All in all, 2021 was a bit of a bumpy road for Steve and me, both physically and mentally. That’s okay, we all have those! But the loopy year nudged me to slow down in 2022 and try to reconnect with my artwork for its own sake a little bit more. I can already feel a renewed excitement!
AND… I get to learn this year from the 12 artists that are part of the yearlong class, and do the lessons myself in order to respond to them in preparation for our Zoom sessions.
Last night I made this batch of stickers a la Starheadboy, our Lesson 1 artist. His lesson was wonderful, I thought… very encouraging and full of wisdom… and, well, stickers!
When Steve placed Starheadboy’s sticker on our neighborhood mailbox to take this photo, he came back in with the biggest grin on his face! “It brightens up the street!” he exclaimed.
We also got a lesson on Starheadboy’s unique way of painting in acrylics.
Here is more artwork from Starheadboy, and you can see more here and here.
I am excited to be working this year with Seattle artist Stacy Milrany! I have yet to meet Stacy in person, but we’ve spoken on the phone about her guest lesson for next year’s Yearlong Class and she just exudes positive energy and creative ideas. I love her work and can’t wait for her lesson; we plan to film in February!
Stacy writes:
Most of my work is inspired by observations of ordinary daily life—sometimes the beautiful, sometimes the bitter, sometimes the mundane—just documenting the truth as I see it and remember it.
I work in a variety of media and especially appreciate those which provide an inherent degree of imperfection and surprise.
My style has probably developed from an appreciation of candor, color, storytelling, and absurdity. Along with my love of watching human behavior and how we move through this world together—as one giant herd of crackpots.
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For those of you who have already signed up for the 2022 Yearlong Class, thank you! This year we will have 12 full mixed-media lessons from 12 guest artists… plus Zoom sessions to explore the lessons further and draw and paint together in community! Students of our yearlongs are the nicest people around. Please click HERE for more information and to sign up!
Our first one in 2013 was “Year of the Giraffe”; I just thought it would be fun to spend a whole year during giraffe-related projects! And even though the themes have changed over the years, the idea is always the same: Spend some time every month with each other doing assignments, sharing work and just drawing, painting and collaging!
This year we are asking 12 very special Guest Artists to teach the main lessons. You might know a few of them from past classes like: Henrik Drescher, Andrea D’Aquino and Julie Paschkis. But most of them will be teaching with us for the first time like: Katherine Streeter, Scott Menchin, Yvetta Fedorova, Wu Wing Yee and “Starhead Boy” — plus some surprises and a few yet to be discovered! Reaching out to these illustrators and artists is one of my favorite things to do and I love that we get have lessons from people I have always admired.
I’ve asked the Guest Teachers to create a mixed-media lesson which will include both a warm-up and a main project, and you can expect lessons in acrylic and watercolor painting, drawing and illustration, collage, paper cutting and more! In addition, I have project planned that we will work on together all year long (and will be introduced in the first “Welcome” video January 4th).
A few days after each lesson we will meet via Zoom where I’ll share work inspired by that month’s lesson, demo some drawing and creativity exercises, and then we will continue working together on the month’s assignment or the special project. (It’s also a time to ask any questions and get feedback on works in progress.)
If you’ve taken a yearlong class from me before, you know roughly what to expect! And if you haven’t, I hope you will consider joining our group of like-minded creatives from all over the world!
Carla (and Steve)
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Nuts & Bolts
• Guest Artist Lesson Videos will be available the second Tuesday of each month.
• Zoom Work Sessions with Carla will be on the second Friday/Saturday of each month: 5pm PT Fridays and 11am PT Saturdays and will be recorded for those who can’t attend the live event.
• Community Forum. We will have two private forums (Facebook and Padlet) to share our work and be inspired by the work of others.
• No art experience necessary… really! Just jump right in.
Looking through old sketchbooks is my favorite way to break a creative block and it is here that I often find little nuggets of gold: rough characters, doodles and even blobs that can become the start of something new. In this class we will use those starts as stepping stones to create a narrative that can develop into a series of paintings, comic strip, picture book, graphic novel, you name it!
But no worries if you don’t have extensive sketchbooks — we will start the course with some sketching techniques to get you started. Then we will learn ways to simplify and pose characters so they can be drawn again and again, work on techniques in ideation, and then move step by step towards a story. By the end of this class you will have at least one final illustration and, I hope, lots of fun getting there!
Joe
Here are some of my illustrations!
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Class Itinerary
Lesson 1 – Finding Your Character In this lesson we will learn some sketchbooking techniques and pick a character you would like to develop further. We will then break down this character into simple shapes and play with proportions.
Lesson 2 – Posing Your Character We will bring volume to the simple shapes we broke down and explore how to use these shapes to create a variety of poses.
Lesson 3 – Color Studies & Shading In this lesson we will clean up our character design, experiment with color and create a small completed watercolor piece.
Lesson 4 – Mind Mapping & Thumbnails Today we’ll do a mind-mapping technique to help us think outside of the box and break away from the first idea.
Lesson 5 – Final sketches We’ll clean up our thumbnails and develop finalized sketches to help inform the story of our final piece.
Lesson 6 – Final Piece Create a final narrative illustration with watercolor and colored pencils.
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Nuts & Bolts
– The videos for this class are pre-recorded and will be released on the following time table:
Lesson 1 – Tuesday, November 9 Lesson 2 – Wednesday, November 10 Lesson 3 – Friday, November 12
Lesson 4 – Tuesday, November 16 Lesson 5 – Wednesday, November 17 Lesson 6 – Friday, November 19
Sometimes I receive emails from people new to our site saying they are complete beginners, and which painting or drawing class would be the best to start with.
This is always a hard question to answer, as we are different from many art websites in that we don’t distinguish classes as “beginner” or “advanced” really… almost all classes are suitable for both beginners and accomplished painters alike!
We like to think of it this way:
Imagine going to a movie about Mozart’s life with a friend who knows a lot about Mozart, whereas you know next to nothing. You both go to and enjoy the same movie but for different reasons… you will enjoy learning about his life and career, while your Mozart-knowledgable friend will know the broad strokes already perhaps, but appreciate some of the inside jokes, smaller details, and overall “reminder” of why they love Mozart in the first place. Both “levels” enjoy the movie :).
So I usually ask a few questions to help narrow down which classes to take:
• What are you interested in drawing painting? Abstract? Animals? People? Nature? • Do you know what media you would like to try? Watercolor, acrylics, mixed media, collage, pencil? • Can you list three classes that look most fun to you, and send them to me? Then perhaps we can narrow down a first class!
If you would like help deciding on a class for you, please do email me and I will try to help!
In this class we will create a one-of-a-kind art journal from watercolor and mixed papers. It’s made from a simple, single signature that we’ll hand bind. It’s the perfect place for art play and exploration; an ever-evolving home for your ideas and artistic creations.
We’ll begin by jump-starting your pages and addressing the blank page. Next I’ll show you a simple way to fold and bind your book that you can use to make more journals of any size. We will spend time with watercolors, acrylic painting, sumi ink, dip pen, collage, lettering and more. You’ll leave the class with your own art journal that you can grab and add to as inspiration hits, and I’m imagining the desire (and knowledge) to make so many more one-of-a-kind art journals!
Making books and working in them is a part of my daily art life, and I can’t imagine my art practice without them! In this class we will make a big beautiful art journal filled with possibility and fun where anything goes. This class is for anyone…. art journaling is a perfect compliment to any type of art practice!
I can’t wait to art journal with you!
Pam
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Class Itinerary
Lesson 1 – Gather Our Papers Tear to size. Prepare 5-10 with paint and cut and shape edges while unbound.
Lesson 2 – Binding We will order our pages and design our art journals, then create a binding template and bind our books using a simple pamphlet stitch.
Lesson 3 _ Pen Play We’ll begin to play on the pages! I’ll demonstrate how I respond to the randomly prepared pages and discuss how I approach working in art journals. Including dip pen and ink and miscellaneous black pens, markers and colored pencils.
Lesson 4 – Wet Media We’ll continue to play on our pages adding “wet media” like water color paint and acrylics. We’ll respond to previous marks and discuss working in no particular order.
Lesson 5 – Addressing the Blank Page There is no need to fear the blank page or feel like you need to “know where it’s going” nor “finish the page”. We’ll use reference materials as inspiration and collage elements.
Lesson 6 – The Cover I’ll demo approaching the paper cover spread using sumi ink and brush and acrylic paint and share my color palette formation.
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– The videos for this class are pre-recorded and will be released on the following time table:
Lesson 1 – Tuesday, October 19 Lesson 2 – Wednesday, October 20 Lesson 3 – Friday, October 22
Lesson 4 – Tuesday, October 26 Lesson 5 – Wednesday, October 27 Lesson 6 – Friday, October 29
When making art, I am always looking for projects and exercises that allow me to get out of my own way in order to keep my work fresh, spontaneous, and “mine.” And this last month I have been working on a “Seeded Notebook” which is a project created by one of my favorite illustrators, Henrik Drescher, to help us do that.
We recently filmed a class with Henrik and I started my book the day after he left. I have worked on it slowly… there is no pressure to rush through these pages… I add something, take something away, cover things over a period of days or weeks. Henrik feels that his artwork is never finished (unless it is published or sold), and that simple idea — that any given piece is always in process — has really freed me up to just try stuff!
Henrik describes a Seeded Notebook like this: Imagine someone takes all your work, mixes it up in a blender and then serves it to you and says: “Look at that, look at how these two things go together, look at these new possibilities!” For him, this is literally how he comes up with new ideas. The process is random, but it is all based on your own art, and I found it to be a great way to break me out of my normal style and habits, and it was so fun!
Here is a page from my Seeded Notebook:
Henrik Drescher is someone I have always been inspired by and we were honored to have him here to film this new class. He has produced 50+ illustrated books, including “The Boy Who Ate Around,” which was chosen as a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book of 1994 (and was our son Christer’s favorite book as a six-year old!).
Henrik does everything from children’s books to editorial illustration to painting, and has lived all over the world (check out: China Days). Here are a few of Henrik’s works that I just love (and you can see more at his website HERE).
Just a few of his children’s books!
I know I always says this but I hope you can join us for Seeded Notebook, this new class with Henrik Drescher!!
New Class begins June 8th Seeded Notebook with Henrik Drescher 6 Lessons • On sale for $72.25
In this class we’re going to build a ‘Seeded’ Notebook,’ which is a handmade book that you create by using your own drawings and flotsam and jetsam that you collect. We start with large sheets of randomly collaged paper, cut them up, bind them and then “work into” each spread with mixed media. The result is random, fun, and magical —and will reveal a fresh way to see your own work. For Henrik, this process is at the heart of all his new projects and books. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Drawing Workshop Instructor: Anita Lehmann Class Dates: May 4-14, 2021 6 Lessons • on sale for $72.25
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From Anita, Class Description:
I love to draw!
Drawing is a part of everything I do as an artist and in this class we will work on slowing down, seeing more deeply and developing confidence. We will practice some fundamental depictive techniques as well as an evocative and personal approach to drawing. We will endeavor to create honest drawings by truly drawing what you see, not what you think you see. All you need are some pencils, some charcoal, some paper and a willingness to have fun!
I believe drawing is about attempting something beyond language and beyond representation; it is a way to experience life. It is my sincere hope these lessons will give you surety in your drawing practice… and I hope you can join me!
Anita
Check out the quick video about the class below!
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From the Depictive..
… to the Evocative..
… This is the drawing class I always wanted! Anita deftly gives us the technical bits while leading us through to expressive interpretations… join us for this deep dive into drawing with Anita! — Carla
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Class Itinerary
Lesson 1 – Tuesday, May 4 Lesson 2 – Wednesday, May 5 Lesson3 – Friday, May 7
Lesson 4 – Tuesday, May 11 Lesson 5 – Wednesday, May 12 Lesson 6 – Friday, May 13
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Week 1 Lesson 1 – Slowing Down We will start with ‘upside down’ and blind contour drawing processes to unlock the brain to a new awareness and shift to your brain’s right side, while defining edges, size, relationships, and angles of what you see (not what you think you see).
Lesson 2 –True Horizontal + True Vertical In today’s exercises we will use a directed straight line when exploring. We’ll start with tracing paper, another wonderful tool in discovering shape, size, and relationships. Then we will find the True Horizontals and Verticals from two different images and find the internal thrust of individual elements within the forms to create several diagrammatic drawings. The result will be a structure that is a strong, accurate foundation.
Lesson 3 – Don’t Draw the Monkey “Don’t draw the Monkey” is a play on words, of course. When I concentrate on the shapes that surround the monkey shape, voila, the monkey appears all on its own. The “negative” shapes are truthful and very right-brained; they cannot be named and identified, which is such an important tool in drawing and seeing. In this lesson we will also touch on the underlying geometry of the individual elements of our still life.
Week 2 Lesson 4 – About that Sphere: Volume + LIght In this exercise we will identify the light form qualities: core shadow, half tone, cast shadow, reflected light, highlight. The assignment will be to create a vine charcoal and a graphite drawing of a sphere with nuance and beauty.
Lesson 5 – Still Life: The Depictive Let’s put all these concepts together: Line, Shape, Volume and Light and continue the process that creates honest drawings, truly drawing ‘what I see, not what I think I see.’ We will draw from a still life and work by describing/depicting by measuring, correcting, searching, and exploring with line.
Lesson 6 – Still Life: The Evocative Think of the Evocative drawing process as putting oneself into the subject, beyond the Depictive. We will study a subject and ask: What is the subject saying to me and what am I saying back to the subject? The process is emotive. The finished drawing may be simple or complicated but always meaningful and personal.
Hi everyone! I wanted to post the contents of my recent newsletter here, too… here it is! You can subscribe by clicking this link if you would like to receive it! I send 2-3 a month.
I hope you have a wonderful day. xoxo
Carla
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APRIL NEWSLETTER
Hi everyone,
Sending love to you this sunny Spring day in Seattle!
And… FLOWERS!
The above two images were created for an assignment we received from inspiring and prolific artist Pam Garrison, who was the guest artist this month for our yearlong class… please check out her instagram to see her beautiful work! Below is my first attempt at finding flowers “a la Pam”:
And these next drawings were created during the Zoom portion of the class, where together we drew “fast blind contours” of a bouquet flowers, without worrying about composition (since we didn’t look at the paper at all). I love drawing this way and the results remind me that perfection in drawing is NOT necessary to make compelling drawings!
And seeing these flowers together now, I’m struck by how influenced I’ve been by both Lynn Whipple and Cat Bennett… and I’m so grateful to them (and all teachers everywhere) for generously sharing their ideas and processes.
Last month’s live ZOOM class was really fun… If you missed it, we will be running it again!
This month’s featured class is Y is for Yellow, my yearlong class from 2016. There are 26 drawing lessons and 10 mixed-media lessons. It was one of our most popular classes… if you missed it for some reason, now might be a great time to pick it up!
As always, thank you for being a newsletter subscriber… Steve and I appreciate you so much!
Y is for Yellow with Carla Sonheim 26 Lessons • On sale for $49.50
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?”
My friend Melinda Tidwell has taught two classes with us, the popular How to Make Abstract Art that Works and Fine Art Collage! She reached out recently to tell me about a recent show and also a free webinar she is hosting on Thursday!
Shortest Interview Ever with Melinda!
Q: Tell us about your webinar!
A: The purpose of the webinar is to teach artists what I use as guiding principles for developing abstract compositions. I was so lost when I began making abstract work, that I have always wished these kinds of resources were available. If people want to follow this path further, they can take the course we did together “How to Make Abstract Art that Works”, or if they are wanting to study it with even more vigor, our Abstract Art – The Deep Dive, a 6-week course, is beginning April 1 in Yum City.
Q: Tell us about your show!
A: I had a group of 9″x12″ collages on panel that i sent the Gail Severn Gallery in Ketchum, ID. Working on panel has resulted in much more layered work which I really enjoyed making—- though they went through many iterations.
So check out the webinar and show! Congratulations, Melinda!
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