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Teacher provided the still life and then did a bit of a technique demo.
I’m realizing that some of the women in this class already know each other. I think they sign-up together every term.
Watercolor Class Week 2
Drawing and painting
Watercolor Class Week 1: Just Paint
Started one of my art classes today and was wildly impressed with the community arts center where it’s being offered. I’ve lived within half an hour of this place for years and I had no idea how nice it is. Galleries, theaters, studios…kilns! It really has a lot going on.
Anyway, our teacher’s approach was to basically just dive right in. I haven’t used watercolor paints since elementary school, so that was a bit unnerving. I hadn’t even unwrapped my paints yet. Shouldn’t she teach us some sort of technique first? I guess she wanted to see where everyone is at. There are 12 of us in the class (all women) and some are total beginners, but others are quite experienced.
She pulled out a bin of objects and I got two plastic pears.
Our teacher has a degree (or two) in visual art and is a wonderful ceramicist, but said she’s “self-taught” in watercolor painting. She said she learned by trial and error and feels that’s the best way to learn. It seems like she’s one of these “there are no wrong answers” type of people.
I tend to like a bit more formality, so we’ll see how this goes…
My classmates seem nice.
ChatGPT as art teacher
I’ve already blogged about using ChatGPT for multiple previously human-held roles in my life including
And now, as I’ve been trying to get my high school drawing skills back, I can add “art teacher” to the list.
I asked her what she thought of this sketch of a dining room chair:
and of course she first blew smoke up my ass (as she always does):
But then she gave me some pretty solid and helpful criticism:
And she even suggested some drawing exercises that I might actually try.
Just so you know, I’m registered to take two art classes from real human art teachers this fall. I hope they’re as nice to me as ChatGPT.
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Fawn in Snow
After being a finalist (and not getting) two different paid positions earlier this year, I’m feeling more and more like I actually am retired. My 30+ year career as a fundraiser feels over. It’s not that I couldn’t get some job in the field if I really wanted or needed one, but there just aren’t very many listings that excite me. And I don’t want to work a full-time job that I’m not excited about at this point in my life. I’m going to keep my LinkedIn profile open to recruiters, just in case someone reaches out with the perfect thing, but I’m not holding my breath.
[Side note: I know I’m lucky to have the option to not work at this age. All of my friends my own age are still working. My husband is still working part-time. All I can say is, we have been pretty diligent savers for most of our marriage and we got hooked up with a professional financial advisor early on. Left to our own devices, I’m not sure we’d be in this position. Honestly, my eyes just glaze over when this guy meets with us, but I do trust him. We’ve been with him for 30 years now.]
So, the question becomes: what to do? My daughter doesn’t need much help with my granddaughter and my outdoor summer pool closes Labor Day. I’m going to have a lot of time on my hands soon. I discovered last year that serving on my church’s governing board is not my thing. And my prior level of political activism (when I still thought we could stop Trump) feels futile now.
It seems like I should take advantage of this time and my health to start something new. After considering a number of options (from learning French to getting in way better shape), I’ve landed on something old. Something I used to love as a teenager. Art. I’ve enrolled in one drawing and one painting class for the fall. We’ll see where it goes, but I am excited.
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Pragmatist
Honestly, no. And I don’t believe in “soulmates” either. (I don’t think there’s just one person for each us.)
We have free will. And choices. And circumstances. And plain old luck – good and bad.
I guess I’m not a romantic. I’m more of a pragmatic pragmatist.
Drawing
Daily writing prompt
Are there any activities or hobbies you’ve outgrown or lost interest in over time?
For many years I loved to draw and sketch. I did some painting as well. I worked with pencil, charcoal, pastels, and pen & ink. When I painted, I used acrylics. I took many art classes as a teen and young adult in school and at local museums. I remember drawing nude models as early as middle school and we took it very seriously (no giggling).
I think I got discouraged when I took a higher level studio art class as a sophomore in college and got a C+. Up until then, I always got great grades in studio art. The professor seemed to want us to make the leap from realism to conceptual stuff. I guess I wasn’t good at that.
I took a photography class after college, but eventually started to put more energy into music and singing. The thing about music (singing anyway) is that it doesn’t take up much space in your apartment or on your walls. You can sing anywhere. No supplies needed. But sometimes I do miss drawing. I loved it for many years.
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