Draw with Me?

Hi all!  I woke up with a bit of a wild hair this morning--well, I know my hair is ALWAYS a mess, not that.  I mean an idea!  What would you think of an occasional "Draw with Me" event, perhaps monthly, perhaps quarterly, perhaps when the mood hit?  (Or Paint with Me, sometimes?  Or just whatever medium you prefer?)


We'd have a basic subject matter each time--like this one I did for Self Portrait Sunday, where we work from life, using whatever medium we want.  We could do something around our house, not necessarily a still life (though it could be), but maybe a favorite reading corner, your desk, what's on the plate for dinner, a view from a window; a pet--cat, dog, alpaca, goldfish, sugar glider, whatever; nature drawings; a favorite tool; your family, past or present; a favorite pastime; something from your imagination...

It won't be a demo, per se, but more of a chance for all of us to draw together for an hour or two, or a morning, virtual but "live."  There will be a set starting and ending time, of course--it would be a realtime event.  That said, it may be day-long, and for those in far-different time zones, you can check in the next day.

We'd have a place to share our work when the event is over--a blog of our own, Flickr, Facebook...

It's not a "challenge," exactly--I won't say "draw an apple," for instance--as close as I'm thinking is the above, something around the house.

I won't be judging work and there won't be "winners"--except that we DO win, by creating!  I was surprised to open Facebook this morning to see the wildly talented James Gurney came up with a similar concept, his contest for drawings of cell phone towers!  Great minds...or something...

So what do you think?  I don't know about you, but I've been coming out of a dry spell, and I'm feeling inspired--and want to share it!

And of course--it's a FREE event.  Let's have fun with it...

News from Roz Stendahl: What I'm Looking Forward to in 2016

Left: 15 minute sketch at life drawing—costumed model at the co-op. Color pencil. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Each year brings new challenges and currently I am excited about the new online classes I’m going to be bringing out in 2016.

But as the new year starts I’m most looking forward to a new offering of my "Drawing Practice: Drawing Live Subjects in Public" class.

Each day from January 31 through March 5, 2016, I’ll be in the class looking at student work, answering questions, and helping the students build a durable daily sketching habit. 

We will begin with a strong foundation and lots of skill building demonstrations and assignments. These include sketching demonstrations made at Como Zoo and the 2014 Minnesota State Fair. (It doesn't get more public than the Fair!) New lessons come every Monday and Thursday throughout the month.

We will add sketch out dates to build a tolerance for working in public with moving subjects. And through it all I’ll be helping students silence their internal critics, make friends with their editing eye, and learn a new way to talk about their artwork that is positive, honest, and supportive. My month-long involvement with the class wraps up with strategies for goal setting. The class includes two live webinars during the first month. Students have access to all the videos and the classroom for a full year. And there are quarterly live webinar check-ins throughout the year so that they keep their daily drawing practice going.

I’ve been teaching a version of this class live for about 15 years. In 2015 I went online with this class. I was overjoyed with the response. Students from around the world joined with me to work on their sketching and observational skills. They dug deep and worked on longstanding issues of resistance and procrastination that were holding them back. They created amazing work and supported themselves and their fellow students in their creative journey.

In over 25 years of teaching, I’ve heard every excuse and seen every type of resistance there is. Nothing is more gratifying to me as a teacher than helping students break through the barriers that hold their drawing practice stagnant.

While this is an immensely rewarding class to teach, the intense teaching involvement and feedback I provide means I can only offer this class once a year. I believe that by offering it at the beginning of the year I will be able to help students start out strongly.

And by offering the class at this time of the year I won’t have it run right up to the Minnesota State Fair like it did last year! (I wanted students to finish lessons before the Fair, but by running the class in February they will also be able to practice for several months, should they elect to go the Fair. And you all know I believe everyone should come to the Minnesota State Fair.)

This means that I’ll also be able to focus on the new classes I’m filming and still get to the Fair myself. The new classes cover bookbinding methods, art journaling techniques, and a design class.

Left: Finch sketches made at the nursing home Aviary. Sakura Pigma Sensei Pen on Rives Lightweight. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I appreciate the interest this blog’s community has taken in my move to online teaching. I’m grateful for the hard work that Kate Johnson has done to create this community and encourage people to share their work. She makes it look easy.

I will still be blogging here and on Roz Wound Up. And I hope also to post additional videos on YouTube about my art adventures. I live in a beautiful city where the possibilities for sketching in public are many and varied. And I’m blessed to have artist friends who love talking about their work. I look forward to sharing their work with you in 2016.

If you would like my help to improve your drawing skills and build a durable drawing habit you can read about  “Drawing Practice” here.
You can register here.

If you’re interested in learning about future classes as they are made available you can use the Class sign up form on my blog to get on a mailing list.

I hope that you have already had a moment to sit down with yourself and think about your goals for 2016. If you haven’t, I suggest you take a moment now, before the year slips away to have a little chat with yourself.

I believe it is important that we clearly state our intention for the new year. And I also believe that we have to nurture our creative lives through planning. I hope that this new year brings you opportunities to sketch and fill your journal and sketchbook pages with the details of your life.

why drawing makes me happy

Drawing makes me happy
I have been thinking about why drawing makes me happy, without getting too philosophical, and I have tried to put it in words. This proved more difficult than I thought, so this is a longer blogpost than I imagined. I originally posted this on my own blogpost. I received the most feedback I have ever had on my blogpost from fellow sketchers that I thought that is might resonate with people who use their sketchbook as an artists journal.

I have been drawing on and off (mainly off) all of my life. About ten years ago I started drawing almost daily, then I began carrying a Moleskine watercolour sketchbook, my Watercolour pencils and Lamy Safari Joy ink pen with me everywhere. Now, drawing is a part of me and my life. It is not a hobby or pastime, but part of what makes me – me. This realisation came when I was very ill about four years ago and had (successful) brain surgery. I was asking for my pencils and sketchbook in intensive care a few days after the operation and then sketched constantly in hospital over the following months. See all my drawings from my medical adventure here

operation on the evening of 30 March 2011. This was sketched in ICU on 6 April 2011

Now, I draw everyday, a quick sketch capturing a passing moment or a longer drawing over a few days or nights. If I don’t put pencil to paper for a few days I get itching for it - looking at people or scenes and visualising how I would capture it on paper – what would I include, what features to emphasize or which colours I would choose.
When I draw I am happy. I switch off from everything else in life, time stops, peacefulness reigns, there is freedom and fluidity. I try and draw in my lunchtime at work. When I make that time, I sit in the library shelves where I work and draw the books. For that half an hour, although I am at work, I do not think about deadlines, goals or things to do lists.

I read a quote from happiness guru Csíkszentmihályi describing this as FLOW, which is "being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one… Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost.”
It has taken years to find my own drawing style and become comfortable with it (although I am still learning constantly). I feel as though I have finally found something that I am good at. I have accumulated skills and learning through years of practice. Sometimes my pencil moves confidently and smoothly over the page, other times tentative and exploratory. But I am always enjoying it as I work and explore within my comfort zone on the paper.
As I draw I am subconsciously thinking about the drawing, its proportions, what colours will work on the page. I am visualising how something may turn out. However, they are not thoughts I have to think too hard about – ah well, except proportions and perspective – that requires a bit more thought. The finished result may meet my original idea, or may not, but still exceed my expectations. In photos of me drawing, you would not think I am happy – hunched over, furrowed brow, intense expression- but honesty I am!!

There have been a few times when I have become very emotional and almost bought to tears at the thought of how much joy I experience and how fortunate I am to be able to draw. They were moments of an unexpected upswelling of joy. Below is one of those times. I was sketching on my own in the streets of Barcelona, after the Urban Sketching Symposium in 2013 on a Sunday morning, surrounded by the everyday happenings of peoples lives.

Barcelona July 2013 after the Urban Sketchers Symposium. Sketching on my own

There is so much more to write about drawing and happiness . Especially the concept that when drawing you are not only looking but observing what you see everyday as you never have before . But this is the subject of another blog another day…
I shall finish on David Hockney quoting an old Chinese saying “Drawing needs three things, the heart, the hand and the eye, two won’t do.”

Take a chance on a free book!

NOTICE:  We have a winner--the drawing was June 15, and Mary O. Martin was the lucky recipient of the free book!  Congratulations, Mary, I hope you enjoy it.  (If you all are still interested, you can find it on my website, as noted below.)


After 17 years of great feedback and steady sales, Sketching and Drawing is going out of print--so I stocked up on author's copies for my website catalog!  Though it's not about journal-keeping per se, it covers a LOT of techniques...

So for a limited time, I'm offering a free copy, right here on the blog.  Just leave a comment right here and we'll add your name to the hat--shipping's free too, if you win.

**And by the way, if you have to sign in as anonymous, please give me your name or email address so I can contact you if you win!

A lot of the sketches are from my own journals, and we cover everything from supplies to easy drawing tricks to a variety of subjects...


We'll draw the winning name on Friday, June 15--and good luck!

And of course as always, I'm happy to autograph it however you wish.

(And if you don't win, there's a special price on these on my website.)