I'm into my third week of online "sketchbook skool". The first week Danny Gregory motivated and inspired us by encouraging us to just dive in, and to make drawing a daily habit. His opening assignment was to tell about ourselves and why we are taking this course, what we want from making art, and what's been getting in our way, and then finally what lies on the otherside for us. He says that our stories are his stories and everyone else's too.
Our second week was directed by Koosje Koene from Amsterdam who is extremely gifted with colored pencils and watercolors. She demonstrated making sketches and adding watercolor, and she talked about our inner critics, but i really loved a video she made on drawing with colored pencils, and the importance of having patience and layering colors to achieve depth and richness.
Our new teacher this week is a wonderful and soulful Indian man named Prashant Miranda. So far he has shared his beautiful travel journals, parts of his family history, and detailed videos on the techniques of how to use watercolors. An early assignment was to draw an image to catch the essence of our day. I sketched mine yesterday in church, while listening to a wonderful sermon, which said much of the beauty in our world is hidden from us, such as the flowers inside their bulbs all winter long. If we limit what we see, we limit what we receive.