Drawing in pencil is my favorite thing. My second favorite part of my business might be helping other people draw in pencil. One afternoon a week, I teach 5 small groups of people for one hour per group. Each participant works on his own drawing at his own pace. Her own drawing at her own […]
Labor Day
Remember in the olden days when Labor Day was the first day of school? You’d get up in the dark, put on new clothes, wear shoes for the first time in months and say, “Mom, these shoes are too tight!” to which she’d respond, “They are fine. You just aren’t used to wearing shoes”. Then […]
Private Oil Painting Lessons
Occasionally I have a chance to teach a handful of people what little I know about oil painting. I have only been painting for 12 years, so while I feel qualified to share what I know, I don’t think of myself as a qualified oil painting teacher. There are 3 women about 2 hours away from […]
Private Oil Painting Lesson
If you have read my blog for awhile, you may remember seeing occasional references to a friend whom I call “The Captain”. She is exploring oil painting as a new hobby, and she requested my assistance. Naturally, I said YES! I traveled the 2 hours and 7 minutes to her house (could have been shorter and more […]
Oil Painting Workshop Day 2
On Day 2 of the oil painting workshop, we didn’t spend too much time mixing colors. Everyone took her palette home, covered in plastic wrap, and stored it in the freezer until the 2nd class. We dove right into painting, beginning with recoating the green, but this time we added details to resemble grasses and […]
Oil Painting Workshop
In the 24 years I’ve been teaching drawing lessons, I’ve never given lessons in December. But, some of my advanced students beg, plead and cajole until I cave in and give oil painting workshops during my “time off”. We start off with a little lesson in color, using the double primary palette. This means 2 yellows, […]
8 Things I Learned in September
These are life things I learned mostly in September, although a few may have spilled over from late August. An Americano is espresso with hot water added. I can’t tell the difference between that and a cup of black coffee. My nephew is employed by Starbucks and informs me that Americanos suck. Not sure why […]
Second Beginning Drawing Workshop
Arts Visalia hired me to teach 2 beginning drawing workshops this summer. In June, there were 5 students. The time flew and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. In August, there were 5 new students, and once again, we all had a very good time of learning. They learned about the basics of drawing, and a […]
Drawing Lessons, Tracing
Is it cheating to trace? Nope. Tracing is a tool, and if you can’t draw, tracing won’t solve the problem. Yesterday, I said that we often trace the main shapes first, and then draw by looking at the tracing. If you look at the photo, there are many distracting details. If you get the skeleton […]
More Drawing Lessons Fun
In drawing lessons, each student works at her own pace on the drawing of her choice. (Men are allowed too, but this class happens to be completely feminine.)Below: Jane, on the left, sat outside a house and did a very nice sketch of it. She decided she’d like to do it in the highly accurate […]