2023: Year of the Rabbit
2023: Year of the Rabbit
24 Lessons (12 prerecorded video; 12 “live” via Zoom)
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Hi! And welcome to our 11th yearlong class! Thank you for your signup!
About the class: We started with the Year of the Giraffe in 2013 and some of you have been with us since then… thank you! We are so grateful to have this special place all year long to grow and encourage each other through the ups and downs of the creative process!
Each year we change up the theme, and this year we are going back to our roots a bit with “Year of the Rabbit.” Unlike our giraffe class, however, we will be drawing and painting more than just rabbits! We will be working in all media and the projects will center mostly around animals, faces, flowers & plants and some patterns and abstraction. But we will use the rabbit as an anchor image throughout the year of drawing, painting, collaging, writing, sewing, printing and creating together.
I will be teaching all of the lessons this year and if you’ve taken a yearlong class from me before, you know roughly what to expect… lots of fun exercises and mixed-media projects designed to recover a more joyful, childlike approach to creating.
Additionally, I’m hoping you will join me in my quest to use up every art supply I own! Just kidding… but I want this year to be a year of experimenting, exploration and not buying a bunch of new art supplies.
Here’s what you get:
12 Main Lessons – First Friday of Each Month
Drawing, Painting, Mixed Media
All of the main lessons will begin with a “rabbit warmup” exercise… draw, paint, collage the rabbit!
Then, there will be a more in-depth project/assignment. Here are some planned lessons:
– Alcohol Ink Symmetrical Drawings
– Photo Montage Paintings
– Lacy Lions on Wood
– Mixed-Media Comics
– More is More: Reworking old or abandoned work
12 Zoom Sessions – Third Fri/Sat of each month (except Feb)
Making & Working in Our Books Together
Our monthly 1.5-hour Zoom sessions will begin with a warm-up exercise, then Carla will demo that day’s project or book technique, and then you will work in small groups on that day’s assignment. Some planned demos:
– Making book pages; binding
– Alternative edges and decorative elements
– Pockets & Foldouts
– Drawing in the bound books (connecting pages visually)
– Packing Tape & Rubbings
– Gelli Plate Techniques
I’m really excited for this year and really hope you will consider joining our group of like-minded creatives from all over the world!
Carla (and Steve)
Supplies Needed
Please note! The supplies listed below are the basic supplies you will need for this class. Sometimes we might work with specific brands, etc., and I will let you know about those ahead of time as I am able. However, in most cases supplies can be substituted with materials you might already have on hand!
General Supplies
– a Gelli® Plate! I prefer the 8″x10″ size… I will be pulling out the Gelli Plate a lot in this class, so it’s recommended that you have one (or some alternative printing setup).
– a brayer
– Watercolor paper … I use about a 140# hot press (smooth) paper… mixed-media paper is good, as is bristol board… I have a lot of partly painted paper that I plan to recycle this year, so go through some of your art drawers and find scraps and put them in a pile!
– Sketchbook, around 9″x12″ or smaller… I like the Canson mix media and also lately have been working in a Kunst & Papier brand.
– a stack of thinner papers such as computer copy paper, rice paper, wax paper, junk mail… don’t buy anything new!
– a selection of pencils and pens; various markers, paint pens, pastels, oil pastels, crayons, wax crayons, colored pencils — what you have is fine!
– watercolors – I have various kinds and they all work great… my favorite though might be Pelikan pan set.
– acrylics – again, so many kinds! I am partial to those who dry matte, but have plenty of glossy paint to use up this year.
– alcohol inks, at least three colors
– white gesso
– brushes – large and small
– matte gel medium and gloss gel medium
– glue sticks
– scissors and exacto knife
– collage ephemera
– Tape! Decorative Washi tape, colored masking tape and packing tape
– a small hole punch
– waxed linen book thread or yarn to bind book with
– access to printer or copier
– special supply if you like silver! I’ve been using a lot of silver paint lately and use this brand, but any acrylic craft silver paint will work!