Revisiting Art Classes
I've been thinking about all the art classes I've taken over the years. The watercolor workshop with the instructor who kept telling me to trust the water. The figure drawing sessions. The collage class where I first understood that a piece of torn paper could carry as much weight as a brushstroke.
I learned things in those rooms. Skills, yes — but also a particular way of seeing. A set of questions to ask the work.
Lately, I've been wondering: what would happen if I went back? Not to the same classroom, but to the same lessons — through a completely different medium.
What if I took everything I learned in that watercolor workshop and brought it into a mixed media collage? What does "trust the water" mean when there's no water — when I'm working with tissue paper and wax and graphite instead? What does it mean to trust the material?
It's a strange and wonderful thing to revisit a lesson you thought you already knew. The skill you developed in one medium doesn't transfer cleanly — it translates. Something gets lost, and something unexpected shows up in its place.
I tried this recently. I am revisiting a class that I have taken before through Carla Sonheim Presents, called “Sketchbooking” with Lewis Rossignol.
Instead of working in an actual sketchbook, I am using my digital sketchbook in Procreate.
Not only do I now have the opportunity to revisit a fun class, but I am learning to apply the same techniques, but digitally!
Working digitally is a learning curve for artists who are used to paint, pen and paper, but it is so much fun…and so convenient…I can bring my iPad to the beach!!
I would love for you to try and apply “old lessons” to new techniques, whether it’s art, writing, meditation..whatever!
I'd love to hear what you discover.
I have more collections in my Zazzle store, specifically, home decor and a new pregnancy announcements and believe it or not, Christmas ornaments!
I would love it if you would visit my store!