Last week I ran my last live course on Zoom. There’ll be lots more courses and classes, don’t worry! But rather than via Zoom, they will be shared through YouTube and whatever other platforms I need to figure out. In fact I have a long-form video of my sketch done at Galway Docks hitting YouTube in a day or two. It’s over an hour long which will be a first for me, but I will be very interested to see how it goes down. The only thing is that I ran out of battery before the sketch was done but I had got to most of it, only the bells and whistles weren’t done, but I can easily describe how they were added.
Teaching sketching is what I do. I heard a great quote this morning during my first hour of the day, which is when I listen to my motivational podcasts. (I know, it’s intense. But being intense is also what I do.) Here it is: “You are most powerfully positioned to serve the person you once were.”
I am most powerfully positioned to serve the person I once was.
I was once frustrated as an artist. I was once tormented by my thoughts. I was once prone to melancholy. I was once obsessed about dying prematurely and leaving my children motherless. I was once too quick to anger. I was once prone to obsessive and intrusive thoughts. I was once directionless. I was once distraught at how fast life was slipping by. I was once too quick to judge. In short, I was once unfulfilled by life, and my brain had far too much time on its hands. In its coils.
Then I came across another teacher, Danny Gregory, and as I read the pages of Everyday Matters, I knew my life was about to change, even before I had finished the book. That book, a gift from my mother, just one of all the books she has given me over the years, brought me to my teacher. (I managed to annoy him greatly once, which is a fine way to thank the person who changed your life, but that’s another story.)
I am here to share with you how to dive deep into sketching. And don’t for a second think that I am especially creative – I am no different from most people, I’ve just found a way to channel it. I believe all humans are super-creative. The evidence supports this! Look around. Creativity in the way people dress, the way they decorate their homes, the way they take classes, the way they dive into hobbies where they get to make stuff. And that’s just the small stuff.
The course I ran last week was called “Learn Ink And Watercolour Through Fun Illustration”. It was not booked out, unlike most of my courses. I wasn’t too surprised because I have been teaching a very long time, and I know that many people think that art looks like a certain thing, and that certain thing isn’t cartoons. But I also know, because of my experience as a teacher, that people learn best when they are having fun. That is why I designed the course: I wanted to sneak in valuable tips on using watercolour without making people feel intimidated. How can you feel intimidated when you are drawing a lobster with googly eyes wearing an apron? You can’t! But you can learn how to use highlights with watercolour when you make its shell shiny.
Of course, your idea of fun and mine might be different: they probably are. But the lobsters and otters are just the vehicle (and the ice cream is excellent as well as extremely easy, as are the mussels in white wine and garlic), and the proof is that I had some people at my course who only did it because they do anything I offer, and who ended up being totally converted. What did I say to them? “Trust me!”
If I have convinced you, the good news is that the course is now available for purchase. Over five days we created two recipes, and on the fifth day I left the students with a revision of the techniques we learned, to create your own illustrations, whether for recipes, cards, journals – anything YOU like. You can screenshot the image to go with it, although I think you might get a download image with the class when you purchase, I haven’t checked. Let me know if you can’t get the image. Here are the otters:
Here’s the course: https://roisincure.com/product/learn-ink-and-watercolour-through-fun-illustration/ If you have ten hours (over five lessons) to spare, then get yourself a lovely treat and buy the course. Members get a 20% discount so if you aren’t a member and would like access to my entire archive, indefinitely (or at least a year) then sign up and you will nearly have saved the difference. The full price for the course is €80, to become a member costs €19.99 per month so it would mean you would get the entire archive of nearly 200 classes, with more on the way, for…okay I can’t do the maths. But it’s great value.
My Latest Video
You are going to see a lot of me on YouTube. While you’re waiting for the long-form video on Galway Docks that I am currently editing, you might enjoy this “exhibition” of my latest sketchbook flick-through: https://youtu.be/dOMfNe6Tg6A?si=9neuFP_Uo8z0XZoI
You are going to see less of me on Instagram. I will continue to put the occasional Reel there, but I am not really pursuing the platform as a means to share my passion for teaching sketching any more. In their wisdom, Instagram have decided to impede the growth of its users unless they pay, and it’s only going to get worse. “What’s wrong with that?” asked my daughter. “They’re a business.” But I already pay with my time, my content and my creativity, contributing to a platform that would have nothing of any value on it were it not for the likes of me. I also pay with my eyeballs, looking at the ads that people pay instagram to host. YouTube don’t charge you – they pay you. I get paid by YouTube. And I reach people who value what I do on YouTube (I used to on Instagram too, but that’s not enough for the people who run it). I will always read your DMs on Instagram, so I shall regard it as a means to receive mail without the cost of a stamp – just my time and creative input. I’ll go with that!
Write Me A Google Review Please!
The wonderful Ronan who runs my website has given me a link where you can put a review of whatever experiences you have had with me. My blog, my classes, books, podcast, YouTube, workshops – anything at all. Please take the time to write something, and then Ronan will incorporate it into the website, and people coming to visit – or considering a purchase – will no longer come in blind. Here’s the link: https://www.google.com/maps/place/R%C3%B3is%C3%ADn+Cur%C3%A9/@53.3834,-8.2177501,7z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x6693264da0d7f3ef:0xf44a314467155649!8m2!3d53.3834!4d-8.2177501!16s%2Fg%2F11y51n1ww3?entry=ttu
So yes – lots of links today but I like lots of links because one might turn out to be fun. I hope one will be for you too!
