99 and you will have forever access to the lessons. Please join us!
Carla

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In this class:
• You are encouraged to focus on your favorite media. (Don’t know what that is? That’s okay, there will be plenty of techniques to try with both the drawing and mixed-media lessons.)
• There will be 26 short drawing exercises, one for each of the 26 lessons. These are meant to be warm-ups to give you ideas on how to face the blank page. I’ll keep them fun!
• In addition, there will be 7 mixed-media lessons, 3 optional assignments, and 3 surprise lessons. They will include techniques (old and new!) in watercolor, acrylics, charcoal, and other media.
• YOU will choose your three projects! Some ideas are working on an alphabet book, a children’s board book, some paintings for a show, your portfolio, a small line of cards, etc. (Alternatively, you can choose one larger project to work on all year.)
• “Y is for Yellow” will include an online community (via a closed Facebook group) where participants from all over the world share their work, their thoughts, and encourage each other (one of the best things about taking an online class!).

New to online classes? Check out the “Frequently Asked Questions” page, and here are some recent comments from students!
“In my opinion, you are a gifted instructor, who actually makes art fun, and I look forward to learning more from you.” — Jo
“Your style of teaching is warm, genuine and clear.” — Sheri
“Carla and her co-teachers inspire not just making art but also a sense of community among the students, of whom many have been making art for quite some time and others are new to it. This sense of community shows itself in the way everyone shares art — within a closed group on Facebook — and comments in a wonderful, supportive way.” — Corinne

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More:
• All levels welcome and encouraged to join in!
• Registration fee is good for people living in a single household.
• Instructor Feedback: I will be active in the Facebook Forum and available M-F for feedback.
• If you’d like a feel for the supplies you will need for this class, CLICK HERE.
• If you’d like to know more about how our online classes work in general, CLICK HERE.
• You will have access to the “Y is for Yellow” class materials forever.

• If you have any questions, please email me at carla[at]carlasonheim.com.

Thank you again and I hope you can join in!

Carla Sonheim

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SIGN UP TODAY!

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Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email immediately. We will log you in to the class with your Paypal email address unless you indicate otherwise.
P.S. Here eight mixed-media projects (following are screen shots from the lesson PDFs):
B is for Picasso Blue Period Paintings (watercolor and gel medium):

C is for Cut Contour Collages (mixed-media):

D is for Drybrush Dares (acrylic painting):

I is for Improv Paintings (mixed-media):

K is for Klee-Inspired Color Grid Paintings (layering in watercolor):

L is for Loose Landscapes (acrylic painting):

Q is for Quintessentially You (your choice of materials):

S is for Somewhat Surrealist (mixed-media painting):

T is for Taped, Textured Trees (mixed-media paintings):

Y is for Yellow Kitty (photograph and mixed-media):

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Carla Sonheim is a painter, illustrator, and creativity workshop instructor known for her fun and innovative projects and techniques designed to help adult students recover a more spontaneous, playful approach to creating. She is the author of Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun, a bestselling book, having sold over 75,000 copies!
Two more books were released Fall 2012: Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals: A Mixed-Media Workshop (Quarry Books) and The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone (Perigee Books), and in 2012 she co-authored Creative Photography Lab with her husband, Steve Sonheim.
One of her students writes, “Carla just shines and is so gentle and generous that you will work hard all day and come out energised and inspired. Most importantly though, [her] class was a touchstone in my artistic journey, giving me the courage to stop resisting, and open myself to my creative voice.”
Carla lives in Seattle, Washington.

Posted on May 8, 2018March 10, 2021 by

"Intro to Abstract Painting" with Karine Swenson

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Intro to Abstract Painting
Instructor: Karine Swenson
2-Week, 6-Lesson Class
Now available as a self-study class.

Karine is re-running her very popular class, “Intro to Abstract Painting,” beginning Tuesday, May 29, 2018! If you have signed up for “Intro to Abstract Painting” previously and would like to be part of this repeat session, just email me at carla[at]carlasonheim.com and let me know.
Have you have ever had an interest in abstract painting? Would you like to paint with more freedom or feeling?
In this class we will explore a variety of mark-making techniques with an emphasis on finding what works for you as an artist. Karine will demonstrate drawing and painting intuitively, and share with you a few of her favorite abstract painters and help you understand some of the concepts behind non-representational painting (painting without recognizable imagery).
She will encourage you to try new things as a way to experience breakthroughs and encourage you to work quickly. You will be finding ways to develop your own way of applying paint and to compose the visual space.
During this class, you will work on many (up to twenty) small sketches and 3 to 4 paintings.
Click HERE for a list of supplies needed for this class.

Who is this class intended for:
– Anyone who wants to explore non-representational painting
– Anyone who wants to strengthen and develop their own voice as a painter
– Anyone interested in taking risks with their painting
– Anyone who wants to have more confidence in their own way of painting
Note: It is recommended that you have some painting experience in acrylic or oil paint before taking this class; I will not be showing you how to mix paint or choose colors. The focus will be primarily composition, values, mark making, and a search for individuality.

Class Itinerary
Week One
Lesson 1 – Tuesday
We will begin with small studies to explore drawing intuitively.
Lesson 2 – Wednesday
Today will will draw from our other senses (not sight) to help us escape the need to use recognizable imagery and to help us tap into our emotions.
Lesson 3 – Friday
Take the favorite sketch from our previous two lessons and turn them into an abstract painting.
Week Two
Lesson 4 – Tuesday
Approaching a blank canvas with no sketch. (How to work intuitively.)
Lesson 5 – Wednesday
Explore how trying new things can take you in another direction. Do you normally work small? Try working large. Push yourself to do things you wouldn’t normally do.
Lesson 6 – Friday
Choose one of your paintings from the last two weeks and “wreck it” to save it. _____________________________________________

Sign up today!

_____________________________________________
Karine Swenson grew up just outside of a town called Rapid City, South Dakota in the Black Hills. The closest neighbor was a mile away. Reared in this environment, Swenson’s connection with the natural world was strong. After receiving her BA in painting from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, she moved to Colorado. She has spent most of her life in small towns that sit right next to the last remaining bits of wilderness. From the mountains of Colorado, the ocean surrounding Maui, Hawaii, the desert near Joshua Tree, California, and now Santa Fe, NM, she feels the most at home out in nature. In the studio, her second home, she can explore her relationship with the natural world. Her oil paintings are reflections of this relationship. Swenson has been a full time artist for the past ten years.
See more wonderful art at Karine’s blog!

Posted on April 25, 2018March 10, 2021 by

Birds & Butterflies: Painting & Collage

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Birds & Butterflies
Collage + Painting
Instructor: Tracie Lyn Huskamp
2-Week Class • 6 Lessons

Now available as a self-study class.

Birds and Butterflies inspire our imagination and capture our hearts!
In this fun, nature-inspired class we will begin by gathering photos of birds and butterflies. Next we’ll make acrylic paintings on fabric with a step-by-step technique that makes realism surprisingly simple.
From there we will embellish our realistic butterflies and birds with stenciling, bits of old lace, stitching, buttons, pearls, sequins, beads, or vintage rhinestone jewelry, and then put it all together with found collage ephemera to make intimate, personal, and fun pieces of art. Once we start assembling our collages, the sky’s the limit for the different things you can do.
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For a list of supplies needed, click HERE.
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Class Itinerary:
Week 1
Lesson 1: Collect & Prep
To begin, you will need to collect suitable images of two large birds (such as a Blue Jay or Robin), two small birds (such as a Chickadee or Goldfinch or Sparrow), and two butterflies by using your own camera (and/or browsing royalty free image websites); we will alter the images slightly and print them out. Next you will gather your collage ephemera: diverse fragments, approximately 30 different pieces of varying shapes and sizes, to be used to compose finished collage artworks.
Lesson 2: Outlining & Simplifying
You will begin three paintings today. Using a mechanical pencil, carefully sketch the contour and interior details on the muslin fabric for one large bird, one small bird and one butterfly. (Tracie will demonstrate a quick tracing technique as well.) Once you have your drawing, simplify the subjects into 3-5 large color areas and paint each area with the appropriate color using the dry brush method.
Lesson 3: All In The Details
It is time to paint the details of the subjects. Although it might seem difficult, painting is a matter of training the eye to see the range of colors, noting the subtle shifts from one color to the next, and then translating that information to your simplified paintings. You will be using the dry brush method when you want a particular area to be opaque and the transparency/wash method when you want to see multiple layers of paint.
Week 2
Lesson 4: Addition & Subtraction
Add embellishments to your birds and butterfly: stenciling, bits of old lace, stitching, buttons, pearls, sequins, beads, vintage rhinestone jewelry, etc. Then cut the painted subjects out from their original fabric canvases in order to use in your collages.
Lesson 5: Large Scene Collage
Gather your favorite paper, photographs, and/or fabric fragments. Create a composition using your large bird as the focal point. Consider your use of color, texture and balance. Continue adding, subtracting and moving elements around until the piece is complete. Secure with matte medium.

Lesson 6: Small Scene Collages
Design two small-scene collages using your smaller bird and butterfly subjects. “Anchor” your bird to one of your collage elements and add a delicate shadow beneath its feet or body.

Sign up today!

__________________________

Tracie Lyn Huskamp holds a B.F.A. in Graphic Design from Wichita State University. After graduation, she worked as a Product Designer/Illustrator creating mass-market products. A number of her designs sold in Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Costco, Hobby Lobby, Lowe’s, and Walgreens. In 2007, she left her corporate position to focus full-time on her own art. In 2009 her book, Nature Inspired, was published by Quarry Books. Her work has appeared on the cover of Somerset Studio Magazine and in Somerset Memories, Artful Blogger, Quilting Arts Gifts, and Life Images. Tracie licenses her artworks to manufacturers of fabric, calendars, stencils, scrapbooking, stationery, home goods, and bath. She shows in various galleries and recently participated in an invitation-only exhibit hosted by her hometown, the City of Wichita, Kansas. See more of Tracie’s work at www.thereddoor-studio.blogspot.com.

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the two weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A Facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Tracie is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive an email with your class codes.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

Thank you for your interest!

Posted on March 13, 2018March 10, 2021 by

The Collage Techniques of Anne Marie Grgich

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The Collage Techniques of Anne Marie Grgich
Collage + Painting
Instructor: Anne Marie Grgich
4-Week Class • 9 Lessons

Now available as a self-study class.

For a 2-Payment Plan Option, click HERE.

“Anne Marie Grgich is one of the most original and innovative artists in the group of American artists known as Outsiders. Completely self-taught and the cover story of Raw Vision Magazine (#22), she became known for her one-of-a-kind books filled with page after page of impassioned, expressionistic faces and figures. Grgich often employs collage and vigorously applies layer after layer of overpainting, covering found texts and images, yet allowing some of the underneath to remain visible. This layering suggests generations of mystery and mystique to her exotic characters.” — by Phil Demise Smith, 1998

* * *

We are grateful to be able to bring you this 9-lesson, 4-week online class where Visionary artist Anne Marie Grgich generously shares her process refined from her lifelong passion for making art. Incorporate Anne’s creative approach and techniques to augment your skillset. You will learn step-by-step the Grgich technique as she demonstrates mixed-media elements of ornamentation, printing, drawing, painting and cold wax treatment.
You will learn how to assemble overlays of collage and cutouts and build up colour fields and use subliminal tactics, like overpainting collage with “glow in the dark” paint, to achieve a deep transparent layering.
In this class you will create a large, compelling, mosaic-like collage painting filled with complexity.
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For a list of supplies needed, click HERE.
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A selection of art made with the techniques Anne shares in this class:

Detail:

Figures:

Faces:

“It’s fun to be weird.”
– Anne Marie Grgich

Anne will also share with class participants an extensive pdf of clip art imagery she uses in her own work. Please join us for this unique opportunity to create alongside the wonderful Anne Marie Grgich!

For a 2-Payment Plan Option, click HERE.
____________________________

Class Itinerary:
Before Class Begins
Lesson 0: Begin Collecting your Collage Materials!
Find three art history books that have color pages and set aside for now. Then, collect printed matter of anything that inspires you — words, posters, advertising, theatre tickets, stamps, rub on lettering, stickers, poems, flowers, faces, figures, politics…. Also collect decorated napkins and tissue paper. You will want a lot to choose from when you start gluing!
Week 1
Lesson 1: Cannibalize Your Books
Be like a detective and sort out the information you’ve gathered. Scour through your books, finding colored pages and take them out of the book and begin the sorting process. Find maps, create cutouts of classical figures, culture, and patterns, colour fields or specific artists like Michelangelo and Frida Kahlo. Sort into piles of color, trim off white areas, and set the sacred trimmed little pieces aside.
Lesson 2: Breaking up Space
Select your two favorite color piles (complimentary or contrasting) and, like a theatrical stage or game board, start laying down collage items on the center and working out to the edge. Lay out symmetrically or abstractly and cover the canvas. Work fast, be playful and think overall structure. It’s a good time to sign and date the under layer so your name and date is embedded into the art. Add your first “ice skating rink,” a generous layer of even gel medium.
Week 2
Lesson 3: Color Washes and the Painterly Touch
Today we are adding vivid color or lines, tinted or muted color washes, more collage and black paint lines. You’re finding the shape of the overall structure, maybe adding a new collage piece or lettering or a stamp or word that pulls the piece together. Don’t get blocked by what its going to be, were building a surface of many layers and if you can let your intuition take over it will flow out of your hands and lay into focus. Fine tune loud areas to mute noise and add vivid colors to make art pop, like stained glass. Circling the edge with collage and add fine brush stokes for whimsy. Echo shapes and paint details and forms with ornamentation and pattern and text cutouts.
Lesson 4: Print on Tissue
The next three lessons you will learn the secret to what I call “chimera, or “see thru” tissue collage. This tissue works seamlessly as collage elements and is one of my favorite techniques to get that waxy, aged look.
Today you will collect imagery (like old letters or illustrations, or use the ones I provide for you) and print out about a dozen tissue pages from your computer. Make multiples of the same designs to color and use as patterns. Apply color or add swatches of white paint or collage over the back side of some of your tissue designs.
Week 3
Lesson 5: Gluing Tissue Layers
Begin gluing your first tissue layer to your painting. As you’re working, the white of the wet gel medium will obscure your vision; work blindly and keep adding everything you planned. This creates a sense of serendipity. When dry, lay flat and create an ice skating rink and dry overnight.

Lesson 6: Draw, Paint and More
Draw and paint where its needed with water based crayons and add final layers of tissues. Try rubber stamp and emboss using gold or red. Use fancy printed tissues, napkins, and gift wraps to enhance your subject. Use minimal muted color washes over sections of the painting to intensify your color-fields use patterned shading. Pull out your collection of sewing patterns find one with the right lines and words. Last, make your ice skating rink.

Week 4
Lesson 7: Transparencies Galore
Print designs on transparency film. Add collage elements and color to some pieces, then adhere to your canvas. Once the film is is overlaid onto your collage it gives a solid shape to carve spaces; continue adding layers and color. Notice how the transparency makes things pop (like tattoo-lined time machine!). Cover both sides with a thin layer of gel medium, rub air bubbles out with finger. When dry lay flat and create an ice skating rink, dry overnight.

Lesson 8: Finishing Touches
You are looking at the work now and bringing it all together. Draw with water based crayons and use minimal muted color washes over sections of the painting to intensify your color-fields and define areas and set apart the foreground from the background. Draw and paint where needed then add final layers of tissues, transparencies, and napkins. Score to let dry, build up gel medium on eyes, and add final smaller collage elements. Make your last ice skating rink.

Lesson 9: Bring the Work Alive and Finish
Today we are looking at the work and bringing it all together. By now a central image is embedded in the layers. Make final touches using crayons and rubbings, add finishing touches of collage and color, and trim. Finally, finish your piece with a layer of cold wax. This last layer seals in the mixed media, adds depth, and melds it all together. The wax also diminishes the reflections of the gel layers and gives a natural looking surface.

Sign up today!

For a 2-Payment Plan Option, click HERE.

__________________________

Born in Portland, Oregon in 1961, Anne Marie Grgich began making spontaneous art at the age of 15, mostly junk constructions and clandestine paintings in her family’s books. She first introduced collage into her work around 1988, but took it to a higher level in 1997 during a period of illness. After her recovery she began to produce collage paintings – images of people encountered over time in the street and in mind journeys that manifest themselves and recombine, according to her mood, in the process of creation. Over the past 30 years, Anne has been featured in numerous publications and exhibitions, and her books and paintings are in public and private collections worldwide.

Anne was mentioned in The New York Times in January 2018 and is exclusively exhibiting her prolific work with ZQ Art Gallery in NYC and New Jersey City (visit their site in April when they hold a huge international auction of her work!). Anne lives with her sweetheart and collaborator Steve Fisk, Seattle record producer. Together they create and support each other and live in the Ballard neighborhood.

See more of her work at http://annegrgich.com.

____________________________

NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the four weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tuesday and Thursday with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A Facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Anne is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive an email with your class codes.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

Thank you for your interest!

Posted on February 13, 2018March 10, 2021 by

The Essence of Still Life

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The Essence of Still Life
Drawing + Painting
Instructor: Lynn Whipple
Three-Week Class • 6 Lessons

Now available as a self-study class.

Quirky is okay!
In “The Essence of Still Life,” we’ll enjoy playing with new ways to depict a traditional subject matter, the still life, as we create fresh and contemporary paintings and drawings that are infused with the core essential qualities of our favorite objects. We will surround ourselves the with wonderful things that we have collected throughout the years and the simple things that add a special spark to our everyday.
In this artful exploration, we will create three 12″x12″ paintings and one 16″x16″ painting on wood panel, starting each lesson with with a quick drawing exercise. Charming line, interesting shapes, new ways to create, cover and uncover color, abstraction, mark making and poetic editing are a few of the key elements we will explore in this class.
The best part is that we will have fun as we share our discoveries together in our special “Essence” community! I hope you will join us! I can’t wait to see what you will create!!
All my best!
xoxo
Lynn
For a list of supplies needed, click HERE.
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Class Itinerary:
Week 1
Lesson 1: Fresh Look at Favorite Things
Settle in and surround yourself with several of your favorite things! We will focus on looking at and drawing our objects today, seeing their shapes with new eyes. This collection of drawings will set the tone for our painting to come!
Lesson 2: Ten Things on my Table
We will begin with a quick drawing exercise: using a tender, quirky line, create a simplified version of your ten things on colored paper. Go for the essence of the item, describe the special quality, see if you can capture the simple characteristics. Next it’s time to create our first non traditional still life painting, by creating an under layer of color and drawing into wet paint.
Week 2
Lesson 3: See-through, Peek-a-boo and Pentimento Shape Making
Today we will begin with a drawing exercise focusing on overlapping line, then move to a 12″x12″ wood panel and create a quick underpainting. On top place a pleasing collection of drawings with a variety from small to large. Next fill in some of the overlapping shapes with color using your pencils and crayons. Notice a little of the color from underneath. Make marks, add some white and sign your name with it feels just right!
Lesson 4: Favorite Cup
We will start with a drawing exercise called Ten Cups. Your favorite cup will serve as your muse. Draw your cup ten different times using at least 4 different pencils, markers or crayons on a piece of colored paper. For our third 12″x12″ painting, we will start with the background and create an abstract, energized, field painting as the perfect backdrop for our favorite cup.
Week 3
Lesson 5: Composition and Color: Setting your table
Look at your previous drawings from class and choose at least 5 drawings of your items, with an eye for charming shapes. Next, sketch a few thumbnails or seed drawings using a different shaped table plane and a circle shape. Place items on the page, some super close to you, mid ground, and one far away and smaller. On your 16″x16″ panel, create a variety of color sections, use your scraper tool and brayer, add areas of energy and marks, some darks, thick and thin line. Draw in your table plane, items and circle shapes. Make overlaps and create a large background shape with white paint.

Lesson 6: Setting your Table, Final Finishing Touches

Today you will your bring our 16″x16″ painting to a finish. Cover up as much color with white as you like and continue to scrape it back to reveal the underlying color. Add some white drawing on top as well as bright white paint in certain small areas to create a pop. Add some small dark areas to pull the eye as well. Continue to activate energy areas with thick and thin line. Add some pencil drawing. Stand back and look at your painting, continue to be in dialog, noticing what small additions or erasers you can make to bring it to a finish!

Sign up today!

__________________________

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the three weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tuesday and Thursday with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A Facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Lynn is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive an email with your class codes.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

___________________

Posted on January 23, 2018March 10, 2021 by

Inspired by Lives & Letters

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Inspired by Lives & Letters
Instructor: Lendon Noe
3-Week Class • 6 Lessons

Now available as a self-study class.

As artists we are always looking for inspiration. What’s my next project going to be? What is it that I am trying to say with my artwork?
Rather than just wait in hopes of a muse, I often go looking!
One of my sources for inspiration has been in the lives as revealed in the letters of my favorite poets and authors, and in this class I would like to share some of my approaches with you.
It’s not unlike a treasure hunt. A little bit of reading, an interest is sparked, one clue leads to the next, and before you know it you have a whole series of work!
Letters (as in correspondence between two people) will be an underlying theme. We will look at some of my favorites: the Master Letters of Emily Dickinson, Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet and Letters to a Young Painter. We will give a nod to Nick Bantok and his Griffen and Sabine series. And then John Berger’s correspondence with John Christie, and I have some personal letters that are real treasures and I bet you do, too.
We will be working relatively small, usually no bigger than 9″x 12″. In fact, 4″ squares will be another underlying theme. There will be lots of mixed media, ink, tissue and collage techniques, a plaster surface treatment and some optional sealing wax tips. You should come away with quite a few pieces of finished work, some of which could actually be mailed!
I am so looking forward to working with you.
Lendon
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For a list of supplies needed, click HERE.
Class Itinerary:
Week 1
Lesson 1 – Two Different Folds
A letter is a conversation in writing between two people. Begin by folding love notes and love letters, and creating an insert by making line designs as a conversation. “To talk of many things”: Considering embellishments.
Lesson 2 – Two New Techniques
Plaster pages surface treatment and folding and dyeing tissue paper designs.
Week 2
Lesson 3 – Creating Conversations
Creating conversations with four-inch square designs using our new techniques. Working text into the mix and getting a little personal.

Lesson 4 – Stripe Designs!
Relief from the square! Continuing to create conversations and now adding images into the mix.
Week 3
Lesson 5 – I Send You This Cadmium Red
A little conceptual art. A little performance art. Revealing a little of ourselves, finding support in the process and Sol LeWitt. Creating art by instructing others.
Lesson 6 – As Time Goes By
A concertina that reflects a conversation between our present and our past. Folding and using our techniques in a book project.

Sign up today!

__________________________

Lendon Hamilton Noe is a native of Jackson, Tennessee, where she has been a Professor of Art at Lambuth University, Head of the School of Arts and Communications, and Chair of the Visual Art Department. She taught primarily, drawing, painting and design. She graduated from Rollins College in Florida, earning the BA in Art and English Literature. She studied in Denver at the Rocky Mountain School of Art and then returned to Tennessee and completed an MS in Art Education at UT Knoxville. She completed her MFA in Painting and Mixed Media at Vermont College. Her work includes oil painting, original prints, mixed media, and installation. See more of Lendon’s work at her website: www.lendonnoe.com.

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the three weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tu-Th with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A Facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Lendon is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

___________________

Posted on December 3, 2017March 10, 2021 by

365: Daily Creative Practice

365: Daily Creative Practice
A Creativity Video Each Day
Prompts • Techniques • Assignments • Community

Class begins January 5, 2018… Join Today!

Welcome to 365! This is our second year and we can’t wait
to get started. We have a new platform, new ideas and new artists!

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365 is a daily infusion of “right braininess” via short videos. The creative prompts include artist interviews, techniques, ideas, inspirations, a weekly hands-on project, and more, all meant to supplement the other things you are doing in your art life.

NEW FOR 2018!
• 15% OFF all of our regular classes for 365 members.
• Every Friday will feature a more in-depth painting, drawing, or mixed-media project where I will share new ideas, experiments, and things learned from other artists.
• Weekly Digest Function so you can choose whether you want to get your prompts every day or on a weekly basis.
• Personal login page where you will have access to all previous videos.
The first video goes live Friday, January 5, 2018.
I hope you can join us!!
Carla
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Click HERE to Sign up Today!

Posted on October 18, 2017March 10, 2021 by

Improv Collage

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Improv Collage
Instructor: Kara Kramer
Two-Week Class • 6 Lessons

Now available as a self-study class.

Make quick decisions, trust your hand, be spontaneous… that is Improv Collage!
In this class we will explore lots of techniques for creating your main collage ingredient: PAPER! We will make all different kinds of textures, patterns, colors, words, found imagery, hand-drawn imagery and more!

We will make small, medium-sized and really large collages.
And borrowing from the tradition of improv theatre, we will have fun and stretch ourselves by applying limitations and constraints (such as timed collages or single color compositions).
So if you’re looking for a fresh approach to collage, I hope you can join me to paint, draw, write, cut, glue, and go until you discover what wants to be made through your own collage making.
Kara Kramer
For a list of supplies needed, click HERE.
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Class Itinerary:

Week 1
Lesson 1 – Make Collage Papers
Today we are gathering are main ingredient, collage PAPER. Lots and Lots of yummy patterned, painted, mark-made papers. We will explore making solids and patterns to grow your personal collage paper collection. You can use any paper that you have at home: Copy paper, drawing pad paper, even old envelopes would work. Enjoy this time as an experience; infuse PLAY into your collage paper making time.

Lesson 2 – Messy Paper Making
It may seem like you have enough paper, but I like to have a lot of variety. Today we will get a bit messier and explore texture through some improvised printmaking techniques. Words are also a form of texture that can be used to add another layer in your collage. Gather some cut out words either from your journal/sketchbook or from magazines.

Lesson 3 – Timed Collages: 3 minutes
Today we are going to explore timed collages. These 3-minute index-card collages connect you to your intuition and create results that are often unexpected and spontaneous.

Week 2

Lesson 4 – 18-Minute Collages
Today we are going to continue exploring timed collages but these are a little different in approach and size. They will be 18 minutes and instead of working on an index cards we are going to directly glue the pieces together to build a single piece of paper. Each collage will be a different size and shape depending on your pieces and process.

Lesson 5 – Go Bigger!
Today we will paint, draw and print bigger collage papers to add to our collection. Going bigger requires moving your body differently. This can be both challenging and exciting.

Lesson 6 – Big Collage
We’ve made some bigger collage paper to do you guessed it, a bigger collage! Working larger challenges you to move the body differently and expand your process deeper into the unknown. It can be scary but remember it’s only paper!

Sign up today!

__________________________

Kara Kramer is an artist and illustrator from Brooklyn, NY. She writes:

“Something happens when I spend hours exploring and working with color, line, paper, markers, ink, paint, pencils. It is my favorite way to be. I can breathe. Completely. Calmly. Minutes dissolve. I’m fully immersed and focused on what my hands are simultaneously creating and discovering. The time spent making is what drives me to come back day after day. The art is a result of this time, a kind of memory, print, connection to some formless flow that continues to search and develop shape to hold it, have it, know it for a moment. The art shown on this sight and in my studio and in the sidelines waiting to be made is about the joy of creating.”

Kara studied illustration at Washington University as an undergraduate in St. Louis, Mo. A few years later she moved to New York and got an MFA at the School of Visual Arts. See more of her work at www.karakramer.com or www.karakramerillustration.com.

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the two weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from Kara with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A Facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your work and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Kara is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive an email with your class codes.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

___________________

Posted on October 4, 2017March 10, 2021 by

Bookbinding: Buttonhole Stitch Journal

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Bookbinding: Buttonhole Stitch
Instructor: Bari Zaki
Two-Week Class • 4 Lessons

Now available as a self-study class.

In this class we will be making a beautiful handmade journal using the buttonhole-stitch technique – a non-adhesive style binding.
It’s a delightful binding style (no glue!) and the book we’ll make is wonderful for journaling, sketching, doodling, drawing, or to use as a photo album or keepsake book. With the little window on the spine, it might be fun to alternate the colors of your pages. It also makes for a great gift anytime of the year!
I look forward to sharing my love of paper and making books with you in this two week course!
Bari
For a list of supplies needed, click HERE.
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Class Itinerary:

Week 1
Lesson 1 – Folding Signatures
Today we’re going to create our book pages by folding three of our full-size sheets of paper in half, in half, in half, and in half again until we reach the finished size for our book pages.

Lesson 2 – Creating the Book Cover
Today we’re going to create the decorative cover for our books. And we begin first with making a paper-sandwich with our decorative paper, twin-tac, & water-color paper. Then, we’ll cut and fold to create our cover!

Week 2

Lesson 3 – Sewing Your Book
Today were going to pierce the holes in our signatures for sewing and sew the book together with the buttonhole stitch.

Lesson 4 – The Finish
Today we begin briefly with reveling in our happy moment, we’ve made a book! And now we get to finish off the inside of the covers by creating a pocket and adding a ribbon closure.

Sign up today!

__________________________

Bari Zaki has been a professional bookbinder for 28 years, and a paper person her entire life. Her dad, a printer, regularly brought home paper in various forms: stacks of paper, scraps of paper, pads of paper…and assorted printed samples. This was her FAVORITE part of the day.

In Bari’s bedroom she had a little walk-in-closet, where she often hung out for hours, amusing herself arranging all her paper samples. She still thinks of her bookbinding studio as a larger version of that closet. Bari attended the University of Iowa for a couple of years, but continued to feel restless and decided to come back home to Chicago. It was there she met a friend for coffee who had brought her a blank journal. The friend had made the first entry; a doodle with an endearing sentiment, and it was that afternoon she refers to as her “Dorothy Moment.”

She instantly sought somewhere to learn about bookbinding and discovered Artist Bookworks (which has since become Columbia College’s Book & Paper Arts Graduate Programme). After completing various classes and workshops in a wonderfully Bohemian milieu, Bari opened Ardour Bookbinding, now Bari Zaki Studio; Bookbinding Studio & Shop, where she now offers a range of classes in Hand-bookbinding, Calligraphy, Paper-marbling, and Drawing. Today, her long-term clients include photographers, galleries, writers, celebrants and paper people – appreciators of hand-crafted objects and beautiful presentation.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the two weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tuesday and Thursday with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A Facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Bari is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive an email with your class codes.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

___________________

Posted on September 20, 2017March 10, 2021 by

Intro to Realism

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Intro to Realism
Instructor: Karine Swenson
Two-Week Class • 6 Lessons

Now available as a self-study class.

In this class you will learn techniques to help you strengthen your drawing and painting skills.
The emphasis will be placed on finding ways to develop your own unique style while getting closer to visual truth. Just as each person has unique handwriting, your own way of drawing and painting will become your strength.
Each of you will pick your own 3D object — a toy, a tool, or something that interests you — and render it multiple times, building from quick sketches all the way to a color painting. We will work with color and value and pay close attention to light and shadow to create dimensionality.
I look forward to working with you!
Karine Swenson
Note: I will be working with oil paint, but you can work with acrylics or watercolor if you wish. For a list of supplies needed, click HERE.
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Class Itinerary:

Week 1
Lesson 1
We will spend some time choosing our subject matter that you will draw and paint throughout this class. Then you will light it, photograph it, and do a couple of quick drawings of it! You will also draw your hand in this lesson, an ever-available subject and a great way to sneak a little drawing practice in wherever you find yourself.

Lesson 2
This lesson will be devoted to drawing — both quick study, and slower, more careful study. The drawings are part of the process of learning to see more and to develop better hand/eye coordination. You will do several drawings of your hand and your chosen subject.

Lesson 3
In this lesson we will do more quick studies and then work on and finish a value study in charcoal of our subject to prepare us for our painting.

Lesson 4
Paint!!! Today we will work with a very limited palette, and use our value study from Lesson 3 to help us navigate our first painting of our subjects.

Lesson 5
We will begin the final painting of our subjects. You will be able to expand your color palette (a little!).

Lesson 6
The focus of our final lesson will be to explore the finishing touches, how to know when you are finished, and what you can do to make a painting you like.

Sign up today!

__________________________
Karine Swenson grew up just outside of a town called Rapid City, South Dakota in the Black Hills. The closest neighbor was a mile away. Reared in this environment, Swenson’s connection with the natural world was strong. After receiving her BA in painting from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, she moved to Colorado. She has spent most of her life in small towns that sit right next to the last remaining bits of wilderness. From the mountains of Colorado, the ocean surrounding Maui, Hawaii, the desert near Joshua Tree, California, and now the high desert outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Karine feels the most at home out in nature. In the studio, her second home, she can explore her relationship with the natural world. Her oil paintings are reflections of this relationship. Swenson has been a full-time artist for the past ten years.To watch a short video introducing Karine, click HERE.See more wonderful art at Karine’s website: www.karineswenson.com.

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the two weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from Karine with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A Facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Karine is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive an email with your class codes.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

___________________

Posted on September 12, 2017March 10, 2021 by

Joy Stuff: The Art of Noticing

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Joy Stuff: The Art of Noticing
Draw, Paint, Write, Print, Appreciate
Instructor: Lynn Whipple
Five-Week Class • 10 Lessons

Now available as a self-study class.

A Two-Payment Plan Available HERE.

Joy Stuff is about noticing everyday wonders and celebrating them through our art.
Joy Stuff is a delight-filled sketchbook practice and a nourishing and beautiful place to putter and to draw.
A Joy Stuff sketchbook is a creative place to write, print, paint and appreciate!
We will start by making yummy handmade papers with a Gelli® Plate — which are so much fun because they yield unexpected and exciting results — and then use those papers to design spreads and pages in our sketchbooks! We will draw out in nature, play with color, use cut paper in collage and soak in our favorite surroundings. We will be inspired by our everyday heroes and share tiny gifts. We will smile, breathe deep, and notice the lovely little things!
Life becomes richer and more fun when filled with Joy Stuff!

Big LOVE!!

xoxo

Lynn

For a list of supplies needed, click HERE.
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Class Itinerary:
Week 1
Lesson 1 – Gelli® Plate Printing!! Gell Yes!!

Let’s prepare our Joy Stuff sketchbook! We’ll begin by creating one-of-a-kind, colorful, hand-printed paper. We will be using a Gelli® Plate, several different types of paper, handmade stencils, found objects and acrylic paint. (If you don’t have a Gelli® Plate, you can tape down a large plastic bag, use a brayer to spread paint and get wonderful results.) There is great joy in this process because it yields unexpected results, and there is no wrong way to do it! Let’s have fun!
Lesson 2 – Joy Stuff Pages, Making it Yours

Using your wonderful new hand printed papers, we will collage, paint and design visually yummy pages and spreads in your sketchbook. Plan to leave some room and space on your pages, for your words, drawings, paintings and collections of little daily wonders. We will cool down with a tiny writing assignment
Week 2
Lesson 3 – Joy Jumping, Let’s Dive In!

Your pages are ready to play! What age do you feel? Seventeen? Twenty one? Let’s start with a very simple, smiling, ageless selfie. 🙂 Next we will create a portrait/love note to your favorite art supply. Appreciating the details. Finally we will enjoy a short writing assignment as a cool down.

Lesson 4 – Field Notes and a Personal Paint by Number

Today we go out into nature and draw. YES!! Find a great view, hopefully with some distance and sky. Using just a pencil, draw the scene, creating shapes using directional mark making. Next, look deeply and write down the different colors you see. Take notice of lights and darks. When you get back to your studio, create a memory painting of sorts by adding watercolor or acrylic paint, using just your written notes. We will cool down with a super short writing assignment

Week 3
Lesson 5 – Geometric Birds, the Joys of Drawing a Moving Target

Say yes to the many small joys of being outside and bird watching. Find a cafe, park, even your backyard and see if you can capture a few birds in your sketchbook. You will need to move quickly and grab some individual geomantic shapes, a head, beak, wing, tail. Birds will be bobbing, doing that funny armless walk, and even flying away! No birds? Draw your cat! or dog! or butterfly or horse!

Lesson 6 – More than Peanut Butter

Today we will warm up with a quick collage and list-writing exercise focusing on the things you love. Next we will create a handmade card or two with watercolor and some hand lettering using the inspiration from your list. Making something with someone else in mind is a great way to feel joy and to get your hands artfully moving!

Week 4
Lesson 7 – One Long Luscious Luxurious Line

Find one of your favorite interior places in your home, studio or perhaps in a cafe and settle in. Get cozy. Gift yourself with an abundance of time. With your sketchbook, sense of wonder and a continuous flowing line, travel all around the entire space with a pen. Don’t lift your pen, overlap your shapes and enjoy the details. Add a few pieces of colorful collage inside some of your shapes. Voila!

Lesson 8 – Tiny Gifts and Everyday Heroes

Let’s start today by taking a few minutes to think about the everyday folks that make your life better… the cute bag boy at the grocery or the crossing guard that smiles and waves at everyone. You may not even know their names, but you appreciate the smiles that they send your way. With simple kindness in mind we will make some very small thank you notes. Your everyday hero might be a spouse, family member, your cat — or it might even be you! Make several and try to use at least five different creative tools when creating your tiny gifts.

Week 5
Lesson 9 – Book Covers and George Letters

This is always fun! Let’s start the decorating process for your sketchbook cover. Add a little at a time… some paint fingerprints, smudges and spatters of color. Add a bit of your handmade paper with collage. Try some hand lettering with a small brush and ink. Let it tell you what it would like to be and have fun! Next, we will soak in the idea of “The George Letters,” our family’s appreciation tradition. George showed us the power of caring and of sharing love by writing each family member, and their spouse, a special note at holiday time. These treasured books were filled with beaming fatherly pride, encouragement, funny stories, photos and pure love. In the spirit of this appreciation tradition, we will create a tiny, handmade booklet.

Lesson 10 – Big Love and Joy Thanks

Today we will soak in gratitude as we finish creating our small books in the appreciation tradition. We will add string to bind our book together, create design elements and most importantly prepare these pages for your thoughts and words. As we embrace and share gratitude for those we love, I want to thank YOU for the many joys you bring to my life and to the lives of others and each other!!

Sign up today!

A Two-Payment Plan Available HERE.

__________________________

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the two weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tuesday and Thursday from Lynn with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A Facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Lynn is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive an email with your class codes.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

___________________

Posted on August 28, 2017March 10, 2021 by

Meaning Making: Inspired by Poetry

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Meaning Making: Inspired by Poetry
Instructor: Lendon Noe
2-Week Class • 6 Lessons

Now available as a self-study class.

Do you ever feel as if you don’t know where you are going with your artwork?
This class is about finding inspiration and adding meaning to your artwork through literature and poetry!
All of my life, I have leaned on my favorites (Emily Dickinson, Rilke, William Carlos Williams, Pablo Neruda) to add extra depth to my artwork. I don’t try to illustrate these great writers; instead, I try to create visual metaphors — and would love to share my working methods with you!
This class begins by looking at some of our favorite poems, poem fragments, and even single words that affect us. We’ll ask questions of the poem and the poet. What colors do you feel? What is the shape of your longing?
We will create beautiful painted papers using my favorite surface treatment techniques and will literally (as well as figuratively) tear into our papers, making fragments that will become the foundation for our larger pieces.
We will play a game of forced connections between image and idea to enhance your creative thinking. We will work with ink, pencil, pens, stamps, white gesso on Rives BFK paper. We’ll also incorporate collage, image transfers, text and drawings into our pieces.
I hope you can join me!

___________

For a list of supplies needed, click HERE.
Class Itinerary:
Week 1
Lesson 1 – Poetry-Inspired Artwork
In this lesson we will create two sonnet-structure papers and six paper pieces using the words dense, dark, and thick — inspired by Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Lesson 2 – The Image Found
Today we are going to turn to our poets for imagery. We will make a list to increase our fluidity and flexibility, and then I’ll show you one of my favorite techniques for gathering images from real objects (like fruit and flowers) using a photocopier. Warning, this is highly addictive! When we get some images we like, we’ll collage them to our background papers, beginning to layer.
Lesson 3 – Image Transfers
We will spend a moment reviewing image transfer vs. collage and then I’ll show you my favorite image transfer method.

Week 2
Lesson 4 – By Your Own Hand
Today I will encourage you to draw. I know some of you might be reluctant but there is nothing like adding something from your own hand to make a piece uniquely yours. We will practice using a tracing paper pad and try lots of drawing tools and techniques to loosen your hand and hopefully give you a little more confidence. Then I will show you how you might collage a tracing pad drawing to one of your background pieces and/or draw right on your developing pieces.
Lesson 5 – Text!
We have looked to our poets for structure and for images now how about the words themselves? Can we, should we put the poetry directly into our art? We will consider two ways of working with text – including scribbling and using text as form in a piece.
Lesson 6 – Making Connections
Today we will consider ways to finish our pieces. We will edit our papers (which may include tearing away parts or using gesso to vail over some of your work). And we will consider ways to connect pieces of paper other than just using glue.

Sign up today!

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the two weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tu-Wed-Fr with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A Facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Lendon is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

___________________

Posted on May 31, 2017March 10, 2021 by

Spark Summer! Online Class

Spark Summer!
(Formally 2015: Year of the Spark)
Instructors: Lynn Whipple & Carla Sonheim
12 Lessons
Now available as a self-study class.

Note: This is a repeat (partial) of the 2015 year-long class, “Year of the Spark.” If you were in the original class, you are welcome to join this summer at no additional cost. Email Carla at carla[at]carlasonheim.com and ask to be put on the list! Thanks!

Hello!
In 2015 we (Lynn Whipple & Carla Sonheim) taught a year-long online class together, 2015: Year of the Spark.
In this summer package we picked our favorite 12 lessons… join us!

This online class is about ART, and how we can infuse MORE of it into our lives…. More art, more creativity, more time, more inspiration, more motivation, and more FUN!

Lynn and I share a love of making art, moving our hands, and keeping things FUN. We believe that the more fun you have, the more open your mind is to creative solutions, which produces more authentic and imaginative art!
You will receive 12 video lessons + pdfs which will include a short spark-your-art exercise (how do we make the time for creativity? How do we start?), as well as a longer, technique-based mixed-media project.

How will this work?
We want students to create art that is true to their own style (as opposed to expecting art look like ours). The techniques taught are just starting points and you will incorporate them into your own existing styles, and what will come out will be fresh and new!
Also, we strive to make sure that every online lesson includes both techniques and the opportunity for personal growth and self expression. “Spark Summer!” includes an online community where participants from all over the world share their work, their thoughts, and encourage each other. And of course, we are available to comment on all work uploaded throughout the class.
This class includes:
• 12 VIDEO LESSONS (6 from Lynn, 6 from Carla), each with a warm-up exercise and a main mixed-media lesson
• 12 accompanying PDFs with step-outs, written instructions, references, links, etc.
• Instructor FEEDBACK on uploaded or emailed work
• Private BLOG and closed FACEBOOK group.

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Class Lessons

Carla
Journal Pages & One-liners and Gestures! Exploring Line Quality

Lynn
Sketchbook Patterns and Brain Surprise: Shape Making

Carla
Automatic Writing and Thoughts are Things Mini Books

Lynn
Drawing to Music and Duo des Fleurs “Flower Duet”

Carla
Warmup with Wes and Smartphone Monotype Collages

Lynn
Color Mixing and Color Making: Value Painting

Carla
Journal Diving and Carved Watercolor Paintings

Lynn
Favorite Icons and Threading Thoughts

Carla
Daily Ritual and Draw-Through Face Grids

Lynn
Thumbnail Sketches and Directional Mark Making

Carla
Modern Artists & Kids and Painting Big: Thinking Small

Lynn
Free Patterned Paper and Not so Still Life

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And a few more things:

• All levels welcome and encouraged to join us!
• Registration fee is good for people living in a single household (a great class to do with your kiddos!)
• If you have any QUESTIONS, please email me at carla[at]carlasonheim.com or Lynn at lynniewhip[at]gmail.com.
• If you’d like a feel for the SUPPLIES you will need for this class, CLICK HERE.
• New to online classes? Check out the “Frequently Asked Questions” page.

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SIGN UP TODAY!

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Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email immediately. We will log you in to the class with your Paypal email address unless you indicate otherwise.

Thank you again and we hope you can join in!

Carla Sonheim & Lynn Whipple

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Lynn Whipple writes, “I am deeply grateful to live my life as an artist. Play and discovery are my dearest and most constant companions. There are a zillion tiny challenges in each art making experience, and so often I find, just as many small, sweet victories. Without a doubt, living creatively is the most enjoyable and satisfying game I know.”
Lynn shares a warehouse studio with her husband, John Whipple, in Winter Park, Florida. Lynn’s work includes found-object mixed-media assemblages; found images altered with a combination of drawing, painting, sewing and more; and her well-known Ninny Boxes, collages combined with found objects, and assembled within a box format. Her unique pieces have a playful, quirky, and often absurd, charm.
Lynn explains: “I allow myself to play and let my pieces reveal themselves to me…I have been fascinated by old books, history, and odd bits of memorabilia. I find the things that interest me the most are slightly absurd…My hope is to create something real and somehow poetic but not commonplace. My goal is to keep communicating in my language.”
Lynn’s work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States and she is the author of the forthcoming book, “Expressive Flower Painting” (Quarry Books). Visit Lynn’s website at www.lynnwhipple.com.
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Carla Sonheim is a painter, illustrator, and creativity workshop instructor known for her fun and innovative projects and techniques designed to help adult students recover a more spontaneous, playful approach to creating. She is the author of Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun, a bestselling book, having sold over 75,000 copies!
Two more books were released Fall 2012: Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals: A Mixed-Media Workshop (Quarry Books) and The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone (Perigee Books), and in 2013 she co-authored Creative Photography Lab with her husband, Steve Sonheim.
One of her students writes, “Carla just shines and is so gentle and generous that you will work hard all day and come out energised and inspired. Most importantly though, [her] class was a touchstone in my artistic journey, giving me the courage to stop resisting, and open myself to my creative voice.”
Carla lives in Seattle, Washington.

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Testimonials:
For Carla:
“You are a gifted instructor, who actually makes art fun, and I look forward to learning more from you.” — Jo
“What a wonderful world you have offered to me in The Year of the Fairy Tale! I am loving this course more than I can say, and I appreciate all the work and planning that you and your husband have put into this course. It’s polished, professional, charming and easy-to-follow. Again, thank you so much for all that you have done — what a year!” — Sandy
For Lynn:
“You’ve done so much for me, you have no idea. Coming across your work, taking your workshop, receiving feedback from you… all of these things have kept me sane, motivated me, inspired me. That’s huge – so I thank you so, so much for all of these things.” — Deborah
“From the bottom of my heart, YOU, dear Lynn, are just the best art teacher I’ve ever had. You challenged my senses and encouraged me to play and have fun; something I’ve forgotten to do. Thank You!” — Tina

Posted on May 10, 2017March 10, 2021 by

Making Faces

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Making Faces
Instructor: Lynn Whipple
Two-Week Class • 6 Lessons
Now available as a self-study class.

Let’s make faces!
Ever-fascinating faces are chock full of artful possibilities. Faces are how we communicate and, in a sense, faces are who we are.
In this class you will create dozens and dozens of different types of faces. You will draw, paint and collage, play with line, shape, color and mark and you’ll come away with an approach to keep your art practice fresh and full of new ideas.
Let’s turn our studios into a laboratory of face making as we explore, experiment and enjoy this exciting and astounding subject matter.
And as always, let’s have fun!!
xoxo
All my best,
Lynn

For a list of supplies needed, click HERE.

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Class Itinerary:
Week 1
Lesson 1 – About Face
In this lesson we will go over some simple basics about drawing the form of the face that will inform your drawings to come. Let’s start with a quick and playful exercise with ovals and make fast and free faces. Next we will look further into the face, discussing proportion and use of shadow to find form. And finally, some tips about connecting with line the features of the face to create more interesting drawings.
Lesson 2 – Crazy Face Trace
We’ll start with an eyes-closed, touch-and-continuous-line drawing exercise of our own faces to gather more information about the face and it’s form and structure. Next we will blaze forward with photo references, color and crazy mark making for wild and unexpected results. Be fast, energetic and playful. Finally, we’ll cut these up and rearrange!
Lesson 3 – Facing Backwards
Today is about working on the background first. We will start with watercolor patterning, shape-making and stencils. Remember to spatter, because everything is better with a little spatter! Now it is time to play and make faces as you draw on top of the patterns you have created. Some of these will turn out, some maybe won’t, the big idea is to keep your hands moving and your brain engaged as you push towards new ways to explore and communicate with the face.

Week 2
Lesson 4 – Collage Day! Making Faces!
Play with colored and patterned paper shapes for hair, eyes, nose, mouth, neck and shoulders and backgrounds. Adding even one piece of patterned collage to your faces can open up design opportunities and bring unexpected brain surprises for you and for your viewer.
Lesson 5 – Mixed-Media Day!
Once again we are on the lookout for brain surprises! Start by playing the magazine swap game and then move on to all of your media. You can incorporate words into your faces, add your faces last, or start with a photo reference and layer on top with paint, pencil and markers. Cover much of the face, but leave traces of the features showing through. Build mystery and emotion as you take liberties with line, shape and mark, creating a more moody tone and character. Remember this is all experimental and the bigger idea is to push you towards new art making and face-making possibilities.
Lesson 6 – Elevate Your Face
Now it’s time to take all the starts and explorations and see how they might become more finished pieces. You will look at each face separately by putting it inside a frame or background and see if it can stand on its own. Perhaps it will need a little tweaking by adding more darks or line work… perhaps a new series will be born… perhaps a direction will come into focus that will keep your hands moving for years to come.

Sign up today!

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the two weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tu-Wed-Fr from Lynn with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Lynn is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes and a “test” video to make sure you can receive/view everything (if you can view the above video, you should be able to view the class videos).
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

___________________

Posted on April 12, 2017March 10, 2021 by

The Doodle & the Painting

The Doodle & the Painting
Instructor: Diane Culhane
5-week class • 11 lessons
$165
Class Dates: May 2 – June 6, 2017
NOTE: Even though class has started, you are welcome to sign up anytime!

Payment Plan Option (Two $80 payments 30 days apart, plus one-time $7)

This class is about growing our doodles into large 30″x30″ paintings. We all have natural creative impulses, and our simplest drawings contain everything we need to to start (and finish!) big wonderful paintings.
The process I will teach comes from my own journey and we will go step by step from tiny drawings to completed works.
I am excited to share my discoveries about how to take what is already in you — your imagery, your marks, your voice (your DOODLE style!) — and give it direction and intent.
In this painting class we will work with line quality, color mixing, composition and design. I hope it will feed you, fill you up, and make you long for more exploration into your doodles and harvest the gold that is already inside of you.
If you’ve taken the first class, Doings of a Do-o-dle, you’ve already made a start… and this class will continue to take you deeper into your own self expression.
I hope you will join me!
Buckets of Joy,
Diane Culhane
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SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THIS CLASS: For the Supply List, click HERE.
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Class Outline
WEEK 1
Lesson 1: Line Quality & Characteristics
Explore various types of lines: thick, thin, dotted, dashed, curvy, sketchy and combinations.
Lesson 2: Size Matters: Tiny & Medium Papers
Start small by working with Post–it –Notes to free up the flow of ideas. Lead up to a medium composition on 8.5″x11″ paper.
Lesson 3: Size Matters: Extra Large
Place large sheets of paper on a wall or a door. This will enable you to work using your whole body. Use a variety of sharpies to create a huge sized doodle.

Diane Doodling LARGE!
WEEK 2
Lesson 4: Revamping the Journal & Adding Color Fields
Take an old journal or an old used book and cover what is already there with a gesso or a combination of stains and ink.
Lesson 5: Choosing Themes: Building Volume by Adding Layers
What images are reoccurring in your doodles? What images do you love? Choose a theme from the list or choose your own.
Lesson 6: Color Mixing & Harmony: Landscapes in Sketchbook
Work in your journal or sketchbook and create a landscape full of inventive shapes. Activating the surface with multiple layers.

Moving from Doodles to “Doodle Drawings”
Week 3
Lesson 7: Surface Prep & The Beginnings
Gesso two wood panels, each 30″x30″ in size and add the first layer of paint on both paintings to get your imagery started. Panel #1: black & blue. Panel #2: red, blue, yellow harmonious colors
Lesson 8: Adding Layers: First Wood Panel with Theme Patterns
Add painted doodles to the composition with the theme of your choice, paying particular attention to contrasts between lights and darks and working with multiple tints. Diane’s Theme Choice for Painting #1: Lines & Triangles.
Lesson 9: Adding Layers: Second Wood Panel with Color Harmony
Add themed doodles to your composition and keep working on adding contrasts with lights and darks, continuing with primarily red, blue and yellow. Diane’s Theme Choice for Painting #2: Botanical Plant Life.

Diane’s Demonstration Painting #1
Week 4
Lesson: 10: Completing Two Wood Panel Paintings
This week is a huge painting week! Go to your studios, shut the doors and paint. You will receive one two-part lesson on Tuesday, and will be set free to just paint the rest of the week. Diane will take her two paintings start to finish.

Diane’s Demonstration Painting #2
Week 5
Lesson 11: Overview: Thinking Back and Thinking Foreword
When do you know if your painting is finished? Dive into your inquiry of composition. Celebrate where we are, where we have been, and where we are going.
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Sign up today!

Payment Plan Option (Two $80 payments 30 days apart, plus one-time $7)

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Diane Culhane is a professional artist and art educator who lives in West Seattle in a 1910 home, and works out of her studio in Ballard, Building C. She received her BFA from the University of Utah and Master’s Degree from Seattle University. Diane has taught for The Bellevue School District, Seattle Pacific University, Kirkland Arts Center, Bellevue Arts Museum and currently directs and owns Kelsey Creek Fine Art Camp, ‘Go Go with Van Gogh,’ for children in the summer. When Diane is not in the studio painting you can find her on her bicycle or hiking. Learn more about her at http://www.dianeculhane.com.
Diane’s first book, If You Can Doodle, You Can Paint, was just released by Quarry Books.

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the 5 weeks of class, you will receive emails on each teaching day from Diane with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Diane is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

___________________

Posted on March 29, 2017March 10, 2021 by

Stained Glass Trees

Stained-Glass Trees
Instructor: Dar Hosta James
8-Lesson, 3-Week Class
Class Dates: April 18 – May 4, 2017
Note: Even though class has started, you are welcome to join in anytime!

The simple and universal beauty of a tree meets the decorative grandeur of stained glass in this three week acrylic painting course with Dar Hosta James. Come along for a creative journey that gives you the recipe and the ingredients for your own fantastic, magical forest. You will begin with simple shapes and lines and continue with doodling, negative space, dots and more dots, and embellishment that truly proves more IS more!

We will put lots of emphasis on color harmony and pretty details. By the end of this course, you will have four gorgeous canvas paintings in various sizes and dimensions.
This is a course for ALL skill and artistic levels and you will surprise yourself with how you’ll take this recipe and turn it into your own expression of trees, so come along for this new and fun artistic adventure!
Click HERE for supply list.

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Class Itinerary
Week 1
Lesson 1
We are going to begin by forgetting about trees and focusing on color, color, color! Our first lesson is all about exploring the color combinations that we love and laying down the first layer of this process oriented technique on two smaller canvases.
Lesson 2
Because this technique requires that we distill our ideas of trees down to a simple interpretation of what they look like, we are going to practice stylization of trees. There are so many ways to represent a tree and we are going to really brainstorm on this. We are also going to do a little non-precious practice of negative space which is the cornerstone of our beautiful leaves.
Lesson 3
We are going to add a little more color to our canvases and then we are going bring our favorite tree shapes to life and reveal the beautiful, stained glass leaves that are waiting on our canvases.

Week 2
Lesson 4
In this lesson, we are going to build on what we know. We are going to add another tree, some fun shiny paints, and move into a new, darker color palette. One of my favorite things to portray in my art is the NIGHT! So, let’s do some magical NIGHT SKIES!
Lesson 5
We began with very simplified and stylized tree forms and then created leaf “windows,” and today we are going to start decorating everything around our paintings and embellish, embellish, embellish. This is where our paintings are really going to come alive and completely light up. If you like more-is-more, like I do, get ready to let it fly today.
Lesson 6
More is more! Lesson 6 brings more embellishment to our night sky paintings and two decorative techniques to share with you.

Week 3
Lesson 7
For our fourth painting, we are going to go for a larger, 24×24” tree painting and apply all of our tree-mendous skills to it! We are going to bring more complexity to this one and you are going to get to add more design elements, choose new tree shapes and new colors.
Lesson 8
One of the ways that a painting can begin to tell a personal story is by adding in small details that are meaningful to you. Let’s begin to think about what those details might be… plants, animals, flowers, fruits, water, fishes, insects, houses, people… there are so many ways that we can push the more-is-more and really tell the story of our trees.
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Class begins April 18th. Sign up today!

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Dar Hosta James is a collage artist, a painter of trees, a writer/illustrator of children’s books, a teacher of both children and adults, a public speaker, and a life coach.

She is the daughter of an artist with a BA in creative writing from the University of Missouri and a secondary education certification in Language Arts. After a brief stint as a high school teacher, she became a stay-at-home mom in rural Ohio where she discovered a love of collage while spending days at home with her two young sons. She continued working in education through writing and art as a visiting author, an artist-in-residence and a national speaker on creativity in education. In 2003, after a move to central New Jersey, Dar started an independent publishing company. Of her life as an artist, she says, “Art has become a metaphor for my life… my life has become a metaphor for my art… in both areas, I try to look for what is working and how to make it all more fun. The two feed each other.”
She is the mother of two grown sons and lives in New Hope, PA. When she is not busy creating art, Dar is an avid runner, a regular yoga practitioner and an amateur student of tarot. She recently became a Certified GOLDEN Artist Educator. See her work, calendar and shop at www.darsworld.com.

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the first two weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tu-W-F with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson. (On Week 3, the emails will come on Tu-Thur.)
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Dar is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

Posted on March 7, 2017March 10, 2021 by

Flower Crazy 2

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Flower Crazy 2
with Carla Sonheim
3-Week Class; 8 Video Lessons
Class Dates: March 21 – April 6, 2017
Note: Even though class has started, you are welcome to join anytime!

Hi! It might be cold and rainy in my neck of the woods, but NOT here inside my studio! Here we have imaginary flowers!
In this 8-lesson class we will create 8-10 flower paintings, working with watercolors, chalk markers, Swedish Tracing Paper collage, kneaded rubber eraser stamping, stenciling, white ink, matte media, charcoal, and pencil on watercolor paper.
This follow-up/companion class of one of my first online classes, “Flower Crazy.” (Though each class can be taken independently.)
CLICK HERE for the SUPPLY LIST.

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Sign up Today!

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Class Itinerary
Week 1 (Tues, Wed, Fri)
Lesson 1 – Experimenting with watercolor scraping and pen and ink (line quality).
Lesson 2 – Experimenting with watercolor mark-making; create an all-over flower pattern.
Lesson 3 – Kneaded rubber eraser stamping; work on three paintings combining the four techniques of Week 1.

Week 2 (Tues, Wed, Fri)
Lesson 4 – Creating collage flowers using Swedish Tracing Paper.
Lesson 5 – Stenciling technique (to bring together the tough ones); shading and highlighting tips.
Lesson 6 – Flower building exercise; start two larger paintings with wet-on-wet watercolor technique.

Week 3 (Tues, Thurs)
Lesson 7 – Add layers of collage, matte medium, and watercolor until your paintings “almost” work.
Lesson 8 – Take your two larger paintings to the finish with white ink, charcoal, pencil, and marker.

________________________
Sign up Today!

________________________

Carla Sonheim is a painter, illustrator, and creativity workshop instructor known for her fun and innovative projects and techniques designed to help adult students recover a more spontaneous, playful approach to creating. She is the author of Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun, a bestselling book, having sold over 100,000 copies!
Two more books were released Fall 2012: Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals: A Mixed-Media Workshop (Quarry Books) and The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone (Perigee Books), and in 2013 she co-authored Creative Photography Lab with her husband, Steve Sonheim.
One of her students writes, “Carla just shines and is so gentle and generous that you will work hard all day and come out energised and inspired. Most importantly though, [her] class was a touchstone in my artistic journey, giving me the courage to stop resisting, and open myself to my creative voice.”
Carla lives in Seattle, Washington.

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• A password-protected blog serves as our clubhouse; there you will find all of the lesson videos and class materials.
• A Facebook group has been created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Carla is always available to look at your work via email.)
• You have indefinite access to the class materials.
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours with the links to the class blog and Facebook group.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? carla[at]carlasonheim.com
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our classes, click HERE.

Posted on January 25, 2017March 10, 2021 by

Intro to Acrylics: Backgrounds, Middle Grounds & Foregrounds

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Intro to Acrylics:
Backgrounds, Middle Grounds & Foregrounds
Instructor: Fred Lisaius
12 Video Lessons total
Now available as self-study class.

Welcome to this three-class series where we will learn how to create the Background, Middle Ground and Foreground. We will also learn many techniques for creating depth and making all three grounds work together.
Acrylics paints are beautiful. The medium is creamy, colorful, and very versatile. This class is designed to introduce beginners to this beautiful medium and to excite more advanced students with new information and techniques. I look forward to painting with you! — Fred
CLICK HERE for the SUPPLY LIST.
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Sign up Today!
Three-class series:

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Part 1 – Backgrounds Class Itinerary
Lesson 1 – Mixing colors for the blue sky, building the big shapes, and defining our cloud edges.
Lesson 2 – Determining the color variations within the clouds, adding layers to create contrast and depth, and finishing by creating smooth transitions.
Lesson 3 – Create a warm color palette, lay down transition layers, and practice techniques for smooth blending.
Lesson 4 – Continue smoothing and refining, and glazing techniques for creating even more subtle tints.
Part 2 – Middle Grounds Class Itinerary
Lesson 1 – Picking colors that indicate distance and depth, and roughing in shapes of a distant mountain range.
Lesson 2 – Adding a second layer of paint to the first layer for complete coverage. Adding detail to create a realistic look.
Lesson 3 – Painting tree forms, .trunks and branches; working with subtleties color to create the right balance for a middle ground element in a backlit scene.
Lesson 4 – Revisit tree forms. Make adjustments in color transparency, adding additional branches and fine details with a small brush
Part 3 – Foregrounds Class Itinerary
Lesson 1 – Decide on your foreground subject and make sketches to get familiar before committing to paint. Choosing warmer and richer colors to bring the subject forward and roughing in your subject with the first layer of paint.
Lesson 2 – Adding second layer of paint, refining the form of your subject, and adding final details to make it feel close and really bring it to life.
Lesson 3 – This is the culmination of our whole series, and we will be taking on the challenge of painting the human figure, starting again with some pencil sketches and then applying our first layer of paint to our panels.
Lesson 4 – Using smaller brushes, we will make those final touches that give the human form its character and personality, as well as refining light and shadow and bringing it to its finish.

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Fred Lisaius is a painter, sculptor, and a popular art teacher at Bellevue College, WA (“Fred is perfect!”). Fred is represented by the Patricia Rovzar Gallery in Seattle, and his work is in many private and corporate collections. Fred recently had a show at the Bainbridge Island Art Museum. From his statement:
The deeper I go into the forest the closer I feel to the truth. Off of the trail, there is a quiet calm where ideas can be contemplated and refined. In my paintings and my sculptures, I utilize the forum of nature to explore our relationship to the natural world and to each other.

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Meet Fred video! https://www.vimeo.com/130925151

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• A password-protected blog serves as our clubhouse; there you will find all of the lesson videos and class materials.
• A Facebook group has been created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Fred is always available to look at your work via email.)
• You have indefinite access to the class materials.
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours with the links to the class blog and Facebook group.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? carla[at]carlasonheim.com
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our classes, click HERE.

Posted on December 5, 2016March 10, 2021 by

Gift Certificates!

If you would like to gift a class, purchase below and we will email you a printable Gift Certificate to give to your recipient.
Choose any amount! Suggested amounts (to coincide with our typical class prices) are $25, $35, $65, $85, $95, $165, $198.
Thank you!

Posted on October 11, 2016March 10, 2021 by

Paper Love: 2 Classes with Dar Hosta James

Paper Love: Two Classes!
Hand-Painted Paper
1-Week Class
3 Lessons; $35
Now available as a self-study class.
Cut Paper Collage
2-Week Class
6 Lessons; $85
Now available as a self-study classes.
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Click below to purchase both classes together!

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Click HERE for supply lists for both classes.

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Class #1: Hand-Painted Paper
Create a rainbow of your very own hand-painted papers! Join collage artist Dar Hosta James for a playful exploration of color, pattern and texture using a variety of techniques to produce beautiful, decorative papers that can be used in cut-paper collage as well as other projects that call for special, decorative paper. We will experiment with layers of paint using found objects, spattering, dripping and more as we work in color families. You will paint on Yasutomo Kozo paper and finish with a collection of at least 20 sheets of gorgeous—and very personal— pieces of hand-painted paper, as well as a toolbox full of paper-painting techniques to mix and match.

Lesson 1
The warm color family — colors of the sun and fire! In this lesson we will play with busy and calm to create red, orange and yellow papers created with found objects, stencils, and your fingertips.
Lesson 2
Cool is the color of the sky, water, grass and things that sooth us. Lesson 2 focuses on blue, green and purple using the decorative paint techniques of the spatter screen and sgraffito.
Lesson 3
Neutrals like white, gray, brown and black bring harmony to composition. In Lesson 3 we explore neutrals with two more painting techniques, dry brush and gesso ghost drips.
To purchase Hand-Painted Paper separately:

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Class #2: Cut Paper Collage

Shapes, shapes, shapes! The whole world is made up of simple but beautiful shapes! In this six-lesson course, participants will use their personal stash of collage papers (or, for those of those who took “Hand-Painted Paper,” their newly finished collection) to create a variety of playful collage compositions including buildings and architecture, floral, botanical, insect and animal. Learn Dar’s favorite and unexpected adhesive technique, which allows you to bring detail and delicacy into your cut paper work, as well as her final, detail technique which will literally “light up” your collage!

Lesson 1
Did you know that almost everything in the world is made up of five, basic shapes? In lesson 1 we will begin our collage adventure by breaking it down to the basics in a fun exercise with magazine clippings.
Lesson 2
Because you can never have enough hand-painted paper, we will make some more! Lesson 2 brings metallic paints into the fray as well as a fun, handmade stamp exercise that will make your patterned papers truly your own. Plus, we will put the adhesive onto all of our papers so that they are ready to cut in lesson four!
Lesson 3
Backgrounds are the foundation of our painterly collages. In Lesson 3 we will create a variety of subtle backgrounds to use in our upcoming compositions.
Lesson 4
Let’s build houses and buildings and neighborhoods! We will start “thinking in stacks” with 2D houses and then jump to rendering them in 3D to bring depth and dimension to architectural compositions.
Lesson 5
Florals and botanicals truly lend themselves to collage because they are so easily broken down into shapes. We will learn an easy way to begin to go beyond the basics into more complex shapes and then we will grow a big, abundant garden, as well as experiment with insects and animals.
Lesson 6
Acrylic ink is the grand finale; dots and lines bring detail to our work and will literally light it up!

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Dar Hosta James is a collage artist, a painter of trees, a writer/illustrator of children’s books, a teacher of both children and adults, a public speaker, and a life coach.

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tu-W-F from Dar with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Dar is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

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Posted on October 11, 2016March 10, 2021 by

Paper Love: 2 Classes with Dar Hosta James

Click below to purchase both classes together!

_________________________

Click HERE for supply lists for both classes.

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Class #2: Cut Paper Collage

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Dar Hosta James is a collage artist, a painter of trees, a writer/illustrator of children’s books, a teacher of both children and adults, a public speaker, and a life coach.

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Posted on September 28, 2016March 10, 2021 by

Intro to Encaustic Painting

Intro to Encaustic Painting
Instructor: Stephanie Hargrave
4-week, 12-lesson class
Encaustic Painting
Now available as a self-study class.

Encaustic painting is using melted and pigmented beeswax to create exciting, luminous paintings. If you have ever been curious about encaustics, you’re in for a treat! This 12-lesson online workshop covers a brief history of this ancient medium, what equipment is needed, setting up your work space, mixing colors, adding other media like paper and thread, safety… everything you need to know to start making your own encaustic paintings.

Olivia I

Blood Flowers 2

April

Capra Hircus

Immix

Organella
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Class Itinerary
Week 1:
Tuesday: Set-up and Safety
Wednesday: Brief History and Fusing Clear Wax
Friday: Adding One Color
Week 2:
Tuesday: Working with Opaque Colors
Wednesday: Working with Transparent Colors
Friday: Mixing Colors
Week 3:
Tuesday: Burnishing Tissue Paper
Wednesday: Japanese Paper with Drawings
Friday: Charcoal Transfer
Week 4:
Tuesday: Carving and Inlaying Line
Wednesday: Thread and Linen Paper
Friday: Finishing/Polishing your Paintings
Note: Materials used in this class may contain ingredients that are harmful to your health. We want you to be safe so follow manufacturer’s instructions carefully and work in well-ventilated areas.

Petalous 3 — 28″x28″

How the Class Works
On Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday of each session you will receive an email reminding you to visit the class blog for your new assignment and video lesson. Videos are professionally produced and instructor feedback will be given via a private facebook page (or via email with Stephanie, if you prefer). If you need to miss a week, don’t worry! The class material will be up and available to you indefinitely.
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Sign up today!

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Stephanie Hargrave has been painting and/or working in clay since college, where she studied color theory, ceramics, sculpture, drawing & painting, as well as creative writing. She started a line of functional ceramics as a small business in 1997 after studying with Carol Gouthro, and has worked with metal, oil paint, watercolor and acrylics over the years, but her medium of choice is beeswax. She learned a great deal studying with Jef Gunn and Larry Caulkins at Pratt Fine Arts Center, and later began co-teaching at Pratt (using wax as an element in sculptural collage) with Rickie Wolfe.  She also teaches at NW Encaustic, various other venues, and from her studio.
She has shown her work in Seattle, Minneapolis, New York and Atlanta.   Her work is in several corporate collections, including Swedish Hospital, University of Washington Medical Center, Barclays International in Texas, Abri Hotel in San Francisco, the Woodmark Hotel in Kirkland, and Kaiser Permanente in Baltimore.  In 2014 she was a panelist for the Inside Art program at Town Hall on the topic of Imagery and Art (curated by Juan Alonso-Rodriquez), and her collaborative work with RobRoy Chalmers was on the cover of Art Voices Magazine (Fall Issue), with accompanying article/interview.  She was the juror for the Mercer Island Art Council’s Yearly Art Show in 2015, and was recently published in Jennifer Margell’s book Encaustic Art.  Her 3’ square work entitled Capra Hircus 3 was juried into the Encaustic Art Institute’s permanent collection in October 2015.
Hargrave donates to a variety of auctions each year.  Most recently she was asked to donate for Bellevue Art Museum’s live auction, which featured Allele 1.  She is currently a member of Shift, an artist run gallery in Seattle, and maintains memberships with Artist Trust, Pratt Fine Arts Center, and the Center on Contemporary Art.
Encaustic has been her focus for the last 16 years – it is the one medium that affords all the other materials she has worked in to overlap and inform one another.
See more wonderful art at Stephanie’s website: www.stephaniehargrave.com
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Materials Needed
— Two 24”x24” Drywall Panels (to protect your tabletop)
— Pancake Griddle (with temperature gage)
— Heat Gun or Propane Torch
— Encaustic Medium – 1 Brick (Recommended: R&F Encaustic Medium, 333 ml. OR you can buy handmade “StephiWax.” Click below for details.)
— Encaustic Colors: 1 small brick each of Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, White (R&F, or you can buy handmade “StephiWax.” See below for details.)
— metal tins – several (to hold melted wax)
— Several 1″ – 1 1/2” Bristle Brushes
— Smaller bristle brushes for detail work
— Small Birch Panels (5”x7” and 6”x6”) – 3 each
— Two 9”x12” Cradled Birch Panels
— Painter’s tape (blue tape)
— Rags
— Fan
— Fire Extinguisher
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“StephiWax” will ship via USPS Priority Mail within two days after purchase. US orders only (so sorry!).

Posted on September 20, 2016March 10, 2021 by

Big Bold Bloom 2!

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Big Bold Bloom 2!
A 5-Week Class with Lynn Whipple
10 Lessons
Now available as a self-study class.

(For a 2-payment plan option, click HERE!)

More Painting!! More Drawing!! More Flowers!!

New Layers! New Techniques! New Tools!!

And most importantly, new ways to celebrate

your enormous and brilliant instincts!

Tune into your personal preferences and enjoy creative play as you create a series of Big Bold Blooms! You will create Big paintings! Medium paintings! Small paintings! And tiny sketchbook drawings, too!

We will work with the simple wonders of line, shape and mark, and add to the mix the joys of color, texture and composition. We will start with tiny seed drawings which will help inform all of our future designs. Then we’ll play with acrylic paint and colorful mark-making tools such as chalk pastels, markers & even colored pencils. We will also work with collage and bring all these layers together to create our final, loose, bold painting!

If you have taken Big Bold Bloom Wild Painting, this is the perfect follow up class… I can’t wait to continue the journey with you!

If you are new, this is a great stand-alone class that will encourage you to work with loads of fun and freedom as you celebrate your instincts and create Big Bold Blooms!

Let’s explore painting and the power of play! I hope you will join me and our wonderful online Bloom community 🙂

All my very best,

xoxo

Lynn

For a list of supplies needed, click HERE.

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Class Itinerary:

Week 1

Lesson 1 – Seed Drawings: Tiny Flowers, Big Designs

There is something exciting about playing with design early in the painting process — at this stage everything is possible! We will warm up our hands and minds in our sketchbooks and create lyrical line drawings. Let’s build small maps of large paintings and keep it loose and free! We will draw fresh flowers from life and add a little music to keep us in the moment. We will design in square and rectangle formats and take special notice of our dark values, putting them in boldly to create structures for our future paintings.

Lesson 2 – Beginning Blooms: Layering Line, Collage & Color

Choose your favorite seed drawings from Lesson 1 and let’s play a new layering game! Using tissue paper, we will start our design structure by first putting down our dark shapes, with tissue, on a 12″ x 12″ and a 11″ x 14″ canvas. We will collage and build from the ground up, using great shapes, great darks and great design. The next step is a drawing layer on rice paper and then we will continue to add layers of color, paper, line and paint as the Beginning Blooms come into focus!

Week 2

Lesson 3 – Chalk Flowers

I am excited to share with you another new technique that marries our soft pastel drawing with paint. We begin by toning two smaller canvases with two different ground colors and perhaps a bit of spattering. We will softly carve out simple pots of blooms with a dry brush, creating one large shape. When the paint is dry we draw with chalk pastels and other markers and tools. Our next layer will help us create a “quieting visual noise” which will take down the vibrancy of the color. This is a lovely way to combine drawing and painting with a poetic, new twist!

Lesson 4 – Chalk Flowers cont.

As we continue to layer and draw, add paint and soften, we will start to see our Chalk Flowers emerge. Using darker colored pastels now, pencil, colored pencil and charcoal, let’s begin to find a finish by squinting and finding the perfect place for the darks. You might refer to your seed drawings here, and bring in an area of focus. Continue to “rock” the painting back and forth until the perfect balance speaks to you.

Week 3

Lesson 5 – Bigger and Bolder! New Layers!!

Let’s start one of each of our larger canvases: a 24″ x 24″ and a “24 x 30”. Tone one canvas in the warm orange tones and one in the greenish tones. We will do a “spin composition” step… a wonderful way to not only to keep your hands moving, but to create an abstracted patterned layer. Move the wet paint with the brayer as you paint neutral tones into the shapes. Be sure to leave a bit of your first layer peeking through! Let your painting breathe. Next we will add drawing!! Away we go!!

Lesson 6 – Bigger and Bolder! New Layers cont!

As you continue, there is always time to risks and try something new because —as you know — it’s only a layer! Spin the canvas and look for a great place to plant your large pot of blooms. Draw in loose and free with chalk pastel using lots of color. Music up! Add thin layers of light colored paint, as you cut in around your large shape. Create visual noise by moving the paint with your brayer. Spatter! Build your larger blooms! Draw on top! Add darks! Create shadow! Add highlights! Have fun!!

Week 4

Lesson 7- Big Bold Blooms!

This week you will begin two more larger canvases. We’ll start with spin drawings — one of most satisfying layers I know; spin drawings keep us looking and freely drawing flowers, loose and fast, with and eye on composition and shape making. The pattern you create will give you an amazing place to add your next layer of neutral colors. Let the ground layer show through! Music up! Play! Spin! Draw! Repeat! Paint!

Lesson 8- Painting Blooms – One form, one flower at a time

It’s time to sling some paint! Using your vibrant colors now. Paint your flowers with big, bold movements. This is a time to with play with your brushstrokes. Try and touch the canvas with a different angle of the brush every time you touch it! Celebrate one flower at a time. Look carefully and let the light source tell you what side is bright and which is in shadow. This will inform your colors which will help create your forms. Fill your canvas with colorful blooms, spatter, drip, put in darks.. have fun!

Week 5

Lesson 9 – Painting Blooms, Big and Bold, your beautiful instincts leading the way!

Yes!!! You have gathered so many wonderful preferences! Do you prefer vertical or horizontal? Muted or bright colors? The first step is to look through your drawings and paintings and create a new design to turn into an 11″ x 14″ tissue paper collage “map.” This will help guide you as you scale it up to our largest painting, 36″ x 48″! Now it’s time for loose ground color and some spatter. With larger pieces of tissue paper, put down your large collage pieces and see your design come to life!

Lesson 10 – Painting Blooms, Big and Bold, your beautiful instincts lead the way!

Music up! DRAW! Start by using your pastels and drawing on top of your collage, change the flower shapes, go over the lines. PAINT! As you practiced in Lesson 8, paint in big, loose flower forms, with drips and spatters and light and shadow side. When the paint is a little bit dry, use the brayer. Have fun as you use a favorite color to paint and “cut in” loosely around your arrangement. Keep rocking the painting back and forth, brayer, drawing, paint, spatter, pencil, markers and even the dot dot dot! When you think you’re done, back up, have a cup of coffee or some chocolate and let your painting tell you what it needs to take it to a beautiful finish.

Sign up today!

(For a 2-payment plan option, click HERE!)

What previous Big Bold Bloom Students are saying:

“From the bottom of my heart, YOU, dear Lynn, are just the best art teacher I’ve ever had. You challenged my senses and encouraged me to play and have fun; something I’ve forgotten to do. Now surrounded by the many blooms in my paintings, I’m dancing, feeling the joy of being free, and waiting for the next adventure with you. Thank You!” — Tina
“Life changer for me. Finally took the leap to set myself up and be painting again!! And painting large flowers…always my dream! Looking forward to how this evolves. Thank you for everything, Lynn and amazing, kind and hugely talented artists!!” — Cindy
“Lynn, THANK YOU! This has been such a great workshop (I refer to you, the content and the other members of the class). Really, this ranks as one of the best workshops I’ve ever taken and I’m soooo grateful!” — Stacey
“Hi Lynn, Finally I have finished my first BIG and BOLD. It really was a labor of love LOL and your wonderful lessons carried me to the end with big smiles on my face!! Love your teaching style and encouragement. I have never attempted anything this big before and now I can’t wait to start another. Thank you so much for helping me through my fear of the BIG blank canvas!!” — Sharon
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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the five weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tu-Th from Lynn with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Lynn is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes and a “test” video to make sure you can receive/view everything (if you can view the above video, you should be able to view the class videos).
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our online classes, click HERE.

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Posted on September 1, 2016March 10, 2021 by

Bottles, Bananas & Beyond!

Bottles, Bananas & Beyond!
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Bottles, Bananas, & Beyond!
with Alison O’Donoghue
Three-Week Class; 6 Video Lessons
Class Dates: September 20 – October 6, 2016
Note: Even though class has started, you can join in anytime!

Bottles. Bugs. Bananas. Dogs.
Cats. Fruits. Teapots. Logs.
Books. Cows. Horses. Flowers.
Couches. Pennies. Clocks & Showers!
(If you are a “more is more” kind of person, this is truly the class for you!)
Alison will share her unique acrylic painting techniques for creating a stacked, interactive, and harmonious world within the bounds of a 14″x14″ canvas. Alison loves painting on super smooth surfaces, so the class will begin early with a “bonus” lesson on how to smooth a canvas using levening gel.
The first exercises are designed to help you find your “go-to” imagery and begin the process of creating patterns with simple shapes: people, animals and objects.
Next you will build layers of acrylic paint (a black layer, the white imagery, then color washes and light highlights), and finish with Alison’s method of varnishing her paintings for a beautiful finish.

In this class you will:
• Make a canvas smooth
• Create a visual vocabulary
• Explore interlocking simple shapes to create pattern
• Limit your main palette to black and white
• Negative space awareness
• Apply washes of transparent color
• Create dimension with highlights

Class Itinerary
Bonus Lesson – Smoothing a Canvas
Have you ever wanted to paint on canvas but have it be completely smooth? Alison demonstrates her method of leveling a a surface. This step is optional… if you don’t want to use canvas, you can paint on a gessoed board (panel box) with two coats of gesso, sanding between coats.

Lesson 1 – Drawing Exercise
Here we are creating a simple visual vocabulary and loosening up. Don’t think about the rules of gravity, perspective, or actual size relationships (small house, large shoe). No need to think of content or meaning, just allow the images to free associate and become neighbors in the drawing.
Lesson 2 – Prepare the Canvas; Draw it Out
Paint canvas or panel box with black acrylic. Then you’ll draw your all-over pattern. Keeping shapes simple, think of the spaces between, the negative space, as shapes also. Explore size relationships and lack of gravity.
Lesson 3 – Paint the Pattern in White
Follow your drawing lines, painting not the lines but the shapes themselves, keeping the shapes simple. Allow for changes and new imagery. Explore creating and repeating shapes to allow your collection of images to become a bold and almost abstract pattern.
Lesson 4 – Apply the Washes
Apply three transparent color washes to add subtle color.
Lesson 5 – Highlights
Paint into the imagery, creating a sense of light, dimension and pattern. Think about dappled light, even in its randomness it creates a sense of light.
Lesson 6 – Finishing Touches & Varnish
Adding Final details and Varnishing the Painting using oil-based varnish.

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SUPPLIES
For a list of supplies, click HERE.
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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• For the three weeks of class, you’ll receive an email on Tuesday and Thursday with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson and video.
• A password-protected blog serves as our clubhouse; there you will find all of the lesson videos and class materials.
• A Facebook group has been created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Alison is always available to look at your work via email.)
• You have indefinite access to the class materials.
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your signup.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? carla[at]carlasonheim.com
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about how our classes work, click HERE.
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Join this class today!

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The artwork of Alison O’Donoghue can be described as contemporary folk art.

Partly naïve, sometimes illustrative, at times cartoony, with some of her pieces being heavily patterned. Her paintings are mostly playful with creatures and people that are quite often glowing with life… awash in dimensional color and shade in a mostly two dimensional world. In many of her paintings, she combines everyday objects such as; cups of coffee, fruit, plants, humans, birds and odd, made up animals, into a fluid motion of interaction of intertwined shapes. The playful next to the sinister, give the paintings a sense of humor and the complexity of an unfolding story.
In her larger work, Alison seems to have no intention of leaving a space unfilled or unpopulated as the figures become more of an overall pattern. It gives the viewer the feeling of looking at vines overtaking the world inside the painting in a kind of beautiful invasive force of nature.
Alison O’Donoghue’s contemporary folk art and patterned worlds invite us to explore visually the simple beauty, complexity, interactions and sometimes the humorously sinister aspects of everyday life.
Alison lives in Portland, Oregon. http://www.aliorange.com/alison.html

Posted on May 3, 2016March 10, 2021 by

Wordplay Painting – with Lynn Whipple

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“Wordplay Painting”
with Lynn Whipple
Two-Week Class; 6 Video Lessons
Now available as a self-study class.

Hello Hello!!!
A giant, warm welcome to Wordplay Painting.
I am so excited to share with you the many wonders of infusing our artwork with compelling, meaningful and irresistible words!
We will begin our class by finding and preparing a few used books and turning them into what will become our Art Books.
Think of your Art Books as small laboratories for exploration, inspiration and play. There we will use words as inspiration, as graphic elements, as lists, and as the subjects of small paintings and drawings. We will also work, much as a writer might, by considering things such as composition, editing (room for the eye to rest), titles, and character development.
We will explore through prompts poetry and personal handwriting as well as make one larger piece that will combine the techniques we have gathered along the way. Even our book covers will act as canvases!
I look forward to spending time with you and delving into the rich set of possibilities that we will find together when focusing on working with words in our work!
All my best!
with love, Lynn

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You will create:

Word Paintings…

List Paintings…

Poem Paintings…

Character Paintings…

Book Cover Paintings…

… and Pulling-it-all-Together Paintings…

Class Itinerary
Lesson 1: Word Paintings
We will start by playing with different ways to write words, exploring how to seep personality into each word by “drawing letters” and using spacing and pacing of letters within a word. You will choose a word or two as the main subject of several small paintings… a simple way to elevate a word with your personal style. Have fun!
Lesson 2: List Paintings
We will begin with a fast, but grounded writing prompt and then you will serve them up in a new way on fresh pages of your Art Books by making two different “list paintings.” Combine paint, pencil, water-soluble crayon, ink, pastels and markers in a variety of ways so that each line of your list has a personality of it’s own, yet it works together as a whole.
Lesson 3: Poem Paintings
Words are so much fun. For Lesson 3 you will pick out a few words that speak to you, paint around your chosen words and “edit out” all or most of the other words on the page, leaving interesting edges and shapes. We will do 3-5 of these and create a simple “sight maps” by drawing and directing the eye from word to word. The Haiku is another great rhythm or structure we can use with poem paintings… a Visual Haiku.
Lesson 4: Character Paintings
Every good book has interesting characters in it. We will create characters in two ways, embracing the “flaws” in both cases (most characters have layers of interesting traits, qualities, and lovable flaws that they show and don’t show, but are evident in some way). In the first exercise we will start with words, and the second you will complete your painting by incorporating your character’s name in the composition.
Lesson 5: Book Cover Paintings
So often you hear you can’t tell a book by it’s cover, though a clever title and interesting image can certainly help pull you in. I will share a lettering technique and we will combine collage, painting and drawing on your Book Cover Paintings. Come up with a title for your book and use those words as a graphic element in your design.
Lesson 6: Putting it all Together
Welcome to Lesson 6! This should be fun as we look through the pages of our Art Books and pull some favorite pieces, parts and ideas to create a final, larger piece! I guess we could loosely call this a Book Review 🙂 Think about a main character and a title to use in this piece and ways of using words and text as storytelling and design elements. Using parts of used books in your work can add texture, color and interest. Weaving words into our work adds an extra and often personal layer, and in this lesson we will pull it all together.
(And on a final note, it’s nice to think that you may have saved an interesting used book from the dumpster, giving it a new life as your Art Book and by being a valuable part of your artwork.)

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Supplies Needed
– 2-3 used books that speak to you. One larger book in the 10×12 inch range or more would be great
– white or cream paint (acrylic paint, flat house paint or gesso works well)
– water soluble crayons and/or water soluble colored pencils
– #3 pencil, or soft lead pencil or graphite stick
– colored pencils
– pastels
– Tombow markers assorted colors (looking for a marker that will bleed through paint, sharpies will work also)
– brushes, small tipped, medium and larger (one inch is great)
– rag
– black ink and white ink with eyedropper and dip pen
– gel medium
-scissors
– scraper for gel medium, credit card will work as well
– watercolor set
– basic acrylic paints
– plain copy paper

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Sign up today!

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Lynn Whipple writes, “I am deeply grateful to live my life as an artist. Play and discovery are my dearest and most constant companions. There are a zillion tiny challenges in each art making experience, and so often I find, just as many small, sweet victories. Without a doubt, living creatively is the most enjoyable and satisfying game I know.”
Lynn shares a warehouse studio with her husband, John Whipple, in Winter Park, Florida. Lynn’s work includes found-object mixed-media assemblages; found images altered with a combination of drawing, painting, sewing and more; and her well-known Ninny Boxes, collages combined with found objects, and assembled within a box format. Her unique pieces have a playful, quirky, and often absurd, charm.
Lynn explains: “I allow myself to play and let my pieces reveal themselves to me…I have been fascinated by old books, history, and odd bits of memorabilia. I find the things that interest me the most are slightly absurd…My hope is to create something real and somehow poetic but not commonplace. My goal is to keep communicating in my language.”
Lynn’s work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States. Visit Lynn’s website at www.lynnwhipple.com and her etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/lynnwhipple

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the weeks of class, you will receive an email each Tu-W-F from Lynn with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Lynn is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes and a “test” video to make sure you can receive/view everything (if you can view the above video, you should be able to view the class videos).
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our e-workshops, click HERE.

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Posted on April 21, 2016March 10, 2021 by

Fairy Tale Summer!

Fairy Tale Summer!
(An edited, re-running of 2014’s Year of the Fairy Tale)
with Carla Sonheim
16 lessons • $149
Now available as a self-study class.

Hi! My name is Carla Sonheim. In 2014, I held a year-long online class “Year of the Fairy Tale.” During our year together we drew, painted, and illustrated eight different fairy tales, including “The Frog Princess,” “The Princess & the Pea,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Cinderella,” “The 12 Brothers,” and more!
We had the best year! And by request I’m offering this class again, this time as an 8-week class. Each week you will receive both a drawing/sketchbook assignment and a technique-based, mixed-media project via professionally produced videos (8 weeks = 8 fairy tales)!
If you were part of “Year of the Fairy Tale” and would like to join the fun this summer at no additional cost, please email me at carla[at]carlasonheim.com and I will put you on the list!

Class Itinerary
Week 1 – The Frog Princess
Tu: Drawing Your Princess Character
Th: Mixed-Media Assignment (watercolor, PanPastel and collage)

Week 2 – Blondine, Bonne Biche & Beau-Minon|
Tu: Draw 100 Flowers
Th: Mixed-Media Assignment (watercolor on Yupo paper)

Week 3 – The Princess & the Pea
Tu: Composition Exercise
Th: Mixed-Media Assignment (acrylics)

Week 4 – Little Red Riding Hood
Tu: Storyboard Exercise
Th: Mixed-Media Assignment (oil pastels & acrylics)

Week 5 – The 12 Brothers
Tu: Draw a Prince
Th: Mixed-Media Assignment (watercolor, gesso, charcoal)

Week 6 – Cinderella
Tu: Design a Dress
Th: Mixed-Media Assignment (collage)

Week 7 – The Magic Horse
Tu: 100 Horse Drawings
Th: Mixed-Media Assignment (acrylics)

Week 8 – The Lily & the Lion
Tu: Draw the Story
Th: Mixed-Media Assignment (crayons & markers)

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SIGN UP TODAY!

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How will this work?
First, my goal for all my classes is that students create art that is true to their own style (as opposed to expecting art look like mine). The techniques taught are just starting points and you will incorporate them into your own existing style and what will come out will be fresh and new.
Also, I strive to make sure that every online lesson includes both techniques and the opportunity for personal growth and self expression. “Fairy Tale Summer” will be an online community where participants from all over the world share their work, their thoughts, and encourage each other.

For each of the 8 weeks you’ll receive:
• a PDF with that week’s Fairy Tale/Reading Assignment
• a Drawing/Sketchbook Assignment (each week we’ll pick a focus: the figure, the face, animals, etc.)
• a Step-by-Step Mixed-Media Project (we’ll work with watercolors, acrylics, pastels, charcoal, graphite, collage….)
• Professionally Produced Instructional Videos
• Instructor Feedback: I will be active in the Facebook Forum and available M-F… I will do my best to comment on each post; however, if I miss you due to volume, please just shoot me an email! ????
Our virtual “classroom” includes a private blog and closed Facebook group.

New to online classes? Check out the “Frequently Asked Questions” page, and here are some recent comments from students:
“In my opinion, you are a gifted instructor, who actually makes art fun, and I look forward to learning more from you.” — Jo
“Your style of teaching is warm, genuine and clear.” — Sheri
“Carla and her co-teachers inspire not just making art but also a sense of community among the students, of whom many have been making art for quite some time and others are new to it. This sense of community shows itself in the way everyone shares art — within a closed group on Facebook — and comments in a wonderful, supportive way.” — Corinne
AND specifically about the this class:
“I’m really having a blast in this class. It’s hard, it’s fun, it’s challenging, it’s frustrating, it’s very satisfying… learning so much and loving seeing all of the amazing work being posted and loving learning these new techniques. Thanks, Carla!” — Helen

• All levels welcome and encouraged to join in!
• Registration fee is good for people living in a single household (a great class to do with your kiddos!)
• Indefinite access to the class videos and material.
• If you have any questions at all, please email me at carla[at]carlasonheim.com.
• If you’d like a feel for the supplies you will need for this class, click here.
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SIGN UP TODAY!

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Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email immediately. I will log you in to the class with your Paypal email address unless you indicate otherwise.

Thank you again and I hope you can join in!

Carla Sonheim

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Posted on April 18, 2016March 10, 2021 by

Big Juicy Watercolor

Big Juicy Watercolor! from Carla Sonheim Presents on Vimeo.
Big Juicy Watercolor
Instructor: Fred Lisaius
3-week class, watercolor • $95
Now available as a self-study class.

Watercolor is such a beautiful medium. In this class we will work wet in wet. This class will encourage you to experiment, loosen up and let the watercolor do some of the work! We will be using lots of water and color, big brushes and big sheets of watercolor paper to create paintings that celebrate both looseness and control.
Each week we will learn new techniques and then apply them to our paintings. We will be exploring subjects that will challenge you in fun and different ways. At the end of the class you will have at least 3 large paintings.
Let’s have some fun experimenting with watercolor and better understanding its secrets. Give yourself permission to take risks, explore, make mistakes and make discoveries. I look forward to painting with you.

SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THIS CLASS: For the Supply List, click HERE.
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Class Itinerary:

Week 1
Lesson 1. In this first class we will experiment, explore and discover. Create a double wetting flood wash and use lots of color to better understand the nature of watercolor. Get your supplies ready, put some music on and let’s get started.
Lesson 2. Now we are ready to do our first painting. Let’s use the wet into wet techniques we learned in our art lab (Lesson 1) to describe the soft fur of a cat or the hair of a dog. As with the experiments, allow yourself to take risks amd trust your instincts.

Week 2
Lesson 3. We are going to start the 3rd lesson by experimenting in new ways. Techniques for this lesson will include concentric washes, salt techniques and isolated flood washes. Throw a pinch of salt over your shoulder for good luck and another pinch on your painting for wonderful effects.
Lesson 4. How does your garden grow? Flowers always bring joy to our lives. Let’s have fun using what we learned in our experiments to create a large bouquet of our own creation. Let the flowers in your arrangement be inspired by nature and by your imagination.

Week 3
Lesson 5. How can we utilize gravity to create beautiful watercolor paintings? Let’s go back into the art laboratory and learn how masking fluid, contrast and gravity can make a painting more dynamic. We are also going to explore the “figure” in silhouette.
Lesson 6. The city, in the rain, at night is a wonderful thing. Let’s paint it and while we are at it, let’s make it big! Get your big brushes out, put some of your favorite music on and give yourself permission to think big, take chances and have fun.
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Here’s the scoop for this class:
• On Tuesday and Thursday of each of the three weeks you will receive an email with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Fred is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download until “forever,” if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive a “test” email to make sure you can receive/view everything.
• What you will need: You will be able to view vimeo.com videos.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
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SIGN UP TODAY!

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Fred Lisaius is a painter, sculptor, and a popular art teacher at Bellevue College, WA (“Fred is perfect!”). Fred is represented by the Patricia Rovzar Gallery in Seattle, and his work is in many private and corporate collections. Fred recently had a show at the Bainbridge Island Art Museum. From his statement:
The deeper I go into the forest the closer I feel to the truth. Off of the trail, there is a quiet calm where ideas can be contemplated and refined. In my paintings and my sculptures, I utilize the forum of nature to explore our relationship to the natural world and to each other.

Meet Fred video! https://www.vimeo.com/130925151

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Posted on March 26, 2016March 10, 2021 by

Making Art a Practice: In and Out of the Sketchbook

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“Making Art a Practice: In and Out of the Sketchbook”
with Cat Bennett
Six-Week Class; 12 Video Lessons
Now available as a self-study class.

In MAKING ART A PRACTICE: In and Out of the Sketchbook, we’ll spend two days drawing in the sketchbook with a focus on color, line and shape then jump out of the sketchbook to do a bigger project. We’ll draw and paint the world around us— food, clothes and the objects in our homes, plants and landscape, and people. And we’ll do so in different ways—painting using only lines, making cut-paper images using only shapes, then bringing line and shape together in different ways.
Our goal is to draw and paint in experimental ways and to get ideas for our own work. We’ll mostly work on a larger scale outside of the sketchbook and try things out. We’ll approach everything we do with a spirit of adventure and discovery!
This is a new and different class to the first “Making Art a Practice.” If you missed that one, no worries—this class is for everyone. And anyone who would like to is invited to post work on the private Facebook page for this class. At the beginning of each week, I’ll introduce the class in the online forum and offer some examples from well known artists that might inspire us as we do the exercises. We’ll all share comments and I’ll offer feedback and a few additional ideas every weekday morning.
Click HERE for the SUPPLY LIST.

CLASS ITINERARY:
Week 1: FOCUS ON LINE / FOOD
After a brief chat about color, we’ll work in the sketchbook painting lines in various ways to gain assurance with drawing with the brush. For our project, we’ll draw food with paint using only lines. We’ll make simple contour drawings in black before launching into color and we’ll learn how to distill complex information into simple lines that suggest rather than describe in a literal way.

Week 2: FOCUS ON SHAPE / PLANTS
We’ll draw and paint abstract shapes in our sketchbooks and talk about how we can create compositions in an instinctive way as well. For our project, we’ll work on a larger scale and learn how to paint papers in flat colors to make bold cut-paper images of plants that are imaginative rather than literal.

Week 3:
BRINGING LINE AND SHAPE TOGETHER / LANDSCAPE
We’ll work with landscape, first by drawing from the world around us or from imagination in our sketchbook with brush and black paint. For our project, we’ll work from sketches we’ve made or from imagination in two ways. In the first, we’ll begin with line and then add color. In the second, we’ll begin with shape and add line. We’ll work on small paper and paint large landscapes quickly on an intimate scale.

Week 4: USING A STENCIL / CLOTHES
In the sketchbook, we’ll draw with pencil or crayon using a 2-color way to practice drawing. We’ll draw the things we wear—shirts, shoes, hats, scarves. For our project, we’ll use a stencil to create the shape of our subject then add shading and line as we choose. We can also alter our subject in imaginative ways by adding details that don’t exist to say whatever we might like to say. We’ll move away from being literal and take a more playful approach to describing what we wear or might like to wear.

Week 5: MIXING MEDIUMS / OBJECTS
In the sketchbook, we’ll return to pencil drawing and do both line and shaded drawings of objects around our homes. We’ll work with things that interest us. For our project, we’ll choose several objects then mix mediums in different ways as we make our drawings and paintings. For instance, we might paint part of the image and render another part in pencil. Or start by painting the whole object in paint, then add details in pencil or watercolor crayons. Our goal is to try several approaches and have fun with it.

Week 6: ALTERING APPROACHES / PEOPLE
In the final week of this session, we’ll collect about 20 photos of people and paste them on the left hand page of a small sketchbook. On the facing page, we’ll make straightforward contour drawings and looser half-blind contour drawings. For our project, we’ll explore making a portrait by starting with a painted shape for the face then adding details in pencil and leaving details out as well. We’ll also explore making the whole portrait in looser way in paint.

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Join this class today, and spend 6 weeks with Cat Bennett!

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Cat Bennett is artist and author. In her Saturday Morning Drawing Club, she teaches drawing as a way to meet the true creative self. Her book, The Confident Creative: Drawing to Free the Hand and Mind, published by Findhorn Press 2010, was a gold medal winner in the 2011 Nautilus Book Awards. Her book Making Art a Practice: How To Be the Artist You Are, and her newest book, The Drawing Club of Improbable Dreams: How to Create a Club for Art, are also published by Findhorn Press.

Posted on March 2, 2016March 10, 2021 by

Abstraction: Diving Deeper

Abstraction: Diving Deeper
Instructor: Karine Swenson
Drawing, Painting, Mixed-Media • $85
Class Dates: March 22 – April 1, 2016

Have you ever asked yourself “how do I know when a painting is finished?” If you have ever struggled with this question, this is the class for you.

In this painting class, we will dive deeper into our abstract paintings in order to make discoveries and learn, but we will also be constantly asking the question “is this painting finished?”

The focus of the class will be to work through three stages of a painting – the start (so fun, such excitement!), the middle (“oh NO! I ruined it!”), to the finish (Wow! I did it!). I will offer suggestions to help you through each stage as we work towards a resolution. You will be encouraged to use your preferred kind of paint, whether it be acrylic, oil or watercolor. (I will be using oil, but will try to offer tips for other kinds of paint as well.) You will also be encouraged to find your own approach to each part of the process. I do not teach specific techniques as much as I wish to help you find your own techniques and style.

At the end of the class, depending on how quickly you work, you will have finished at least one, if not two, larger sized works. (if you prefer to work small, that’s fine too!) I do encourage you to try a larger painting, if you have been wanting to do it. I encourage risk taking, and I will help you find ways to “save” a painting if you think you’ve pushed it too far. We will be spending a lot of time painting in this class, so push up your sleeves and get ready to move around some paint!

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Class Itinerary:

Lesson 1

In the first lesson, we will explore different approaches to beginning a new painting. Suggestions will be given on various ways to start – you will be given a lot of freedom to find what way works the best for you. If you already have a method you’ve been using, but want to try a new method, you will have the chance to do some experimenting. We will start a new painting and try to push it as far as we can in the first lesson.

Lesson 2

We will now re-visit our painting. Do you think it’s finished? Can you push it further? Have you reached an impasse? I will encourage you to risk the exciting things you may have found in your initial marks in order to dig deeper. Options will be offered if you are having trouble. We will begin to talk about how to look at our own work critically. We will try to push our painting even further. You can start a new painting if you need to, but I do encourage you to try to dive deeper to see what you can learn.

Lesson 3

FIELD TRIP!!!

I will send you out to a museum or high-end gallery to look at abstract paintings in person. The focus is to learn from other abstract painters. You will be given a list of questions to answer while on your field trip. For those of you who live in rural areas, or who have to schedule this trip, you will have the option to do this lesson at any point during the two week class. (Or, if you sign up early and have the time to go before class starts, you have that option too. I can email the questions to you ahead of time.)

Lesson 4

We will now re-visit our own painting(s) with the same list of questions we had while looking at other artists’ work. Can we be as objective about our own work? Was there something we saw that we want to try with our own work? Did you have an “aha” moment? The lesson is to push the painting deeper or begin another painting using an idea we got while out looking at art. The mission isn’t necessarily to copy another artist as much as to discover something new to try in our own work. Sometimes, this can lead to big discoveries!

Lesson 5

Now we will really try to finish our painting(s). Is it finished? How do we know? How does the painting make us feel? What do we think about when we look at our work? I will give you options of things to try to add just a bit more “wonderful” to your painting. We will also think about if there is just one or two small changes that might make all the difference. Sometimes, a major overhaul is needed, sometimes a simple flourish. I will be painting right along with you, so you can see some of the things I use. This is where we really work up the courage to be able to say “I am finished.” Or “I am almost finished.”

Lesson 6

This is the final lesson, where we will sit and look at the work and once again ask “is it finished?” If you have finished one, this will be where you try to finish another one. We will talk about how each painting leads us to the next painting, and how we develop the idea of painting as a lifelong practice. How we learn to say “I am finished with this painting” in order to be able to begin another one. We will also talk about what we do to a painting when it’s finished (signing, photographing, framing, wiring the back, etc.). What steps here are important to you so you can move on to your next painting?

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SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THIS CLASS: For the Supply List, click HERE.
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Here’s the scoop for this class:
• On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week you will receive an email with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Karine is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download until “forever,” if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive a “test” email to make sure you can receive/view everything.
• What you will need: You will be able to read acrobat pdf files and view videos.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
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SIGN UP TODAY!

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Karine Swenson grew up just outside of a town called Rapid City, South Dakota in the Black Hills. The closest neighbor was a mile away. Reared in this environment, Swenson’s connection with the natural world was strong. After receiving her BA in painting from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, she moved to Colorado. She has spent most of her life in small towns that sit right next to the last remaining bits of wilderness. From the mountains of Colorado, the ocean surrounding Maui, Hawaii and now the desert near Joshua Tree, California, she feels the most at home out in nature. In the studio, her second home, she can explore her relationship with the natural world. Her oil paintings are reflections of this relationship. Swenson has been a full time artist for the past ten years.
To watch a short video introducing Karine, click HERE.
See more wonderful art at Karine’s website: www.karineswenson.com.
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Posted on January 31, 2016March 10, 2021 by

Big Bold Bloom Wild Painting!

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Big Bold Bloom Wild Painting!
A 5-Week Course with Lynn Whipple
10 Lessons
Now available as a self-study class.

(For a 2-payment plan option, click HERE!)

Paint Big! Paint Vibrantly! Paint Loose! Paint Blooms!
Are you ready to work large and loose with lots freedom and color?? I am thrilled to share with you a playful, layered approach to painting and drawing that embraces your wild side!
Using acrylic paint, charcoal and colorful chalk pastel, I will walk you through exercises, methods and techniques that will allow you to push your work towards abstraction. We will explore together a fresh, painterly interpretation of a traditional subject matter… FLOWERS!
What to look forward to in this class:
We will begin our Big Bold Bloom Wild Painting journey on 11″x14″ paper with an exercise called “Mark-Making to Music.” These timed, pastel floral drawings will encourage loose line work, energized shapes, bold marks, unexpected color combinations, fun and freedom!
Next we will take the energy of our pastel drawings and scale it up! Working on three 24″x30” canvases we will prepare each canvas with a different ground color, then add a very special charcoal technique, followed by a loose and greyed-down under painting. Now, more paint! More mark making! More color! Each layer leads to the next as we create our Big Bold Bloom Wild Paintings!
LETS GO BIG!!! Using the best of our previous work as a guide and as inspiration, we will work BIG and BOLD on one large 36″x48” canvas. Lots of painting and dancing with color, layering, drawing, designing, spinning the canvas, energized mark making, composition and more! I can’t wait!!!!
I hope you will join me!
All my very best,
xoxo
Lynn

What Big Bold Bloom Students are saying!
“From the bottom of my heart, YOU, dear Lynn, are just the best art teacher I’ve ever had. You challenged my senses and encouraged me to play and have fun; something I’ve forgotten to do. Now surrounded by the many blooms in my paintings, I’m dancing, feeling the joy of being free, and waiting for the next adventure with you. Thank You!” — Tina
“Life changer for me. Finally took the leap to set myself up and be painting again!! And painting large flowers…always my dream! Looking forward to how this evolves. Thank you for everything, Lynn and amazing, kind and hugely talented artists!!” — Cindy
“Lynn, THANK YOU! This has been such a great workshop (I refer to you, the content and the other members of the class). Really, this ranks as one of the best workshops I’ve ever taken and I’m soooo grateful!” — Stacey
“Hi Lynn, Finally I have finished my first BIG and BOLD. It really was a labor of love LOL and your wonderful lessons carried me to the end with big smiles on my face!! Love your teaching style and encouragement. I have never attempted anything this big before and now I can’t wait to start another. Thank you so much for helping me through my fear of the BIG blank canvas!!” — Sharon
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CLASS ITINERARY

Week 1
Lesson 1 – Mark Making to Music
Working with pastel on paper 11″x14″ paper, you will turn your studio into a blaze of mark making and vibrant color! Using timed drawing exercises, you will translate flowers into simple, energized, abstracted shapes and planes, while exploring the different ways to describe and design vibrant blooms. Next you will create your first flower arrangement with your fresh and free floral drawings 🙂
Lesson 2 – Growing Flowers. Working larger, working layers
Moving to 24″x30″ canvas, we will begin by preparing each of our three canvases with a different ground color: One orange, one medium blue gray and one thickly painted with gesso.
Time to draw! We will do a 3-part “spin-drawing” on each canvas with charcoal, using flowers as our muse. A final criss-cross pattern on top will set us up for our next layer of paint. Very exciting!

Week 2
Lesson 3 – Painting in neutrals. Finding design.
We will look for all of the abstracted shapes that came from our floral charcoal “spin-drawings” and fill our canvas’s with blocks of neutral tones to create a lovely under-painting. These warm and cool colors, our grey blues and grey greens will set us up to show off our next layer of vibrant color. You will fall in love with this layer!
Lesson 4 – Painting Flowers from Life
Fill your studio with a big, fresh, new batch of blooms! Enjoy choosing the flowers that you like best! Go for a variety of colors, shapes, sizes with a nice mix of leafy greens (darks) mixed in. Create a large wild bouquet that makes you happy! (You might add a few sunflowers into your bouquet as they are super fun to draw and paint.) Up next: Look for the perfect place on your canvas to lay down your “hero” floral drawing on top of your under painting. Using a light source on one side will help you see the forms of the flowers. Draw your flowers in loose and free! Use both hands! Go back and forth from quiet, close looking to taking lots of liberties!
It’s time! Let’s paint! Using acrylics, large brushes, a variety of brushstrokes, we will describe the pot of blooms one flower at a time with our more vibrant colors. Drips! Dancing! Spatters! We will build a composition, look for design and take time to add in our darks. This will take a few passes. Move forward with lots of freedom to try things. Layer, layer, layer and add color, color, color!

Week 3
Lesson 5 – Cut in the background. Push and pull
Now that we have our larger blooms in place and we will look again and begin to cut in around the flowers, bringing out the petal shapes, leaf shapes and more. This is a great exercise in “push and pull” which helps our painting have a forward “main event” and an understated background. We will work on the back layer (which helps describe the foreground) as well as the table top plane and the vase shape. This is an important part of the overall design and composition of our painting. Think proportion, large interesting shapes and ways to keep your eye moving around the entire painting.
Lesson 6 – Energizing with Pastels!
OH so MUCH FUN!! Now our big pot of blooms is painted! Everything is falling into place. Bravo!! It’s time to draw on top! Using Mark Making to Music, as we did in our first lesson, let’s plow energy into our work. Use your fresh line work inside and outside of your painted shapes. Play with vibrating color on top of color. Use your brights to describe your highlights. Let your personality jump on to the canvas! Play!

Week 4
Lesson 7 – Final Tweaks and Touches
We will back up and look over the entire painting now, squint, change small things, tweak the drawing on top, do another layer of paint on the background and smudge the edges of the drawing to give your flowers a halo effect. It’s time to add the extra highlights with cream paint that will really make your piece pop. Finally, you will sign your name in the perfect spot. A dusting of spray fixative over the entire painting will seal the pastel so it won’t smear. I suggest doing this outside if you can, as not to breathe the fumes. Your pastel color will shift a bit, but still look great!! This is very exciting stuff! As in each step, I can’t wait to see what you have created!!
Lesson 8 – Painting Big and Bold pt. 1
Now that we have done the entire process in a medium sized format, LETS GO BIG!!
We will be working on one large canvas 36″x48″! (Go smaller if you prefer.)
We begin by preparing the first layer of ground color. Choose your most successful of the smaller works as your guide. If you love the orange peeking through, start with orange, if you love the grey and the way it pops your top colors you will prepare your canvas with a grey background. Once that is dry, you will do your 3-part spin-drawing!! Add the extra 5-6 criss cross lines to help form your abstracted sections.

Week 5
Lesson 9 – Painting Big and Bold pt. 2
Let’s lay in the color for our underpainting using the most successful of the earlier paintings. This is to create an interesting layer that will help our final painting and create interest that we would not get otherwise. These under paintings are usually very fun to paint and very free! There is no wrong way!!
Next lets spin the canvas as we look for the perfect place to draw in our final giant pot of blooms. Squint your eyes! Try not to center your pot of flowers, but sketch it in a little to the left or right. Take your time and enjoy looking deeply at the shapes.
Now paint your flowers with the first pass of vibrant color. Play with drips, and darks! Let that dry and add another pass of color when you are ready! Dance! Have fun!
Lesson 10 – Painting Big and Bold pt. 3
As our layers are building, we will consider the best way to handle the background and the table top plane. Using our eye for the push and pull, this is a very exciting time to finalize your larger design. You may choose to leave more of your underpainting showing or to cover it up with a slightly more solid color, either light or dark. Once your background and floral layer are working, let’s add your colorful, loose pastel drawing and mark making! Tweak your final design by adding painted cream highlights, smudging your edges and finding a great spot for your signature. Behold!! Your Big Bold Beautiful Blooms!! Free, fresh and very YOU!!
Kudos to you for your bravery and willingness!
With loads of love, Lynn
P.S. Click HERE for the SUPPLY LIST for this class.

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Posted on January 31, 2016March 10, 2021 by

Big Bold Bloom Wild Painting!

Big Bold Bloom Wild Painting!
A 5-Week Course with Lynn Whipple
10 Lessons
Class Dates: February 23 – March 24, 2016

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Posted on January 18, 2016March 10, 2021 by

For the Love of a Tree – Diane Culhane

For the Love of a Tree
Instructor: Diane Culhane
Drawing, Painting, Mixed-Media • $85
Now available as a self-study class.

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“For the Love of a Tree” is dedicated to celebrating the glory of a tree; the beauty and the magnificence of the blessings they bestow — from oxygen, shelter, shade, nutritious food, and a home to many creatures.
Trees are a source of design and composition for the artist: leaves, seeds, branches, to fruits, nuts, etc. . . . Trees give us a bountiful visual vocabulary from which to create paintings. It’s a set up for success.
We will begin by exploring — Seeing- Looking – Feeling – and just being in the presence of trees.
From there we will begin addressing forms with line, color and value, with value being the most important component; pushing and pulling color. Exercises are guides to develop skill for the next steps in creating a 18”x18” or 20”x 20” completed painting. We will also have conversations about problem solving and how to face the struggles we all encounter as artists.
As a tree reach and stretches for the sunlight, reach into your open blue sky of creativity . . .
Learn, Grow, Explore
Nurture your Art & Your Life.
Sign up today !
Much Love to you all,
Diane Culhane

Class Itinerary:
Lesson 1
Looking and synthesizing forms through drawing and creating inventive shapes.
Lesson 2
Begin work on our large painting. Cover large cradle board, layering with color and line.
Lesson 3
Use collage to explore a variety of forms, concentrating on size and value contrast, then translating these discoveries into small practice paintings on paper.
Lesson 4
Work with value: practice pushing and pulling space using warm and cool colors and compliments by painting on small cradle boards and then taking these concepts to our larger painting.
Lesson 5
Focus on our larger painting: add layers of paint, building volume, troubleshooting.
Lesson 6
Add details; from blurry into focus.

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SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THIS CLASS: For the Supply List, click HERE.
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Here’s the scoop for this class:
• On Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday of each week you will receive an email from Diane with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Diane is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download until “forever,” if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Wednesday before your session begins, you will receive a “test” email to make sure you can receive/view everything.
• What you will need: You will be able to read acrobat pdf files and view videos.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
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SIGN UP TODAY!

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Diane Culhane is a professional artist and art educator who lives West Seattle in a 1910 home, and works out of her studio in Ballard Building C. She received her BFA from the University of Utah and Master’s Degree from Seattle University.
Diane has taught for The Bellevue School District, Seattle Pacific University, Kirkland Arts Center, Bellevue Arts Museum and currently directs and owns Kelsey Creek Fine Art School for children in the summer.
Visit her website at: www.dianeculhaneart.com

Posted on November 19, 2015March 10, 2021 by

Holiday Gift Paintings

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“Holiday Gift Paintings”
with Fred Lisaius
A 3-Lesson, “Bite-Sized” Class
Now available as a self-study class.

The holidays are approaching and there’s no better way to brighten someone’s season then with the gift of original art.
In this class Fred will walk you through three small acrylic paintings. Fred is known for his stunning acrylic paintings. Luckily for us, he’s a very generous artist and is happy to share his acrylic techniques with us!

Class Itinerary
Lesson 1
Supplies Overview & Paint the Backgrounds
Tuesday, December 8th
Lesson 2:
Masking Techniques
Wednesday, December 9th
Lesson 3:
Finishing the Paintings
Friday, December 11th

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Sign up today!

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6-Class Pass
Purchase our 6-class pass, where you will get 6 classes for the price of 5. You can pick and choose which classes to take! (Lunch hour classes will run monthly starting in September 2015.) Pass valid through December 31, 2016. If you have already purchased a class pass and would like to take “Holiday Gift Paintings,” email me at carla[at]carlasonheim.com and let me know! I will put you on the list.

To purchase a 6-pass class:

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Meet Fred video! https://www.vimeo.com/130925151

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Supplies?

– Three 5 x 7 inch (or about this size) gessoed wood panels.
– Paint: Student or better grade (Titanium White, Mars Black, Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Sap Green, Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Ochre)
– # 6 round acrylic brush
– “sponge” paint tool for varnish
– Paper towels
– A paper palette pad or paper plates work well .
– Acrylic varnish: Gloss or Satin recommended
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Lunch Hour Art!
This class is part of our “Lunch Hour Art!” series of “bite-sized” classes. (You don’t need to do them during an actual lunch hour, though!) For more info, click below:

Posted on October 13, 2015March 10, 2021 by

Faces Mini

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Faces Mini
Instructor: Carla Sonheim
A Three-Lesson, “Bite-Sized” Class with Carla Sonheim
Drawing, painting, mixed-media • $25

Now available as a self-study class.

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In this class we will focus on drawing and painting the human face. We will do nine different assignments that allow you to approach your subjects fast, slow, messily, neatly, realistically, abstractly — all to help ferret out your own unique and personal style.
We will draw from live models, from photos, and our imaginations. We’ll use watercolor, pencil, pastels, and colored pencils to create 50 quick faces by the end of the week. End goal: You don’t want to draw faces like me or anyone else — you want to draw like YOU!
Take this class if you want to try your hand at different drawing styles and methods, love the human face, or want to start developing your own unique face “style.”
Note: This is a shortened, re-filming of “Faces 101,” one of my first online classes. The exercises in this new version are the same… the only difference is the presenter is a little more confident on camera. 😉

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Your itinerary:

Lesson 1
Blind contours, wrong-handed drawing, and watercolor faces
Tuesday, October 27th

Lesson 2
Contours, one-liners, and realistic drawings
Wednesday, October 28th

Optional Assignment

10 scribbly faces from life
Thursday, October 29th

Lesson 3
Shading, eraser drawings, pastel faces
Friday, October 30th

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Register today!

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Supplies?
For this class you will need several sheets of smooth card stock or drawing paper, an 8″x10″ sheet of watercolor paper (I use 140# hot press Fabriano paper), watercolors, a #12 round brush (or similar), pencil with eraser, pastels (or PanPastels), kneaded rubber eraser, colored pencils.

Posted on September 28, 2015March 10, 2021 by

Birds on Birds – Acrylic Painting

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“Birds on Birds: Acrylic Painting”
with Alison O’Donoghue
Two-Week Class; 6 Video Lessons
Now available as a self-study class.

Join painter Alison O’Donoghue for a super fun class in acrylic painting, “Birds on Birds.” Alison shares her unique techniques for creating a stacked, interactive, and harmonious world within the bounds of an 11″x14″ wood panel. She will guide you expertly through six lessons — starting with preparing the panel with layers of gesso and finishing with varnish; and in-between, magic!
Alison likes the stacking up method of composing because it allows for a lot of images within the painting without any concerns for traditional perspective (a common folk art approach around the world). Through Alison’s process of layered washes and highlights, your painting will glow with light and color.
Plus… BIRDS!

A detail:

And more of Alison’s “bird” work using these techniques (click to enlarge):

Class Itinerary
Lesson 1 – Supplies & Preparing Your Board
We’ll go over the supplies needed for this project and prep your board for painting.
Lesson 2 – Drawing It Out
Here is a place to begin letting the ideas flow. Your birds don’t have to be realistically drawn and you can let go of the idea of right and wrong; instead do it your way. You do have a way.
Lesson 3 – Painting the Simple Shapes
Create a palette of color choices ahead of time and have fun with color! It’s good to be aware of the negative spaces — or spaces between — the objects and imagery, because they are as important as the birds in creating a balanced and vibrant composition.
Lesson 4 – Painting the Negative Shapes
In this lesson you will create lines around your birds by NOT painting the lines, and paint in the negative shapes of the background.
Lesson 5 – Transparent Color Washes
This part is really fun, and here is where the dimension, volume, sense of light and shadow and nuance are begun. We are staining the shapes we have painted with the washes. (It may feel as though you’re ruining the painting, but you aren’t!)
Lesson 6 – Highlights and Details
In this step, my favorite step, we are adding a final layer to bring out the form, as well as adding pattern to some of the shapes. Add spots, stripes, patterns or follow the form of the object to highlight the form. All of this will create depth, a push and pull and sense of shifting light that is exciting and interesting to the eye. We’ll finish with a nice coat of varnish to give your painting more luminosity.
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Join this class today!

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The artwork of Alison O’Donoghue can be described as contemporary folk art.

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SUPPLIES LIST:
– 11″x14″ smooth wood panel, gessoed and sanded then painted with two good solid coats of black acrylic.
– White watercolor pencil. Make absolutely sure it’s water soluble- as we will be washing away the lines with water after painting.
– Acrylic Paints: Back, white, and a your choice of variety of opaque colors.
– An assortment of transparent acrylic paint- red, brown, yellow, burnt orange, sap green are good choices
– Brushes: A variety of sizes, I prefer sable brushes for their ability to paint larger areas and also hold a point for detail.
– Varnish: Gloss polymer
– Optional: Hair Dryer to speed drying process
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HOW IT WORKS—
• For the two weeks of class, you’ll receive an email on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson and video.
• In the email, you’ll also get the information about how to log into the password-protected blog where the class material lives and the closed Facebook group link.
• The class materials will be up and available for download until “forever,” if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive a “test” email to make sure you can receive/view everything.
• What you will need: You will need to be able to read Acrobat pdf files and view videos.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]

Posted on September 13, 2015March 10, 2021 by

Sketchbooks: Making Art a Practice

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“Making Art a Practice”
with Cat Bennett
Six-Week Class; 6 Video Lessons
Now available as a self-study class.

How can the sketchbook be a place of discovery and growth in our art practice?
In Cat Bennett’s 6-week course, “Sketchbooks: Making Art a Practice,” we’ll use the sketchbook to explore how to make our art practice a vital one. We’ll draw and paint in experimental ways, find inspirational images to include in our sketchbooks, look at where we’ve been and where we might go, and consider how to grow our ideas for our art. We’ll also grow our drawing skills and discover our own best strengths so we can build on them.
Each lesson includes a video with demonstrations of various drawing and painting techniques, regular assignments, and a Facebook group to share sketchbook explorations. Cat will also offer daily inspiration (Monday to Friday) with general comments on the work and some further exercises for the super motivated!

COURSE OUTLINE
Week 1: Making Marks—Drawing in an abstract way to grow our creativity.

Week 2: Drawing Nature—Exploring different ways to draw what we see.

Week 3: Drawing Our Daily Life—Finding what speaks to us.

Week 4: Portraits—Drawing people and finding our own style.

Week 5: Bringing in Imagination—Playing with images and growing our vision.

Week 6: Growing Our Ideas—Tracing our art history and seeing where we might go.

Each week, Cat also addresses issues we all face as artists—
1. What can we do when we feel blocked?
2. How can we overcome the inner critic or feelings of inadequacy?
3. How can we find the time to make art in the midst of busy lives?
4. How do we find our own style in our art?
5. What are great reasons for making art?
6. How do we keep our art practice vital?
Participants can also share positive suggestions of their own each week regarding these questions and on the Facebook page.
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Join this class today, and spend 6 weeks together with Cat Bennett!

~~NOTE: Cat is offering to send a copy of her book, “Making Art a Practice” to the first 10 people who sign up!~~ We’ve got the first 10… thank you!!

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Cat worked as an illustrator/designer for about thirty years. Her illustrations have appeared in The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, The Wall Street Journal, The Baltimore Sun and Time Magazine, Houghton Mifflin, Scholastic, Harcourt Brace and many other publications. She has also made short animations for CBC-Sesame Street, Nickelodeon TV, WHDH-TV, WGBH-TV and various non-profits. She has exhibited her art in group shows in Boston, New York, and Tokyo.
Her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post, The Los Angeles Times, LA Yoga Magazine, Yoga Magazine UK, Integral Yoga Magazine, Red, The American, Lightworker, High Spirit Magazine and others. www.catbennett.net
Check out Cat’s wonderful books (#3 is forthcoming October 13, 2015).

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SUPPLY LIST FOR THIS CLASS:
• 9”x12” (or larger) mixed media sketchbook (Canson; Strathmore, etc)
• 3”x5” pocket sketchbook (Moleskine or similar for pencils and markers)
• 6”x9” (or larger) smooth paper for pencils and markers (Fabriano, Moleskine etc)
• ebony or 4B+ drawing pencils
• gum eraser
• steel pencil sharpener
• fine tipped drawing marker (Sharpie, Micron etc)
• scissors
• glue stick
• Set of colored pencils (Dick Blick, Prismacolor, Derwent etc)
• #3, #6, #12 student grade watercolor brushes (Princeton)
• Set of opaque cake watercolors (Pelikan)
Note: Whatever brands you prefer are just fine!
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HOW IT WORKS—
• Starting October 6th, you’ll receive an email every Tuesday with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson and video. There are 2-3 exercises each week which you can move through at your own pace. (Cat recommends daily interaction with your sketchbook.)
• In the email, you’ll also get the information about how to log into the password-protected blog where the class material lives and the closed Facebook group link.
• The class materials will be up and available for download until “forever,” if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive a “test” email to make sure you can receive/view everything.
• What you will need: You will need to be able to read Acrobat pdf files and view videos.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? carla[at]carlasonheim.com

Posted on June 16, 2015March 10, 2021 by

"Acrylics: Painting Flowers" with Fred Lisaius

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Acrylics: Painting Flowers
with Fred Lisaius
Two-Week Class; 6 Video Lessons
Now available as a self-study class

Create a beautiful floral diptych with Fred Lisaius!
Seattle artist Fred Lisaius is known for his stunning, unique floral paintings. Luckily for us, he’s a very generous artist and is happy to share his acrylic techniques with us!
Fred writes:
Acrylics paints are beautiful. The medium is creamy, colorful, and very versatile. This class is designed to introduce beginners to this beautiful medium and to excite more advanced students with new information and techniques. I look forward to painting with you!

Class Itinerary
Lesson 1: Overview of Supplies; Design your Diptych
Lesson 2: Squeegee & Brayered Underpainting
Lesson 3: Masking Techniques
Lesson 4: Paint the Flowers
Lesson 5: Finishing the Flowers
Lesson 6: Preparing the paintings for display
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Supplies Needed:
https://www.carlasonheim.com/acrylics-painting-flowers-supply-list/
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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• A password-protected blog serves as our clubhouse; there you will find all of the lesson videos and class materials. This class is now a self-study class, so all of the lessons are available to you when you sign up and you can move through the material at your own pace. (Since it was originally in a blog format, you will find the lessons in reverse chronological order… just scroll down for the earlier lessons.)
• A Facebook group has been created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Fred is always available to look at your work via email.)
• You have indefinite access to the class materials.
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours with the links to the class blog and Facebook group.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? carla[at]carlasonheim.com
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our classes, click HERE.

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Sign up today!

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Meet Fred video! https://www.vimeo.com/130925151

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Posted on June 3, 2015March 10, 2021 by

Creating a Modular Encaustic Painting – with Stephanie Hargrave

Creating a Modular Encaustic Painting
6 Lessons Total
Encaustic Painting
Now available as a self-study class.

Push your encaustics to the next level!
In this class we will build a large, composite painting from individual smaller panels. With each panel, we will add a new technique including draw-through prints, graphite, oil paint, reticulated shellac, carving, and paper.
Throughout the process you will be encouraged to work on each panel as a complete piece in itself, and then look for ways to bring them together to create an interesting, rich, varied whole.
If you are familiar with encaustics, you can jump right in to this class! If you are new to encaustics, consider taking Stephanie’s “Intro to Encaustic Painting” as a self-study first.

Class Itinerary
Week 1:
Tuesday: Lesson 1 – Review and Layering Color
Wednesday: Lesson 2 – Draw-Through Prints
Friday: Lesson 3 – Graphite
Week 2:
Tuesday: Lesson 4 – Creating Line with Oil Paint
Wednesday: Lesson 5 – Reticulated Shellac
Friday: Lesson 6 – Assemblage and Presentation
Note: Materials used in this class may contain ingredients that are harmful to your health. We want you to be safe so follow manufacturer’s instructions carefully and work in well-ventilated areas.

NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• A password-protected blog serves as our clubhouse; there you will find all of the lesson videos and class materials. This class is now a self-study class, so all of the lessons are available to you when you sign up and you can move through the material at your own pace. (Since it was originally in a blog format, you will find the lessons in reverse chronological order… just scroll down for the earlier lessons.)
• A Facebook group has been created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Stephanie is always available to look at your work via email.)
• You have indefinite access to the class materials.
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours with the links to the class blog and Facebook group.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? carla[at]carlasonheim.com
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our classes, click HERE.
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Sign up today!

Or sign up for both “Intro to Encaustic Painting” and “Creating a Modular Encaustic Painting” and save $15:

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Order Wax and wood boards directly from Stephanie:

“StephiWax” will ship via USPS Priority Mail within two days after purchase. Priority Mail shipping included in price (US orders only — so sorry!).

Also! Stephanie has gathered together the Cradled Birch Panels (one each: 4×4, 5×5, 5×7, 8×8 and 8×10) you will need for this project. Order by June 16, 2015 to receive by first day of class. Priority Mail shipping included in price (US orders only — so sorry!).

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I’ve been both painting and working in clay since college, where I studied color theory, ceramics, sculpture, drawing and painting. I started a line of functional ceramics as a small business in 1997 after studying with Carol Gouthro, and have worked with metal, oil paint, and acrylics over the years, but my medium of choice is bee’s wax. I learned a great deal studying with Jef Gunn and Larry Caulkins at Pratt Fine Arts Center, and have been focusing for the past 9 years exclusively on encaustics. It is the one medium that affords all the other materials I’ve worked in to overlap and inform one another.
I find bee’s wax to be inherently lovely, and work with it always mindful of how its natural beauty and transparency can coexist with my ideas and imagery.
See more wonderful art at Stephanie’s website: www.stephaniehargrave.com
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MATERIALS & EQUIPMENT
Click HERE
for supply list for this class.

Posted on May 25, 2015March 10, 2021 by

Cats! Online Class with Carla Sonheim

Cats!
Three-Lesson Class with Carla Sonheim
Drawing, Watercolor, Mixed Media • $25

Now available as a self-study class.

A 3-Lesson, “bite-sized” Lunch Hour Art class!!

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Cat lovers unite!

In this drawing and painting class you will become the cat lady (or gentleman!) you never-wanted-but-secretly-DO-want to be, with cats, cats, and more cats in your home and sketchbooks.

We will create a menagerie of imaginary cats with watercolors, markers, acrylics, and fabric! Each lesson includes a short drawing assignment and a main mixed-media lesson. Watching cat videos optional.

Join me!

(Of course dog lovers are welcome to join, too! I’m working on a “dog” class for Fall 2015.)

Your itinerary:

Lesson 1: Watercolor & Imagination
layered watercolor cat “blob” paintings & a gaggle of kitties from imagination
Tuesday, June 16th

Lesson 2: Markers & Life
loose, expressive cats and drawing from photos and life
Wednesday, June 17th

Lesson 3: Acrylics & Fabric
the quickest acrylic paintings you’ll ever make, and a “bonus” cat pillow lesson
Friday, June 19th

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Join this fun class today! Now available as a self-study class.

Questions?

I’m happy to answer any questions! Please email me at carla[at]carlasonheim.com and I’ll get right back to you!

Supplies?
For this class you will need watercolors, water soluble markers, watercolor paper, white or cream acrylic paint, white paint pen, watercolor paper and a #12 round brush. Pillow supplies: printer, Fabric Inkjet Sheets, sewing machine, fabric scraps.

Posted on April 18, 2015March 10, 2021 by

Elements – Building Blocks of Painting

Elements: Building Blocks of Painting
with Karine Swenson
5-Week Class; 10 Lessons Total
Now available as a self-study class.

Have you ever wanted to take a course learn the basics of painting?
Are you curious, but don’t have a Studio Art background?
Do you need a refresher on how artists approach painting?
What are the elements that make a painting come to life?

Karine Swenson’s 5-week course gives you a unique opportunity to build upon the fundamental building blocks of painting. In this accessible and welcoming course, Karine will walk you through the basics of:

Line, Shape, Form, Depth, Color, Value, & Composition

A professional artist for over 10 years, Karine has lots of experience using color and abstract expression to evoke light, movement and emotion. If you take the time to learn how to use these tools, and put them in your own tool belt, you’ll look at painting differently by the end of 5 weeks.
And if you’re interested in trying oils for the first time, this class is a fun way to begin! (And although Karine will be using her oil paint, you can absolutely use acrylics.)
Most importantly, you will get personal feedback: You can share your work in the class Facebook group, or if you’re feeling shy, you can email it to Karine directly.
The weeks will go roughly like this:
Week 1: The Line (and all its variations!)
Week 2: The differences between Shape and Form
Week 3: Exploring Depth, Color and Value
Week 4: Value and Composition
Week 5: Composition
Lessons will be geared towards abstract painting; however, the topics will be beneficial to any artist – even those pursuing more representational subject matter. (This class is meant to be a continuation of Karine’s first abstract painting class, although you do not need to have taken Intro to Abstract Painting to benefit from this class.)

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Click for supply list: Elements Supply List
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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• A password-protected blog serves as our clubhouse; there you will find all of the lesson videos and class materials. This class is now a self-study class, so all of the lessons are available to you when you sign up and you can move through the material at your own pace. (Since it was originally in a blog format, you will find the lessons in reverse chronological order… just scroll down for the earlier lessons.)
• A Facebook group has been created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Karine is always available to look at your work via email.)
• You have indefinite access to the class materials.
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours with the links to the class blog and Facebook group.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? carla[at]carlasonheim.com
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our classes, click HERE.
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SIGN UP TODAY!

Or take both of Karine’s classes for 10% off! “Intro to Abstract Painting” is a self-study class and you will get the links immediately.

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Karine Swenson grew up just outside of a town called Rapid City, South Dakota in the Black Hills. The closest neighbor was a mile away. Reared in this environment, Swenson’s connection with the natural world was strong. After receiving her BA in painting from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, she moved to Colorado. She has spent most of her life in small towns that sit right next to the last remaining bits of wilderness. From the mountains of Colorado, the ocean surrounding Maui, Hawaii and now the desert near Joshua Tree, California, she feels the most at home out in nature. In the studio, her second home, she can explore her relationship with the natural world. Her oil paintings are reflections of this relationship. Swenson has been a full time artist for the past ten years.
To watch a short video introducing Karine, click HERE.
See more wonderful art at Karine’s website: www.karineswenson.com.

Posted on March 21, 2015March 10, 2021 by

"Doings of a Do-o-dle" with Diane Culhane

Doings of a Do-o-dle! Online Class from Silly U on Vimeo.
Drawing, Acrylic Painting
2-Week Class; 6 Lessons Total
Now available as a self-study class.

This class is about exploring your Do-o-dling!

Doodle your way into a big painting!
Doodling is really just mark making… marks that happen when you are otherwise occupied.
These marks that flow from you naturally while you are doodling can be an expression of your style, like your handwriting. In this class we will look at our doodles as resources; treasures from which we can create full-sized paintings.
Even if you don’t consider yourself a doodler, the exercises and techniques in this class will give you a fun way to tap into your personal style.
We will:
– Dig for treasure/doodle
– Observe & Arrange & Study
– Make folded books for doodle-ready surfaces
– Copy your images with hand/eye coordination
– Scan & enlarge your doodles
– Add color combinations with colored pencil & acrylic paint
– Create compositional grid paintings, and
– Create a Large Do-o-dle Painting!!
I hope you will join me!
Buckets of Joy,
Diane Culhane

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SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THIS CLASS: For the Supply List, click HERE.
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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• A password-protected blog serves as our clubhouse; there you will find all of the lesson videos and class materials. This class is now a self-study class, so all of the lessons are available to you when you sign up and you can move through the material at your own pace. (Since it was originally in a blog format, you will find the lessons in reverse chronological order… just scroll down for the earlier lessons.)
• A Facebook group has been created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Diane is always available to look at your work via email.)
• You have indefinite access to the class materials.
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours with the links to the class blog and Facebook group.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? carla[at]carlasonheim.com
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our classes, click HERE.
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SIGN UP TODAY!

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Diane Culhane is a professional artist and art educator who lives West Seattle in a 1910 home, and works out of her studio in Ballard Building C. She received her BFA from the University of Utah and Master’s Degree from Seattle University.
Diane has taught for The Bellevue School District, Seattle Pacific University, Kirkland Arts Center, Bellevue Arts Museum and currently directs and owns Kelsey Creek Fine Art School for children in the summer.
Visit her website at: www.dianeculhaneart.com

Posted on March 17, 2015March 10, 2021 by

Flower Crazy Mini – Online Class

Flower Crazy Mini
Instructor: Carla Sonheim
3 Lessons

Now available as a self-study class.

Hi! It might be cold and rainy in my neck of the woods, but NOT here inside my studio! Here we have imaginary flowers!

Take the cold weather into your own hands with gesso, watercolor, and a healthy dose of flower fun… join me for this “mini” session (re-edited) of my longer painting class “Flower Crazy.”

In this three-lesson mini class we will create a greenhouse of imaginary flowers while working with watercolors, markers, colored pencils, white ink, white gesso and pencil on watercolor paper.

Your itinerary

Lesson 1: Flower Blast
flower vocabulary with markers, colored pencils, transparent watercolor layers

Lesson 2: Imaginary Flowers
mark-making with watercolors, white ink, pencil

Lesson 3: Flower Bursts
Fast and loose with watercolors, gesso, pencil

Plus, there is a bonus optional drawing assignment (blog post, no video).

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Join this fun class today!

Questions?

I’m happy to answer any questions! Please email me at carla[at]carlasonheim.com and I’ll get right back to you!

Supplies?
Click HERE for your full supply list.

Posted on November 3, 2014March 10, 2021 by

Blobimal Artist Books

Blobimal Artist Books
Instructor: Carla Sonheim
5-Lesson Repeat Class (with bonus 6th lesson) • $35
Drawing, Painting, Mixed Media
Now available as a self-study class.

BLOBIMAL ARTIST BOOKS
In this class we will construct three small artist books, with “found” animals as our main subject matter.
The irregularly shaped pages of each of the three books will be constructed so that artwork from the subsequent and following pages will be peeking through… like a puzzle!
In Book #1 Well start with layers of watercolor and then add layers of colored pencil, marker, ink, and more to create unique “blobimals” (“blobs” + “animals”) found only in your imagination.
In Book #2 we’ll combine collage and drawing by collaging your “blob” shapes and then finishing your artist book with ink, white gesso, black paint, and a white paint pen (that’s it).
In Book #3 we’ll combine collage, drawing, and words to create a story…
And for this repeat session, you’ll create a bonus “mini book” in the new 6th lesson.
This is one of my favorite “live” classes to teach, and I’m excited to bring this class to you in online form!
Note: This class originally ran as an intensive one-week class in the summer of 2013. This session we are running it over a two-week period and adding a sixth “bonus” lesson.

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SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THIS CLASS: For the Supply List, click HERE.
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CLASS OUTLINE
Lesson 1: Watercolor Beginnings
Lesson 2: Bind Three Books
Lesson 3: Book #1: Blobimals Mixed-Media
Lesson 4: Book #2: Collage + Drawing
Lesson 5: Book #3: Story
Lesson 6: Bonus Mini Book

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• Each M-W-F you will receive an email from me with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, I am always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes and a “test” video to make sure you can receive/view everything (if you can view the above video, you should be able to view the class videos).
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our e-workshops, click HERE.

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Register today!
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SIGN UP TODAY!

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Posted on November 3, 2014March 10, 2021 by

Junk Mail Artist's Book

Junk Mail Artist’s Book
Instructor: Carla Sonheim
5-Lesson Repeat Class (with bonus 6th lesson) • $35
Drawing, Painting, Mixed Media
Now available as a self-study class.

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JUNK MAIL ARTIST’S BOOK
This is a mixed-media-junkie’s dream project! Junk mail combined with gesso, watercolor, a little swirly technique here, some packing tape there, creates beautiful and complicated textures that you can use as backgrounds for any mixed media projects you currently have going.
In this class we’ll use our pages to create an irregularly shaped book. Then, we’ll DRAW! You will begin a drawing on one spread, with the goal of having each image connect to and work with the images from other spreads. The drawing exercises throughout the week will build up to you being able to see more creatively and embrace the “puzzle” nature of this beautiful artist’s book.
Take this class if you love textures, layers, and everything mixed media. This one is just FUN!
Note: This class originally ran as an intensive one-week class in the summer of 2011. This session we are running it over a two-week period and adding a sixth “bonus” lesson.

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SUPPLIES
For the Supply List, click HERE.
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CLASS ITINERARY

Lesson 1: One-Liners & Gesso on Junk Mail

Lesson 2: Watercolors & Rub ‘n Buff

Lesson 3: Flow Exercise & Building Your Book

Lesson 4: Drawing! & More Gesso
Lesson 5: Final Details

Lesson 6: Bonus! Postcard Book

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• Each M-W-F you will receive an email from me with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, I am always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download indefinitely if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Friday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes and a “test” video to make sure you can receive/view everything (if you can view the above video, you should be able to view the class videos).
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our e-workshops, click HERE.

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Register today!

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Carla Sonheim is a painter, illustrator, and creativity workshop instructor known for her fun and innovative projects and techniques designed to help adult students recover a more spontaneous, playful approach to creating. She is the author of Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun, a bestselling book, having sold over 75,000 copies!
Her two new books were released Fall 2012: Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals: A Mixed-Media Workshop (Quarry Books) and The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone (Perigee Books).

Posted on October 3, 2014March 10, 2021 by

"The Joy of Mixed-Media Assemblage"

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“The Joy of Mixed-Media Assemblage”
Instructor: Lynn Whipple
Mixed-Media, Collage, 3D
2-Week Class; 6 Lessons Total
Now available as a self-study class.

Hello and a great big GigAntic welcome to the JOy of Mixed Media Assemblage!!
Working with found objects inside a boX!
What could be more fun than combining all of our favorite things and working within a box format?? Mixed-Media Assemblage allows us to explore collage, drawing, altering photos, painting, altered found objects, storytelling, composition and more!
I would be thrilled to share with yOu all the techniques, tricks and tips that I have learned working in assemblage. It is so much fun… from finding the perfect box to laying down and collaging a background to altering photos and found objects, to attaching and gluing and to special little ways I have developed to make your work finished, framed and ready to hang on the wall.
This class is all about yOU, and using your voice to make things that make your heart sing! You will play the “pieces-parts” game, which is fantastic way of seeing how many fresh combinations that you can come up with. If you have a fabulous stash of found objects and old photos, this is the perfect project, if you need more, its a great excuse to go “on the hunt!” We will work with “found” boxes and/or cradled wood panels.
Please join us for an artistic, mixed-media romp chock full of encouragement, learning, sharing, play, imagination, exploration and most of all fun!
xoxo Lynn

Autosave-File vom d-lab2/3 der AgfaPhoto GmbH

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SUPPLIES
For the Supply List, click HERE.
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CLASS ITINERARY

Lesson 1: The Hunt & Preparing Your Box

The hunt for boxes is always fun, find some additional pieces and parts while you are at it!

Lesson 2: Design Your Piece

Here is where we begin to play with your pieces and parts and make fresh combinations.

Lesson 3: Collage Your Background

Great way to begin a piece using time tested collage techniques for gluing and aging.

Lesson 4: Altering Pieces & Parts

Time to make it your own by altering elements and making things work. Storytelling will take place at this stage as well.

Lesson 5: Gluing & Final Touches

Let’s tweak all the little things and glue everything in place, an important step.

Lesson 6: Presentation

Let’s give it the big finish! Time to wire the back and hang your work on the wall! Adding plexiglass will finish everything and make all you do look fantastic.

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• Each M-W-F you will receive an email from Lynn with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Lynn is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download for one year if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Wednesday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes and a “test” video to make sure you can receive/view everything (if you can view the above video, you should be able to view the class videos).
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our e-workshops, click HERE.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
SIGN UP TODAY!

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Posted on September 10, 2014March 10, 2021 by

Fall Watercolors

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“Fall Watercolors”
Painting Through the Seasons with Fred Lisaius
Watercolor
Two-Week Class; 6 Video Lessons
This class is now available as a self-study class.

Also, “Summer Watercolors” — See below for details

Painting should be fun. Relax and enjoy step-by-step instruction on how to begin, create and finish a watercolor painting! Pour yourself a cup of tea, put some Vivaldi on in the background and let’s get painting!
Celebrate Autumn with Fred’s next class in his Painting Through the Seasons series! In this class, he will review some basic watercolor techniques, as well as give you some new, exciting ways to bring out the wonderful colors of fall in your watercolor paintings.
Whether you are an experienced painter or new to watercolor, Fred will inspire, inform, and challenge you to take your paintings to the next level.
Testimonials from Fred’s Spring & Summer classes:
“What a great, straightforward, informative class. The selection, narration, and recording were stellar. I hope that you will teach more classes, Fred. Thanks so much.” — Christine
“Seriously?!! We are really going to get more awesome lessons from Fred?!!! Fred, you rock! My fellow classmates, you all rock!!” — Jackie
“Fred Lisaius, you are a natural born teacher with a great personality. Makes it easy and fun to learn from you. Thank you so much for a tip top class!” — Karen

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SUPPLIES
Click HERE for a Supply List.
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CLASS ITINERARY
Lesson #1: Three Types of Washes; Watercolor Workhorses
Lesson #2: The Salt Technique, Painting an Orchid
Lesson #3: Landscape Painting, Water Reflections
Lesson #4: Portrait of a Leaf
Lesson #5: Still Life: Fruits of Autumn
Lesson #6: Detail Painting: Seeds, Berries, and Other Small Things

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• During the weeks of class, you will receive an email each M-W-F from Fred with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Fred is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download for one year, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Wednesday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes and a “test” video to make sure you can receive/view everything (if you can view the above video, you should be able to view the class videos).
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our e-workshops, click HERE.
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SIGN UP TODAY!
FALL WATERCOLORS only:

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Buy SUMMER & FALL WATERCOLOR classes together:

Note: Fred’s mini, three-lesson “Summer Watercolors” class was offered as part of this year’s Summer Art Camp, but Fred has agreed to re-run the class in conjunction with his Fall class. Just $30 more, the three summer lessons will go live on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of the first week of class (September 28, 29, and 30th), so that you can get summer done before most of the Fall class!
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Fred Lisaius is a painter, sculptor, and a popular art teacher at Bellevue College, WA (“Fred is perfect!”). Fred is represented by the Patricia Rovzar Gallery in Seattle, and his work is in many private and corporate collections. Fred currently has a show at the Bainbridge Island Art Museum. From his statement:
The deeper I go into the forest the closer I feel to the truth. Off of the trail, there is a quiet calm where ideas can be contemplated and refined. In my paintings and my sculptures, I utilize the forum of nature to explore our relationship to the natural world and to each other.

Posted on August 20, 2014March 10, 2021 by

"Gelli Plate Printmaking" with Carla Sonheim

Gelli® Plate Printmaking
Instructor: Carla Sonheim
3 Lessons
Now available as a self-study class.

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The monotype printing process is something that got me really excited about art over 20 years ago. You never know what you’re going to get, and I love the myriad of textures and patterns!
The new, inexpensive product called “Gelli Plate” allows you to create beautiful monotypes without a press, using materials anyone has in their studio.

When I posted these online recently, artist Christine Phelps asked: “These really take the Gelli Plate from a crafting to fine art level! Do you have a class brewing?”

Yes! “Gelli Plate Printmaking” is a quick, technique-based, $25 class and includes three professionally produced videos demonstrating how to achieve beautiful results with minimal supplies.
What you need is:
— a Gelli Plate (a product by Gelli Arts that looks and feels like gelatin)
— a brayer
— acrylic paint
— scissors
— paper

One student wrote:

“Wow!! I’ve done monotype printing before and even played a bit on the gelli plate, but this was game changing!”

Warning: Gel printing is addictive!
(Note: Gelli® Plate Printmaking has indefinite access, which means the videos and class materials will be up and available to you “forever.”)
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Sign up today!

😉

Posted on August 20, 2014March 10, 2021 by

"Gelli Plate PLUS" with Carla Sonheim

Gelli® Plate Plus
with Carla Sonheim
One-Week, 3-Lesson Class • $25
Monotype Printmaking, Mixed Media

Now available as a self-study class.

I love working with my Gelli Plate to create unique abstracted landscapes, the process of which I teach in the Introductory Class (details here). In “Gelli Plate Plus,” we’ll learn two new monotype printmaking techniques (painting on the plate and “carving” transparent layers).

In addition, we’ll go through some old “almost-there” work one-by-one to determine exactly what they need to become a unique, finished piece of art. (Printmaking has a high “failure” rate, but there are lots of ways to save them!)

We’ll add animals, people, and more with watercolor, gesso, pencil, marker, colored pencil, charcoal, and collage!
Join Today! One-week, 3-video class begins September 8, 2014.

Class Outline
Monday (Video/Assignment)- Monotype Paintings
Wednesday (Video/Assignment) – Carving Transparent Images; Watercolor
Friday (Video/Assignment) – Mixed-Media Mania

Student Supply List:

a Gelli Plate (a product by Gelli Arts that looks and feels like gelatin), any size (I will be using an 8″x10″ size)
Two brayers (I like the 4″ size) (Can also just use one brayer, but I will demo with two)
Red, blue, yellow, black, white OPEN acrylic paint. (Alternatively, you can get a medium that extends the drying time of your regular acrylic paints)
Gel medium
small amount of white gesso (I prefer Golden)
small set of watercolors (cake or tube is fine)
a selection of paint brushes
Scissors, glue stick, collage
mechanical pencil, black ballpoint pen
small set of colored pencils
water soluble and/or permanent markers
Soft Vine Charcoal
spray fixative
small set of pastels (I like PanPastels)
Eight c. 7″x10″ sheets of 140# hot press watercolor paper (or similar)
Leftover prints from previous classes
NOTE: Though it is recommended, you do not need to have taken “Gelli Plate Printmaking” to take this class. However you will need at least four started gelli prints to work into with mixed media, preferably on #140 pound watercolor paper (or similar).

Note: This class has “forever” access; once you sign up, you will have access to the class materials indefinitely. Thanks!

Posted on June 9, 2014March 10, 2021 by

"The Joy of Collage" with Lynn Whipple

“The Joy of Collage” with Lynn Whipple from Silly U on Vimeo.
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“The Joy of Collage”
Mixed-Media, Collage
2-Week Class; 6 Lessons Total
This class is now available as a self-study class.

A great BIG Welcome to the Joy of Collage!
I would be honored to share with you all of my favorite collage techniques as well as a handful of time-tested special tricks for making a great finished work of art. My greatest hope is that you will have fun and enjoy the process.
We will explore great ways to create fresh collages with a focus on building a story and surface. I will show you how to age your collage for a unifying look and we will incorporate drawing, painting, smudging, stamping and a little poetic thing I like to call … dot dot dot.
My overall philosophy is one of freedom, play, exploration and most of all FUN!!!!!! This class is all about YOU, and using your voice to make the things that make your heart sing!
One of my favorite things in my in-person workshops is the show-and-tell and positive feedback session at the end of each class. I love hearing what each artist has to say about what they learned and how their pieces developed! Happy accidents and revelations are the best! I am so glad we will be able to learn from each other this way in this online format.
xoxo lynn

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SUPPLIES
For the Supply List, click HERE.
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CLASS ITINERARY
You will complete two collage paintings.
Lesson 1: Glue & Trust
My “go to” gluing technique. This “wet” way of putting down our papers is what I use every day. This is where we play fast and loose with your found images and papers! Let ’em fly!
Lesson 2: Aging & Editing with Paint
We will take acrylic paint and water it down to make a wash and quickly cover your page, then wipe it off, leaving just the amount that feels right to you! It will shift the color slightly and give it beautiful antique feeling. Next, we will cover up some of our image and collage with acrylic paint. We can totally create new shapes and play with composition here…..this is where Ninnies were born!!
Lesson 3: Smudging & Words
My favorite thing is to use a #3 pencil and go over the great layers that may now be covered with paint, an amazing, yet subtle thing happens and you start to move things forward and backwards. Then we will chose a few choice words that are a great graphic design element as well as a storytelling tool.
Lesson 4: Dot Dot Dot
OH YEAH!! now to the dot dot dot tool!! It is a simple sewing wheel used in marking patterns, when rolled in paint, makes a lovely poetic line that really gives a detail that will pull your viewer in.
Lesson 5: Begin Second Collage Painting
We’ll begin a second collage piece using the same techniques but taking it in a totally different direction.
Lesson 6: The Finish!
We’ll finish up our second collage and spend a few moments talking about finishing your work so it is ready to hang. Sometimes something as simple as detail to the edges of a piece will give it a framed feeling that looks great!

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NUTS & BOLTS
Here’s how this online class works:
• Each M-W-F you will receive an email from Lynn with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and where you will find all the class materials as they are uploaded.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Lynn is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download until “forever,” if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Wednesday before your session begins, you will receive your class codes and a “test” video to make sure you can receive/view everything (if you can view the above video, you should be able to view the class videos).
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
FAQs – If you’ve never taken an online class before and would like to know more about our e-workshops, click HERE.
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SIGN UP TODAY!

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Posted on May 7, 2014March 10, 2021 by

"Paint Your Garden" with Diane Culhane

“Paint Your Garden” with Diane Culhane from Silly U on Vimeo.
Acrylic Painting
2-Week Class; 6 Lessons Total
Now available as a self-study class.

We will explore six different painting techniques that deal with how we touch the surface of our paintings and the characteristics of the paint itself, including:
Sgraffitto , Masking, Frottage Texturing & Blown Blots.
These techniques will become essential tools, not only for creating areas of mystery and intrigue in your work, but also for inspiring new ideas as your paintings evolve.
We will start by making test paintings of each technique to discover how viscosity and the physicality of the surface play a foundational role in the creation of a painting.
Our test paintings will then become an opening conversation, leading the way to three completed paintings of your garden, real or imaginary.

CLASS ITINERARY
Lesson #1: Sgraffito & Stippling
Lesson #2: Paint Your Garden!
Lesson #3: Masking & Drawing Gum
Lesson #4: Paint Your Garden!
Lesson #5: Frottage & Blown Blots
Lesson #6: Paint Your Garden!
SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THIS CLASS: For the Supply List, click HERE.

Here’s the scoop for this class:
• Each M-W-F you will receive an email from Diane with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Diane is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download until “forever,” if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Wednesday before your session begins, you will receive a “test” email to make sure you can receive/view everything.
• What you will need: You will be able to read acrobat pdf files and view videos.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
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SIGN UP TODAY!

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Diane Culhane is a professional artist and art educator who lives West Seattle in a 1910 home, and works out of her studio in Ballard Building C. She received her BFA from the University of Utah and Master’s Degree from Seattle University.
Diane has taught for The Bellevue School District, Seattle Pacific University, Kirkland Arts Center, Bellevue Arts Museum and currently directs and owns Kelsey Creek Fine Art School for children in the summer.
Visit her website at: www.dianeculhaneart.com.

Posted on April 22, 2014March 10, 2021 by

"Spring Watercolors" with Fred Lisaius

Fred promo1VDHD720 from Silly U on Vimeo.
“Spring Watercolors” with Fred Lisaius
Watercolor
6 Lessons Total
Now available as a self-study class.

Painting should be fun. Relax and enjoy step-by-step instruction on how to begin, create and finish a watercolor painting! Pour yourself a cup of tea, put some Vivaldi on in the background and let’s get painting!
Fred, who is both an accomplished painter ( www.fredlisaius.com) and an inspiring teacher, will dispel the myths of watercolor technique and give you some solid, practical methods for improving your control, color, and balance. This class is great for beginners and advanced painters alike and will help open the door for more expressive and personal work.
Testimonials from Fred’s first session:
“What a great, straightforward, informative class. The selection, narration, and recording were stellar. I hope that you will teach more classes, Fred. Thanks so much.” — Christine
“Seriously?!! We are really going to get more awesome lessons from Fred?!!! Fred, you rock! My fellow classmates, you all rock!!” — Jackie

CLASS ITINERARY
Lesson #1: Beaded Washes
Lesson #2: Glazing and Wet-on Wet
Lesson #3: Painting a Magnolia Flower from Photo
Lesson #4: Painting a Daffodil from Life
Lesson #5: Inventing a Spring Bird
Lesson #6: Sky with Bee
SUPPLY LIST
Click Here!

Here’s the scoop for this class:
• Each M-W-F you will receive an email from Fred with a reminder to visit the class blog for that day’s lesson.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse.
• A facebook group will be created for you to (optionally) share your paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Fred is always available to look at your work via email.)
• The class materials will be up and available for download until “forever,” if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. On the Wednesday before your session begins, you will receive a “test” email to make sure you can receive/view everything.
• What you will need: You will be able to read acrobat pdf files and view videos.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
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SIGN UP TODAY!

Fred Lisaius is a painter, sculptor, and a popular art teacher at Bellevue College, WA (“Fred is perfect!”). Fred is represented by the Patricia Rovzar Gallery in Seattle, and his work is in many private and corporate collections. From his statement:
The deeper I go into the forest the closer I feel to the truth. Off of the trail, there is a quiet calm where ideas can be contemplated and refined. In my paintings and my sculptures, I utilize the forum of nature to explore our relationship to the natural world and to each other.

Posted on April 8, 2014March 10, 2021 by

"Intro to Encaustic Painting" with Stephanie Hargrave

12 Lessons Total
Encaustic Painting
Now available as a self-study class.

Encaustic painting is using melted and pigmented beeswax to create exciting, luminous paintings. If you have ever been curious about encaustics, you’re in for a treat! This 12-lesson online workshop covers a brief history of this ancient medium, what equipment is needed, setting up your work space, mixing colors, adding other media like paper and thread, safety… everything you need to know to start making your own encaustic paintings.

Olivia I — 36″x36″

Blood Flowers 2 — 24″x30″

April — 8″x8″
Class Itinerary
Session 1: April 28 – May 2, 2014
Monday: Set-up and Safety
Wednesday: Brief History and Fusing Clear Wax
Friday: Adding One Color
Session 2: May 19-23, 2014
Monday: Working with Opaque Colors
Wednesday: Working with Transparent Colors
Friday: Mixing Colors
Session 3: June 9-13, 2014
Monday: Burnishing Tissue Paper
Wednesday: Japanese Paper with Drawings
Friday: Charcoal Transfer
Session 4: June 30 – July 4, 2014
Monday: Carving and Inlaying Line
Wednesday: Thread and Linen Paper
Friday: Finishing/Polishing your Paintings
Note: Materials used in this class may contain ingredients that are harmful to your health. We want you to be safe so follow manufacturer’s instructions carefully and work in well-ventilated areas.

Petalous 3 — 28″x28″

How the Class Works
On Monday-Wednesday-Friday of each session you will receive an email reminding you to visit the class blog for your new assignment and video lesson. Videos are professionally produced and instructor feedback will be given via a private facebook page (or via email with Stephanie, if you prefer). If you need to miss a week, don’t worry! The class material will be up and available to you for one year from the date of purchase.
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Sign up today!

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“StephiWax” will ship via USPS Priority Mail within two days after purchase. US orders only (so sorry!).

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I’ve been both painting and working in clay since college, where I studied color theory, ceramics, sculpture, drawing and painting. I started a line of functional ceramics as a small business in 1997 after studying with Carol Gouthro, and have worked with metal, oil paint, and acrylics over the years, but my medium of choice is bee’s wax. I learned a great deal studying with Jef Gunn and Larry Caulkins at Pratt Fine Arts Center, and have been focusing for the past 9 years exclusively on encaustics. It is the one medium that affords all the other materials I’ve worked in to overlap and inform one another.
I find bee’s wax to be inherently lovely, and work with it always mindful of how its natural beauty and transparency can coexist with my ideas and imagery.
See more wonderful art at Stephanie’s website: www.stephaniehargrave.com
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Materials Needed
— Two 24”x24” Drywall Panels (to protect your tabletop)
— Pancake Griddle (with temperature gage)
— Heat Gun or Propane Torch
— Encaustic Medium – 1 Brick (Recommended: R&F Encaustic Medium, 333 ml. OR you can buy handmade “StephiWax.” Click below for details.)
— Encaustic Colors: 1 small brick each of Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, White (R&F, or you can buy handmade “StephiWax.” See below for details.)
— metal tins – several (to hold melted wax)
— Several 1″ – 1 1/2” Bristle Brushes
— Smaller bristle brushes for detail work
— Small Birch Panels (5”x7” and 6”x6”) – 3 each
— Two 9”x12” Cradled Birch Panels
— Painter’s tape (blue tape)
— Rags
— Fan
— Fire Extinguisher
Want more? Stephanie talks about encaustic painting:

Posted on March 27, 2014March 10, 2021 by

DRAW! Online Class

21 Days • 21 Demonstration Videos • 21 Assignments
NEW! All videos are closed captioned.
This class is now available as a self-study class.

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Click HERE for a sample lesson!

Whether you draw realistically, stylistically, or hardly at all, this 21-day workshop will give you the motivation, direction, and inspiration to get your pencil moving.

Drawing is fundamentally a language of creativity that we speak naturally as children, and often lose touch with as adults. I believe that anyone can benefit from drawing and that simply making marks on paper is in itself freeing and invigorating.

Making that first mark can be the hardest part, so we will start with exercises to help you shed your inhibitions, loosen your hand and eyes, and simply have fun filling the blank page.
From there we will progress to drawing from life, from photos, and imagination using a variety of techniques and materials. Each assignment is designed to help you free your individual creative self through the act of drawing.
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Class Itinerary:
Day 0 – Eyes Closed Drawings
Day 1 – Wrong-Handed Drawings
Day 2 – One-Liners
Day 3 – Haiku Drawings
Day 4 – Blind Contours
Day 5 – Contour Drawings
Day 6 – Cheater Blinds
Day 7 – Scribbly Drawings
Day 8 – Blob Hunting
Day 9 – Picasso Dogs
Day 10 – Blobimals
Day 11 – Pencil Sketches
Day 12 – Eraser Drawings
Day 13 – Vine Charcoal
Day 14 – Side-Only Charcoal
Day 15 – Figure Drawing – Gestures
Day 16 – Figure Drawing – Longer Pose
Day 17 – Figure Drawing – Ink Studies
Day 18 – Abstracted Faces
Day 19 – Abstracted Minutia
Day 20 – Random Pick Drawings
Day 21 – Create an Assignment
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Each day of the class you will receive:
• A detailed assignment via the “Draw!” blog.
• An email with the drawing inspiration of the day.
• A short video demonstrating the techniques used in the assignment.
• A Flickr group to share your work with like-minded individuals from all over the world!
• Instructor feedback.

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“Carla helps her students release their inner critic, and what emerges is a whimsy and freedom
that makes for truly original artwork. Each of us discover in her classes that we really are artists,
and that our visual style is uniquely our own.” — Adrienne

* * *
Sign up today!
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Carla Sonheim is a painter, illustrator, and creativity workshop instructor known for her fun and innovative projects and techniques designed to help adult students recover a more spontaneous, playful approach to creating. She is the author of three books on drawing and creativity.

Posted on March 3, 2014March 10, 2021 by

Watercolor Transfer Paintings

One-Week Intensive Class • $35
Painting, Mixed Media
Now available as a self-study class.

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In this class we’ll experiment with this easy and quick technique that creates some of the loveliest watercolor textures I’ve seen… if you love the intricate patterns found in a single rock, for example, you will love this class.
Using only t-shirt transfer paper and watercolors, we’ll first just play with brush techniques, working in layers and experimenting with fabric. (Watercolor on fabric? Yes!!) Later in the week we will add other media to the mix: charcoal, ballpoint pen, and pastel to add even more texture and depth to these unique paintings.

And use cut and torn bits and pieces of the painted transfers to create fun and unique pieces of art:

We’ll also work with “plates” to create multi-layered paintings:

Here’s the scoop for one-week camp sessions:
• Think “camp” and be ready for a week jam-packed with creativity! (If you do all the assignments each day, I estimate it will take about 1 – 1.5 hours each day.)
• Each day you’ll wake up to a morning peptalk email with links to your daily schedule, warm-up PDF drawing worksheet, daily assignment and demonstration video. (Five camp days; five warm-up worksheets; assignments; five videos.)
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and will be our meeting place for all of the above.
• A flickr group will be created for each session so you can (optionally) share your worksheets, drawings, paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, I am always available to look at your work via email.)
• A perfect activity to do with your kids.
• The class materials will be up and available for download until “forever,” if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. The week before your camp session begins, you will receive a “test” email to make sure you can receive/view everything. (That way, when the camp starts, any mosquito bugs will be worked out!)
• What you will need: You will be able to read acrobat pdf files and view videos.
• Class fee is good for participants living in a single household.
QUESTIONS? [email protected]
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Register today!

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Supply List:
– Several watercolor brushes – brushes that you have on hand, medium to large, round or flat
– Small set of watercolors (cake or tube is fine)
– One 30” x 40” sheet of hot press, 140# watercolor paper, torn down to eight 7.5” x 10” pieces; save remaining paper for extra paintings.
– One package (6 or 12 sheets) of regular t-shirt transfer paper for white fabric (recommended: Avery T-Shirt Transfers for Inkjet Printers)
– white paper for drawing exercises (can be regular computer paper)
– ballpoint pen
– small set of water soluble markers (can be cheap)
– parchment or tissue paper (to protect your iron)
– iron
Optional items (I will demo these things but are not necessary to participate in the class):
– white cotton fabric or t-shirt
– soft vine charcoal
– chalk pastels
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Check out other online classes here.

Posted on January 7, 2014March 10, 2021 by

Gelli Plate Printmaking

One-Week Introductory Class
Printmaking with the Gelli Plate
Now available as a self-study class.

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The monotype printing process is something that got me really excited about art over 20 years ago. You never know what you’re going to get, and I love the myriad of textures and patterns!
The new, inexpensive product called “Gelli Plate” allows you to create beautiful monotypes without a press, using materials anyone has in their studio.

When I posted these online recently, artist Christine Phelps asked: “These really take the Gelli Plate from a crafting to fine art level! Do you have a class brewing?”

Yes! “Gelli Plate Printmaking” is a quick, technique-based, $25 class and includes three professionally produced videos demonstrating how to achieve beautiful results with minimal supplies.
What you need is:
— a Gelli Plate (a product by Gelli Arts that looks and feels like gelatin)
— a brayer
— acrylic paint
— scissors
— paper

One student wrote:

“Wow!! I’ve done monotype printing before and even played a bit on the gelli plate, but this was game changing!”

Warning: Gel printing is addictive!
(Note: Gelli Plate Printmaking has indefinite access, which means the videos and class materials will be up and available to you “forever.”)
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Sign up today!

😉

Posted on October 4, 2013March 10, 2021 by

"Table Top: Drawing & Painting" by Diane Culhane!

A Two-Week Workshop

Now available as a self-study class.
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Diane Culhane’s Online Class: Table Top Drawing & Painting (via Carla Sonheim) from Silly U on Vimeo.

Hi, my name is Diane Culhane.
“Table Top” is a term I have created to explore the traditional “Still Lifes” within our contemporary lives. Joining the definition of still life: a visual fine art term, representational painting or drawing of inanimate objects, such as fruits, flowers, etc. “Table Tops” will echo the same type of inanimate objects.
Inside of this class, the foundation will be set based on fabulous old master’s still life paintings, such as; cubist painter Paul Cezanne, Pierre Bonnard, and Matisse.
Students – you – will transform your experience with the tradition of still life, practiced by many throughout the ages, into something uniquely all your own, changed by imaginative approaches via various innovative approaches in this class.
Starting with drawing, during a dining experience, ending up with acrylic painting. Line will be deeply explored and color of prismacolor pencils too on to various surfaces.

See. Experience. Draw. Color. Paint.

get ready get ready get ready.

HOW THIS ONLINE CLASS WORKS
• Each M-W-F you’ll wake up to a morning peptalk email with links to your demonstration video and drawing or painting assignment. Tuesdays and Thursdays are “work/comment” days. Weekends are off.
• A password-protected blog dedicated to your class will be the meeting place for the above.
• A flickr group will be created for this class so you can (optionally) share your drawings, paintings, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others. (However, if you are shy about posting your art, Diane is always available to look at your work privately via email.)
• Class material great for both kids and adults (class fee is good for participants living in a single household).
• The class materials will be up and available for one year after your class purchase.
• Upon registration, you will receive an email within 48 hours confirming your sign-up. The week before your workshop begins, you will receive a “test” email to make sure you can receive/view everything.
• What you will need: You will need to be able to view videos via vimeo.

CLASS OUTLINE
Lesson 1: Gathering Together/Dining
Start the class by drawing your dining experience. Will talk about line quality, perspective, editing, and more.
Lesson 2: Table Top/Basket, Bowl, Fruit
Playing with and understanding color choices; composition; Prismacolors on black substrate
Lesson 3: Table Tops/Glass Bottles
Will move to transparent bottles of various shapes, sizes, colors; Prismacolors on vellum
Lesson 4: Glazing
Glaze with acrylic paints and gel mediums on watercolor paper
Lessons 5 & 6: Table Top Acrylic Paintings
Layering from bottom to top with acrylics paints and light molding paste; wood and/or canvas.

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ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Diane Culhane is a professional artist and art educator who lives West Seattle in a 1910 home, and works out of her studio in Ballard Building C. She received her BFA from the University of Utah and Master’s Degree from Seattle University.
Diane has taught for The Bellevue School District, Seattle Pacific University, Kirkland Arts Center, Bellevue Arts Museum and currently directs and owns Kelsey Creek Fine Art School for children in the summer.
Visit her website at: www.dianeculhaneart.com.

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SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THIS CLASS
– basket, bowl, tablecloth, fruit, bottles
– black tag board or black construction paper
– Prismacolor colored pencils: set of 12 or 24 (Diane recommends “Premier Soft Core Colored Pencils“)
– pencils — soft 2B-6B
– ball point pen, vellum paper
– gessoed watercolor paper – 6″x6″
– gel media gloss
– 2 canvases – small sizes 8″ x 8″ , or wood panels ,
– Liquitex Gloss Super Heavy Gel
– Golden Light Molding Paste
– fluid acrylic paints, such as Golden, Liquitex, or Daniel Smith (red, yellow, blue, white)
– sketchbook, pens – Diane loves to use Micron archival ink sizes 03, 05, 08.
– two flat brushes; one medium and one small
– a fan brush and a liner brush

Next session begins November 3rd… Sign up today!

Posted on July 4, 2013March 10, 2021 by

2013 Summer Art Camp

Welcome to the THIRD Annual Online Summer Art Camp!
This year I am excited to present new classes taught by Diane Culhane, Steve Sonheim, Krista Peel, and myself.
• Workshops in Photography, Drawing, Painting, and Mixed-Media
• Each week-long class consists of five instructional videos
• Classes designed so that you can spend between 1-3 hours per day
• Class content will remain online indefinitely
• Instructor feedback
• Each class will have its own flickr group to share images of your artwork
• NEW! A single facebook group page for the entire camp (so you can see what those in other sessions have been working on, too!).
• Class fee good for participants living in a single household
• Prizes? Of course!
• EARLY SIGN-UP BONUS! The first 100 people to sign up will receive 8 printable PDF greeting cards featuring two images from each of the four instructors.
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Click the images below for class descriptions and to sign up!
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WEEK 1
(July 22 – 26, 2013)

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WEEK 2
(July 29 – August 2, 2013)

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WEEK 3
(August 5 – 9, 2013)

Quick Sign-Up

Choose any three classes:

Take ALL 6 classes!

Posted on August 29, 2012March 10, 2021 by

Flower Crazy with Carla Sonheim

• Watercolors • Mixed Media Paintings • Collage • Board Books • and More!

5-Week Painting Class (REPEATING)
with Carla Sonheim

October 28 – November 29, 2013

Hi, I’m Carla Sonheim. It’s cold and rainy in my neck of the woods, but NOT here inside my studio!

If you want to take the cold weather into your own hands with gesso, watercolor, and a healthy dose of flower fun, join me for an extended five-week long play time.

Over the past 15 years I’ve developed my own unique way of working with watercolors alone and combining them with gesso and other media that result in luminous, rich painted surfaces.

These techniques can be taken to paper, wood, and canvas, and we’ll work with all three surfaces during the course (plus a few other surprises!).

Some of the things we’ll play with:

watercolors
white gesso
pencil
permanent markers
watersoluable markers
colored pencils
white ink
cardboard
wood

This painting class (which will also include both drawing and collage assignments) builds week-by-week, so that by the end you can take your new-found tips, tricks, and flower love to your journals, paintings, altered books, and even your furniture, if you like!

With your sign-up you will receive:

• 15 professionally produced instructional HD Videos

• Weekly step-by-step photo tutorials at the blog

• Daily inspirational posts (M-F)

• Daily drawing assignments (optional)

• Dedicated flickr site where you’ll receive encouragement and feedback
from me and your fellow travelers

• Password-protected blog,which will serve as our meeting place (when not over at flickr)

• Unlimited access to the class material (That’s right! Once you’ve paid,
the class will be up and available for you to access “forever.”)

• Your itinerary:

Week One: Watercolor Crazy
markers and pencils
watercolors made easy
layering, dry brush, and experimental mark-making
flower vocabulary

Week Two: Gesso Crazy
gesso on watercolor
watercolor on gesso
texturing 101
rub and buff

Week Three: Wood Crazy
preparing the wood
white out
gesso on wet watercolor
layers and layers

Week Four: Collage Crazy
making your own fodder
collage first
collage last
troubleshooting

Week Five: Flower Crazy Board Books (and other fun stuff)
preparing the books
going nutty
installation idea
fabric tips
and more!

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Register today!

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Questions?

I’m happy to answer any questions! Please email me at [email protected] and I’ll get right back to you!

Supplies?
Click here for your full supply list.

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Back to ONLINE CLASSES

SIGN UP TODAY!

Sign up today!

Welcome to 365! This is our second year and we can’t wait to get started. We have a new platform, new ideas and new artists!

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* * *

Sign up today!

SIGN UP TODAY!

SIGN UP TODAY!

SIGN UP TODAY!

SIGN UP TODAY!

SIGN UP TODAY!

Faces Mini Instructor: Carla Sonheim A Three-Lesson, “Bite-Sized” Class with Carla Sonheim Drawing, painting, mixed-media • $25

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Sign up today!

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Student Supply List:

Sign up today!

Click HERE for a sample lesson!

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“Carla helps her students release their inner critic, and what emerges is a whimsy and freedom that makes for truly original artwork. Each of us discover in her classes that we really are artists, and that our visual style is uniquely our own.” — Adrienne

One-Week Intensive Class • $35 Painting, Mixed Media Now available as a self-study class.

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One-Week Introductory Class Printmaking with the Gelli Plate Now available as a self-study class.

See. Experience. Draw. Color. Paint.

get ready get ready get ready.

Welcome to 365! This is our second year and we can’t wait
to get started. We have a new platform, new ideas and new artists!

Faces Mini
Instructor: Carla Sonheim
A Three-Lesson, “Bite-Sized” Class with Carla Sonheim
Drawing, painting, mixed-media • $25

“Carla helps her students release their inner critic, and what emerges is a whimsy and freedom
that makes for truly original artwork. Each of us discover in her classes that we really are artists,
and that our visual style is uniquely our own.” — Adrienne

One-Week Intensive Class • $35
Painting, Mixed Media
Now available as a self-study class.

One-Week Introductory Class
Printmaking with the Gelli Plate
Now available as a self-study class.