Greetings and Bacon! (Read this first!)

[Seedling]

Welcome to the Classroom for All! This little corner of ConceptArt.org will be hosting weekly classrooms. To start off, Ilaekae and myself will run classes on alternate weeks. If there is enough interest in these classes, perhaps we’ll be able to talk others into teaching here as well.

These classes are intended for all levels. If you are a complete beginner, don’t be shy about joining in! If you are already a wiz with a pencil (or brush or burnt stick or digital doo-dad), hopefully these assignments will allow you to shore up your weak spots while having some fun. Hopefully this classroom will also be a good time-filler for those of you waiting for mentors.

There are some fabulous classes being run here in the mentoring area already, and I urge you to check them out. This particular classroom differs from the others in that you only have to commit for a week at a time, and you don’t have to apply for a limited number of spots. Just hop in and participate!

Ilaekae has a scheme for grading in mind. I’ll let him explain that so that I don’t mangle his good idea. He’ll also be in charge of cracking jokes and making fun of me. ;)

My classes will be based around using a series of sketches to “pull yourself up by the bootstraps”. I’ll start by presenting an assignment. You then have the week to post sketches, get feedback, and then post final versions or more sketches. You can wait until the end of the week to post your results, if you like, but if you share your progress sooner you’ll get more feedback from me and from anybody else who feels like helping out.

For now, we’re going to try a class start/end of end-of-day Saturday, so that Saturday can be used for last-minute catch-up and Sunday can be used for making lots of early progress. Except for the first class, because I’m impatient and want to start now now now!

If you have any questions, comments, or rubber ducks, this is the place! Ilaekae, come introduce yourself and help me remember whatever it is I’ve forgotten! :)

[edit] Dear new members,
I am afraid that this classroom is closed, for now. I am on maternity leave and Ilaekae is off running other projects. Please look elsewhere around conceptart.org for activities. Thanks for stopping by, and happy learning!

[PaTXiNaKi]

Hi! This was such a big surprise, the Classroom is open! ^^

First of all,thanks for the effort u are doing.This is why i like these forums, everybody shares their knowledges to the beginers (like me). And is so easy to get hooked up.

Thanks again.

[Ilaekae]

Greetings and Scrambled Eggs!

Alright! I'm finally in. Jason and Davi superglued me to the f*ckin' ceiling again...

Seedling pretty much covered everything above, so I'll just add a couple of additional points. My background is hard-assed advertising, so I'm going to put a good deal of additional stress on things that make you pay attention to things you normally may not. Deadlines. Creative approach. Presentation. Limitations you might face in the "real" world, say in media, time, content and that kind of thing. I'm also going to spend a good deal of time forcing you to jump out of the "we always do it this way..." rut.

To help with the critting process, we'll be using a loose grading process like this... (Mine is below--Seedling may change the grading areas slightly to better suit her assignments.)

We have five areas where we'll allocate one to five points each.

A. Media/Approach: How well you resolved the assignment with the media you chose. This area can get you in trouble fast, especially if you're doing a black bear in a cave on a moonless night...using a 9H pencil. One of your initial concerns in executing a particular piece of art is the suitability of the media you choose.

B. Creativity: This is a thought process, and you have to hone it just as you do your manual drawing skills. You can be creative with ANYTHING...even a pencil sketch of an egg. It all hinges on how it's placed, lighted, etc. You noticed I simply said egg--I never said you couldn't decorate it with patterns before you drew it, or smash it with a hammer. That's creativity--that's thinking a bit before you start.

C. Presentation: This is major big-time stuff, and so simple and obvious that most people don't even think about it, therefore blowing their work into weak-kneed limbo. If seedling asks for a sketch of a wombat in a tutu, for example, when you're done with your masterpiece, spend a few minutes thinking about how you're going to present it to her. Should it have a border? A little extra white space at the right? Should it be cropped tighter? Should I balance off that thing there with a little ruled box going this way over here? This is the difference between a pro who perfectly positions a rough two-minute sketch in a subtle mat, and an amateur who tosses a finished 30-hour 6"-square watercolor study stuffed into the lower right corner of a page torn from a sketchbook on somebody's desk.

D. Results: (...for want of a better term...) This is how well we thought you did overall on a particular assignment, considering your present level of skills. Any major boners in value or anatomy? Did you resolve the assignment in at least an acceptable way. Was it on time? Does it look like you lost interest about half-way through? That kind of crap. This is overall impression/reaction stuff, and we'll try to be as objective as we can here.

E. Improvement: This is obvious, and we'll be giving everyone zeros here for a while til we get a feel for your abilities. When you finally see a number under this category, you'll know we got your "number" and your ass is ours if you screw up...heeheehee...

The grading above is not a competition with the other people doing the assignments. It's a way for you to see how you're stacking up against yourself as time goes on. If you don't seem to be getting slightly higher numbers in at least a few categories after a while, you're not pushing yourself enough, AND we'll know it, too, and jump all over you, but nicely, to help you out a bit.

[iwantjelly]

All this is very exciting to me ! I'll try to do my best with the assignments. A thousand Thanks to both of you for your time and energy, this class may be great help to everyone.

[Hyde9]

I would really like to participate in this!

[Ilaekae]

Well, that's good, Hyde'...want me to send a cab for you or somethin'? [grin]

[davide1982]

Hi to all , is still possible to join up ? :wink:

[chaosrocks]

davide, as you may have read about
each week it a separate lesson.
you join. by doing the lesson
there is no "sign up" there is only door do not.....

crx

[Seedling]

Class is in session and waiting for new folks to join in! Follow this link and have fun! http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=110546

[davide1982]

i think i will start from the first assignment , thanks

[Seedling]

No, please don't do that. These are live classrooms with a dedicated instructor present to give quick feedback. Doing earlier assignments defeats the purpose.

[JeSsIe-JaNe]

Hi (^^)/ These assignments are just what i need to get back into drawing....definatly need lots of practise to do anything close to the talent i have seen on this website but I will try!

[ElementalMist]

This is awesome! I just found this site yesterday and I have really needed something like this. My dreams of grandeur need some serious skill backing that my newb skills are not working with. I'll try to jump in and work on the current assignment.
=^_^=

[Ventana]

Hi, I'm new to this site and eger to learn. This looks like a good starting point. I am pretty much a complete noob as I've never had any formal art training other then what was taught in high school, which was a very, very long time ago.

My plan is to perfect my art skills and use them in Photoshop, with my eye on eventually moving into the matte painting field. With that said, can i do these assignments in Photoshop, or should I do these with pencil and paper or both? Any advantages to either? All suggestions and guidance are welcome.

[Seedling]

Hello everyone, and welcome! Jump on in to the current assignment and have some fun!

Ventana, you can use whichever medium seems best suited to the task at hand, I guess. Welcome!

[Mouser on Dee St.]

How important is the on-time aspect?
I have limited access to a tablet/scanner and would get strung up by my ears and exposed to every known pain-causing substance if I did so at school.

I really want the feedback and all the quirks of being regular (ha, IMPROVING?), but I can't run with the dates. Help?

Plus, sorry for posting on a dead thread.
I felt out of place posting this in the most recent class... :\

(a little later, because I overlooked something)
Hey, late assignments?
:D; Oops.

[Fallimar]

Can't wait for the next assignment so I can start :)

This is an incredibly awesome idea!

[Madfishmonger]

This is a great idea. I have a broken ankle and have been lazing about the house, I need something to do. Classroom time!

[Pandragon]

I am looking forward at trying my hand at the next assignment.

Is this a dead thread/classroom, or is it still ok to join?
Is there going to be a new assignment?

I know I am extremely late................

[virtual]

i like to join in this classroom, its long time.
i havent started anything all the time i was seeing u guys never did anything. i felt that i'm lazy to draw but now i realized that i have to start

[Fluffgar]

I would like to join.

What are we supposed to be working on now, where do I go, who are you, who am I, why am I asking such silly questions?

*glances over at empty whiskey glass*

Ohhhhhh....

[Inspired]

It's my very first post, and...
I have a quick question:
About creativity, does it have to be particularly realistic, or should I just go along with how I feel.
And, I'm a complete beginner at stuff. I only draw simple little sketches, and anime, when I feel up to it.
For the most part, I'm not that good.

[romanding]

hello everyone i am new here i never imagine that theres a site that will let you learn anything about arts..this site is really cool having a forum that will help you improve ur skill and teach you to become creative man this is awsome..BTW i really want to draw u know but my hands are not that cooperative im poor at lining and shading and i cant make a simple sketch..i rili love arts specialy drwaings and paintings whenever i see one it makes me so excited and hyped up..i realy want to learn so is it ok if i join this class thing..im not that good in english but it doesnt realy matter right?im from the phi..thats all sori for talking too much...

--- i have many ideas in my mind but i cant draw them..poor of me..

[Rouko]

Hi everybody. I've been lurking around the site for a while, but because of college I haven't really had the time I would like to dig into the resources here. I'm looking forward to your first class Seedling!

[c4l3b]

This looks like exactly what I need! Daily sketch groups are already being very helpful. I don't see any for the last few weeks, are they still going?

[Bill-Devine]

Ok,

So I am new here, and probably not as gifted as some on the site. I am also pretty old compared to most of you (52). I have not really done anything in the arts in almost 30 years. So where do you recommend I start? Right now I do not have a lot of time as I am working at my job 54 hours a week. However when I am home I want to learn more about sketching and coloring.

I have a fairly highend PC Core2 dual Quad Core processor 4 Gbytes of RAm and a 500 Gbyte hard Disk, DVD burner and DVD Rom drives. Software I have is Corel Painter X and Photoshop CS (not the latest version).

I am looking a buying a better Graphics tablet the one that I have works but not as well as I would like. So I am looking at the Intous3 and the 6D art pen.

So like I said any suggestions for the old man?

Here is the most recent colored sketch that I have done...


http://bill-devine.deviantart.com/art/Miss-E-Magination-Final-95738285

[Seedling]

Dear new members,
I am afraid that this classroom is closed, for now. I am on maternity leave and Ilaekae is off running other projects. Please look elsewhere around conceptart.org for activities. Thanks for stopping by, and happy learning!

[Bill-Devine]

Seedling, I knew your were pretty much unavailable from your signature.

Was not aware that there was no one available.

Well, thanks for letting me know.

[dcorc]

Bill, there are vast resources here - just join in, do stuff. Don't necessarily expect direct comments from others at first - carve out your own path. Start a Sketchbook and post work in it, look in on other people's, see what advice they get and ask yourself if it applies to your own work, comment on other people's work where you can, others will then comment on yours. Post specific pieces of work in the "critique center" for comments.

Dave

[clockworksnail]

i wish i'd found this thread earlier :(

[Vongola]

depressing yo =[

[Pyre]

Gah, closed? I guess I'm two years too late. ;_;

[FireLupine]

Oh wow...I guess this would be my first start off then..
Oh, Hey everyone.