Three in the morning....

That's when I finally fell asleep, I think--because I was in school.

My first Sketchbook Skool class began just after midnight and I thought I'd just take a tiny peak.  It was so much fun for me that I watched the whole class straight through. (I'll watch it again and actually attempt the assignments.)

The teacher is an enthusiastic cook and coffee drinker and artist.  She showed us her sketchbooks and final drawings of illustrated recipes and coffee cups.  She demonstrated fanciful ways of "telling the story" of how the coffee machine works.

"Oh my!" I thought, inspired as I was, "She's not teaching me HOW to draw exactly; instead she's making me to want to draw."

So I went to the web and found a class in figure drawing--on Craftsy.com.  You can go there if you like. I learned about graphite and white chalk and kneaded erasers, and got to watch her block out a drawing as she looked at her live model.  Then she filled it in with gestures and lines.

On the right side of the screen, students were making comments.  Some criticized the teacher's presentation ("too many shots of the teachers's face," etc.) Some argued that the method she was teaching wasn't as good as their own--gesture drawing. I fired off an indignant response--something to the effect of "Would you all just take what you like and leave the rest and stop sparring here?"

For a novice like me, the class was fascinating--and I will (after I go back to sleep for a few hours and catch up on my sleep) try out the teacher's suggestions.

Then I went to Dirty Footprints Studio and watched a few more sessions of that free class on art journaling--a class that shows me how to free up and play with paints and pencils.

I set up one of Elena's storybook dolls and attempted a 2-minute drawing  It wasn't something to post on anybody's blog, but it got me making lines on the page.

On Monday morning, Pam and I are going to a free drawing class at the McNay--drawing for two hours outside.  Whether or not this turns me into a Grandma Moses, all these new classes and teachers are going to teach me how to appreciate art in different ways.

For each of these classes, there are Facebook and other online chat rooms where students can hang out and show each other what they're doing.  It's like a great big student center courtyard where newbies can look over the shoulders of the star students, and vice versa, and see what's going on in their notebooks.

Here goes: me and some empty pages! (And new online classmates who are liking this as much as I am)