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"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.

doingslogobugflat
This class is about exploring your Do-o-dling!
doodle2
doodle4a
doodle4
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
doodle1
doodles9
* * * * * * * * * * * 
SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THIS CLASS: For the Supply List, click HERE.
* * * * * * * * * * * 
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.
* * * * * * * * * * * 
SIGN UP TODAY!

* * * * * * * * * * * 
dianebio
 
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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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.

  
blobblue5
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.
QY8058_094 copy
moosemouse
blobimalcollage
carlablobimal
* * *
SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THIS CLASS: For the Supply List, click HERE.
* * *
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.

========================
Register today!
____________________
SIGN UP TODAY!
  
____________________

carlabio3Carla 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 57,000 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).
 
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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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junkprint
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
SUPPLIES
For the Supply List, click HERE.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
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.

========================
Register today!

========================
carlabio3Carla 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).
 
 

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"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.

gardenbug
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.
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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.
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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]
___________________________
SIGN UP TODAY!

* * *
dianebio
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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DRAW! Online Class

drawingcsonheimclass
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
________________________
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.

* * *

“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.

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"Blobimal Artist Books" with Carla Sonheim

One-Week Intensive Class • $45
Drawing, painting, mixed-media, intensive

Now available as a self-study class.

dinobook
 

“Blobimal Artist Books” with Carla Sonheim from Silly U on Vimeo.
 
Go blob hunting with me right in your own studio!
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!
QY8058_094 copy
In Book #1 Well start with layers of watercolor and then add layers of colored pencil, marker, ink, and more to create unique “blobimals” found only in your imagination:
moosemouse

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).
blobimalcollage
In Book #3 we’ll combine collage, drawing, and words to create a story…
carlablobimal
One of my favorite “live” classes to teach, I’m excited to bring this class to you in online form.
* * *
CLASS OUTLINE
Day 1: Watercolor Beginnings
Day 2: Bind Three Books
Day 3: Book #1: Blobimals Mixed-Media
Day 4: Book #2: Collage + Drawing
Day 5: Book #3: Story
* * *
SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THIS CLASS: For the Supply List, click HERE.
* * *
carlabio3Carla 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 57,000 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).
 
 

____________________
SIGN UP TODAY!


____________________
Original video for the class:

 
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Blobimal Artist Books

One-Week Intensive Class • $45
Drawing, painting, mixed-media, intensive

Next “Live” Session – February 17-21, 2014

dinobook
Go blob hunting with me right in your own studio!
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!
QY8058_094 copy
In Book #1 Well start with layers of watercolor and then add layers of colored pencil, marker, ink, and more to create unique “blobimals” found only in your imagination:
moosemouse

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).
blobimalcollage
In Book #3 we’ll combine collage, drawing, and words to create a story…
carlablobimal
One of my favorite “live” classes to teach, I’m excited to bring this class to you in online form.
* * *
CLASS OUTLINE
Day 1: Watercolor Beginnings
Day 2: Bind Three Books
Day 3: Book #1: Blobimals Mixed-Media
Day 4: Book #2: Collage + Drawing
Day 5: Book #3: Story
* * *
SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THIS CLASS: For the Supply List, click HERE.
* * *
carlabio3Carla 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 57,000 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).
 
 

____________________
SIGN UP TODAY!


____________________
Original video for the class:

 
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Faces 101


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Faces 101
Instructor: Carla Sonheim
One-Week Intensive Class • $35
Drawing, painting, mixed-media, intensive

Now available as a self-study class. 

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In this fast-paced class we will focus solely on drawing and painting the human face. We will work through dozens of 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 ink, watercolor, pencil, ballpoint pen, charcoal, pastels and more. End goal: You don’t want to draw faces like me or anyone else — you want to draw like YOU!
After this week you will get closer to finding your unique style, promise! (P.S. The “101″ stands for the 101 faces you will create this week. Yes, it’s a lot. Yes, you will work hard. Yes, you can do it!)
Take this class if you want to try your hand at lots of different drawing styles and methods, love the human face, or want to start developing your own unique face “style.”

Here’s the scoop for this class:
• Think “camp” and be ready for a week jam-packed with creativity! (Update: If you do all the assignments each day, I estimate it will take about 1 – 1.5 hours each day… but more if you want to settle into it!)
• Each day you’ll wake up to a morning peptalk email with links to your daily schedule, warm-up PDF worksheet, drawing assignment, demonstration video and paintingassignment. (Five camp days; five warm-up worksheets; five drawing assignments; five videos; five painting assignments.)
• A password-protected blog dedicated to each class will serve as our clubhouse and will be our meeting place for all of the above, as well as special goodie bag materials and other surprises (including bug spray).
• 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. One 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 a week later, 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? E-mail me! [email protected]

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Register today!

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indianprincess
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See more online class options here.
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2014: The Year of the Fairy Tale

fttreated3princess
Welcome to my 2014 year-long online class:

Year of the Fairy Tale!


2014: Year of the Fairy Tale from Silly U on Vimeo.
castle
 
Class begins January 20, 2014. The class is now available as a self-study class.
“Grimm’s Fairy Tales” was my favorite childhood book, so I can’t tell you how excited I am to spend a whole year illustrating fairy tales!
If you don’t know me, my name is Carla Sonheim and I am an artist and author of several instructional drawing and mixed-media books. I’m known for my projects and techniques that help adult students recover a more spontaneous, playful approach to creating!
During this year-long online class, we will illustrate 8 fairy tales (the class will run in two, four-month “semesters,” with a 7-week break in between). Each month you will receive both a sketchbook assignment and a technique-based, mixed-media project via professionally produced videos.
wolftreecombo
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. “Year of the Fairy Tale” will be an online community where participants from all over the world share their work, their thoughts, and encourage each other. And of course, I am available to comment on all work uploaded throughout the year.
For each of the 8 working months you’ll receive:
• a PDF with that month’s Fairy Tale/Reading Assignment
• a Sketchbook Assignment (each month we’ll pick a focus: the figure, the face, animals, architecture, etc.)
• a Step-by-Step Mixed-Media Project (throughout the year we’ll work with watercolors, acrylics, pastels, charcoal, graphite, collage….)
• Professionally Produced Instructional Video(s)
• Special Blog Posts exploring each fairy tale’s rich visual history, guest artists, and more
• Instructor Feedback on all uploaded or emailed work
Our virtual “classroom” includes a private blog and closed Facebook group.
ftalelionsmll


schedule
Each Reading & Sketchbook Assignment will be released 10 days before the Mixed-Media Assignment. Class begins January 20, 2014.
fairytalegif2
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


redridinghooddk
thumbalina

I’m really looking forward to immersing myself in fairy tales this year, and hope you will join me!
• All levels welcome and encouraged to join in (new artists will have the option of also joining a separate facebook group especially for beginners!)
• Registration fee is good for people living in a single household (a great class to do with your kiddos!)
• If you have any questions at all, please email me at carla[at]carlasonheim.com.
• BONUS! The first 50 people to sign up will receive a set of 8 digital fairy-tale-inspired greeting cards (PDF) suitable for printing and sending.
• If you’d like a feel for the supplies you will need for this class, click here.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

SIGN UP TODAY!


_ _ _ _ _ _ _
GIVE A GIFT
Do you know someone who would like this class? Gift a class, and I’ll send you a downloadable gift card to give to the recipient.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _
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

girlinforestcrop

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"Abstracted Minutia" Drawing Tutorial

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Hello!
One of the labs in “Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists” is called Abstracted Minutia, in the chapter “Inspired by Nature. Following is a more elaborated tutorial than found in the book:
AM1
1. Gather some dried leaves, flowers, pods, shells, feathers, rocks, seaweed, grasses… anything you find out and about that looks interesting to you.
AM2
2. Next, gather some paper and drawing and mark-making tools. I’m using charcoal, various types of graphite, and just one or two colors of PanPastels; I like to keep my palette limited to mimic my subject matter. The paper I usually work with is Fabriano Artistico 140# hot press.
AM3
3. Start arranging your items into an abstract design. Try not to think “flower” or “leaves, but just look at shapes, textures, and colors and place them in a design that doesn’t read as anything necessarily.
AM4
4. When you’ve settled on a design, get ready to draw it:
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Don’t worry about copying the design exactly. Use your pod setup as a starting point, but then let the drawing tell you which elements you might want to leave out, or if there are areas you would like to add more to. Here is my finish:
AMfinish
Have fun with it, and play with your materials!
Photos by Matisse Lorance Berthiaume

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Flower Crazy with Carla Sonheim

Five-week workshop: Drawing, Painting and more!
15 Videos – 15 Assignments
$100. Available NOW as a self-study class. 

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

5-Week Painting Class
with Carla Sonheim

 

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!

I have been somewhat of an online class junkie 😀 in the past year and must say [Flower Crazy] is the best one I’ve ever done!” — Anne

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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.”)

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• 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

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

Tabletopclassblogbig2   culhanebowl1

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.
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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.


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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.
 
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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
dianebioDiane 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
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Next session begins November 3rd… Sign up today!
 
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2013 Summer Art Camp


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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)

Blobimalbug       stevebarebackbug2

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WEEK 2
(July 29 – August 2, 2013)

stevesillysummerbug     culhanebetweenbug2

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WEEK 3
(August 5 – 9, 2013)

boxjournalbug    kristacolorbug

Quick Sign-Up

Choose any three classes: 

Take ALL 6 classes!

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Blobimal Artist Books

One-Week Intensive Class • $45
Drawing, painting, mixed-media, intensive

Next “Live” Session – February 17-21, 2014

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Go blob hunting with me right in your own studio!
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!
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In Book #1 Well start with layers of watercolor and then add layers of colored pencil, marker, ink, and more to create unique “blobimals” found only in your imagination:
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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).
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In Book #3 we’ll combine collage, drawing, and words to create a story…
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One of my favorite “live” classes to teach, I’m excited to bring this class to you in online form.

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CLASS OUTLINE

Day 1: Watercolor Beginnings
Day 2: Bind Three Books
Day 3: Book #1: Blobimals Mixed-Media
Day 4: Book #2: Collage + Drawing
Day 5: Book #3: Story

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

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carlabio3Carla 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 57,000 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).
 
 

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SIGN UP TODAY!


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Original video for the class: