Course: Learn Ink & Watercolour Through Fun Illustration, 4th to 8th June

We’re here for a good time, not a long time!

I really love animals, from pets to wild creatures, especially my fellow animal “countryfolk” surviving in the Irish wilds, in all their feathered and furry glory. Although I take art very seriously indeed, I wouldn’t say there’s any deeper meaning to my art than striving to express the beauty of the world just as it is. Beautiful animals. Pretty colours, pretty shapes. My art is a zero-angst zone. And there are few things I like better than drawing foolish or cute creatures with a tiny dot for eyes, placed just-so to convey innocence and lightness of being…

In A Wild Irish Kitchen…

Lately I have been working with some of my wonderful students on a series of illustrations featuring native Irish animals cooking things. The criteria for the animals I have chosen is that I have seen them in the wild near my home in Galway. In my little illustrations, they are all making things that I love to eat, but the recipes are only a really pretty vehicle to learn how to produce beautiful illustrations.

Here’s what my students have told me about the classes:

• “It’s full of problem-solving techniques. Like, how to make a hand (or a paw!) curl around an object, like a knife.”
• “Art classes can wring the joy out of art. This class puts it back in.”
• “I love that it’s an analog approach in a digital world.”
• “I never knew I could do this! I am addicted.”
• “Drawing the heron was such a joy. She is so elegant and graceful.”
• “Not easy shapes to draw…thank you Róisín, my gratitude is endless.”
• “For the first time, I don’t feel intimidated about making art.”
• “You show how to draw simple shapes and you tell us they’re easy, which they are. Then you are very exacting about the precise postitioning of an eye or an ear…a genius way to convey the importance of accurate drawing.”

Playful Illustration: The Trojan Horse For Learning

Everyone enjoys making these beautiful illustrations in class, but there’s a really brilliant, almost unconscious aspect to that – they’ve been full to the brim with learning points. Here are a few topics I’ll be teaching in my upcoming course:

• How to create a character and draw it in a believable way, from pencil to pen
• How to make your character look like they’re actually doing the actions
• How to design your page, and how to decide what will go where
• Making lettering that looks neat, legible and attractive
• How to use a fude fountain pen
• How to use watercolour to make it look strong and vibrant
• Other things you can illustrate in this way – poems, children’s stories, birthday cards, family anecdotes
• Above all…reclaiming the joy and fun of making art

I want to find the right balance between fitting this course into a week of five classes, and not rushing them. I think two hours, with a ten-minute break in the middle, is about as any of us can concentrate, as long as the pace isn’t too intense.

This topic is different to my previous offerings: it is wholly playful and it makes no pretense whatever to be serious in subject matter. I know from the wildly enthusiastic responses of many of my students and YouTube subscribers that it’s right up their street. That group includes people who thought it wouldn’t be for them but who are now converts! In a way that’s why I want to do it in this style – I love to think of eliminating the intimidating aspect of learning to use watercolour!

Time Zones…Love ‘Em, Hate ‘Em, Can’t Live Without ‘Em

It’s impossible to stage a class at a time that suits everyone, but my evening classes (in Ireland, UK and Europe) have always been very popular. That makes them early afternoon in eastern USA and mid-morning western USA. Of course the classes are all recorded but most people prefer to attend the live class if they can. It’s the best way to ensure you’ll actually do it, together with your virtual classmates. Nothing like the cameraderie of the community to give you wind beneath your wings!

Illustration – Unplugged (or Unhinged?)

This is a class that uses traditional materials. No iPad in sight! Actual watercolour, real paper, brush with fibres, beautiful fountain pens, handmade ink…all traditional materials with centuries of expertise behind them.

The Schedule…

• Two hours long with ten minutes in the middle for a break.
• Five classes, total ten hours
• 7.00pm UTC+1 (2.00pm Eastern) finishing at 9.00pm (4.00pm Eastern).
• Early summer
• Tuesday 4th June to Saturday 8th June, every day.
• Recorded and sent immediately after class, so that you have a chance to catch up before the next one.
• The low price of €80 ensures accessibility for everyone, but the FREE class on Monday 22nd April at the same time of day as above will give you an idea whether you like the sound of what I am offering. In it I will outline what the course will be about, and we’ll do a little bit of everything the course will entail!
• The course will go live for purchase on 23rd April at 10pm UTC+1, to give everyone a chance to secure their place.

But will it be too hard for me?

Come to the free class and decide for yourself! But let me tell you how the course will work, and you can decide. We’ll start with making shapes in pencil, in a tiny sketchbook, and you’ll know exactly where to start, how big to draw your shapes and when to stop. When we’ve done that, we’ll fill in drawings of the kitchen equipment like jugs and bowls and knives, and then we’ll ink on top. Then little by little we’ll build up watercolour and I’ll show you what colours to choose. By the end of the five days you’ll have an illustration of an adorable little animal cooking something – probably something sweet as everyone likes desserts! You’ll be familiar with ink and watercolour and how to use it with confidence.

How will I be sure to have the right equipment?

In the free class I will outline exactly what you’ll need. I can supply watercolour paints and the little sketchbooks you’ll need. I might even have some really handy fountain pens for you, and for everything else you’ll need I will direct you to sources where you can get it. Just don’t leave it too late. I have a shipment of watercolour paints on the way, and they should be here in the next two weeks, and even if it takes two weeks to send the paints to you (it’s usually no longer than a week, even all the way from Ireland to Australia, but it can be longer, on a couple of very rare occasions it’s taken five weeks to get from Ireland to the US!) So if you order your paints and paper by the end of April you should have them well in advance of the course start time.

I like the sound of it! What do I have to do next?

If you’d like to join the free “taster” class beforehand – pun wholly intended – you have to send me an email. I want your first name and your location for the simple reason that I like to know your name when I communicate with you, and your location is great because I will be able to refer to what’s available in your area (I probaby already have someone in the group who’s in your country, or time zone, or both). In Ireland we like to be friendly! After you send me an email with your name and (general) location then I will send you the link for the class on 22nd April.

Better not to use the contact form with my website, because messages get swamped with all the spam I get from various companies! Use the address: sketchwithroisin@gmail.com. Or just hit “reply” to this blog and that will do nicely. There are a very limited number of slots in the free class, and I want to know you’re serious about learning to get to grips with drawing and illustration through this kind of fun illustration: so I am asking you to show your intent by writing me that email. It would be a pity to take up a space that someone more committed would love to have. After the course is over, the free class will be available for anyone to download, so if you’re not in a hurry, that might suit you.

Even if you want to watch the taster class through the recording, you’ll still have to email me to access it! If you make time to watch it between 22nd April and 4th June (two hours), then you’ll know exactly what’s coming up.

Save The Date(s)!

There will also be a “Sketching On Vacation In Ink And Watercolour For Beginners” class the week after, from 10th to 14th June, so you’ll have a choice to do either or even both classes. Nothing like going into the summer armed with a bit of confidence for capturing your holiday sketches…

It’s time to release your inner artist in a way that perhaps you never knew you could. Reclaim the joy.