Further Thoughts on a Quicksketch 1 Adventure!

 

  https://cathyjohnson.info/art-classes/quick-sketching-1/

 

 Okay, so doing some further thinking on how this will work, since several of you have expressed an interest--

I need a reset, I think.  I need to work through why my recent sketches are often not as satisfying, and some are downright bad, by my lights.  I LIKE quick sketches, mind you, but some of these are just...ick.  Tentative or inaccurate in ways that make me unhappy.  So since I thought I'd go through my own class to see if I could isolate the issue (or issues!), I thought I'd invite you to join me--I learn from you, as well.

It's not really a class, other than the mini-class itself, above--I won't be teaching, per se--it's just a chance to discuss, share, ask questions, help eachother...

We'll start August 1, because why not?

You'll need the Quicksketch One mini-class, linked above...but if you already own it, dig it out, no need to buy again, you're welcome to go through this exercise with us!  If you can't find it on your computer (we always recommend saving classes to your hard drive), we'll work that out.

The QS classes are delivered automatically, week by week, by aWeber, as soon as you enroll--so if you start now, you'll have several ahead of us.  Start if you wish, of course, but we won't be discussing till August 1...I need time. 

We will likely share and discuss here, but I will probably make a Facebook group for our discussions, as well, since it's not easy (or even possible anymore?) for you to share your images here in the comments.

The mini-class is one of several I offer on my class page, and as always, they're self-directed.  I won't be doing this with all of them...I don't think!  I just need a booster shot. 😜

Breathing a Bit Easier...Taking Care of Business!

Exploring images of Irish dolmens yesterday...one is the Brownshill dolmen on the right, and I have no idea where the other is...

I had a couple of pieces of business that were keeping me from immersing myself in working on the class on Meaning-full Journaling I've mentioned here before...at least let's just blame them, okay?  One of them had been hanging fire, as a friend used to say, for weeks (well, months, really), and the other just came up yesterday, but I needed to DEAL with them.

Clear the decks, AND my mind.

I've received an inquiry about republishing a couple of my out of print books as eBooks--honestly, the initial contact was months ago when I was still reeling from the two deaths in the family and I just didn't want to think about it.  I finally restablished contact a few weeks ago and we're in the contract-negotiation phase now.


Let me just say that I HATE reviewing contracts.  I've dealt with dozens of them and you'd think it would be a piece of cake by now, but...it isn't.  The wording's confusing, publishing changes, and eBooks work differently from print books, of course.  Not exactly rivetting reading, either, frankly.

So my beloved Author's Guild, to which I've belonged for decades, looked over the contract and offered some brilliant suggestions, which I needed to get into the form I could send to the publisher.
And then I couldn't find their email with the original contract.  I DID find my printed-out version, so had to enter all the requests and changes onto that, then transcribe.

Are you asleep yet?

Anyway, finally DONE, and sent off...the other publisher who contacted me about those same books hasn't responded, so we'll see where we go from here.  I'll announce here if it works out!

The other thing I needed to deal with and consider was an offer to illustrate a proposed Quarto Book, on birds.  Those books are gorgeous, well-designed, elegant, beautifully printed...they like my work, and they sound lovely to work with.

But it had a deadline that would mean some real nose-to-grindstone time as well as putting off the class, and I just wasn't willing.  Those things always take more energy and time than I originally set aside for them.  (My "80-100" illustrations for The Walker's Companion, years ago, turned into nearly 300, as I recall...not all of which were used, I think.)

And frankly, I'm just not in the place where I want to fit anyone else's timetable or requirements any more.  Or anyone else's ideas!  I've got plenty of my own...

I don't know how long it will take me to actually get the class ready to go, but I want to put my love and energy there.  I want to make it worth it.

Well, hello! I'm back.

More or less, anyway...life has been more than full, and mostly good, and satisfying, though with it's fair share of pain as well.

What fills me today is being ready, finally, to start working on a new class.  More than likely, interactive again, after all this time.  Those are time-consuming and exhausting, but this is something I want to connect with, personally.  Connect with the students, personally.

It will grow out of this place--a journey begun, for me, years ago in the 70s, really.

It's time.

This is what I wrote on my Facebook page this morning:

"Someone flipped a switch in my brain. There WILL be a new class upcoming, maybe two of them, I've been writing for 2 hours and ideas just keep flowing. I love this part of what I do!

This is a class I thought of doing a couple of years ago, but life--and death--got in the way.

It's time.

It will TAKE some time to pull it together, but it feels good to be so full of energy and ideas."

And I've been writing down thoughts, quotes, ideas, and plans ever since.

It will be personal.  It will be DIFFERENT.  I'm not even sure where it will take place, yet, but most likely on my old familiar Blogger.

I'm not sure what to call it, yet..."Meaning-full Journaling" popped to the forefront this morning.

But I am confident it WILL happen.  It feels right.  I am full of a serene kind of excitement, if that isn't too much of a contradiction in terms.

It's time.