Before  I moved back to Alabama, one of my favorite things to do while living in NYC was to take various classes.  It was  a great way to meet friends that had common interests and learn something new.

Soon my parents and inlaws began to give me classes for my birthday and Christmas. Their gifts included  cooking classes at the Institute of Culinary Education, pottery and knitting classes as well as a Beaux Art influenced water color class at the Institute of classical Architecture and art. I even treated myself to a class at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and  a delicious class at Murray’s Cheese shop. 

But that was before the kids arrived and I had the time to focus on my own education.. Interestingly, now that the kids are receiving so much of their education on-line, I got inspired to do a little additional learning myself.

I was excited to see so many incredible classes being offered online by some of the biggest experts in their fields!  After a reading through so many tempting options on Instagram and FB, I signed up for “Architectural Sketching with Watercolor & Ink” by Alex Hillkurtz thru domestica.com. The price was great. I purchased a bundle of 3 classes for less than $25.

Here's a quick look at some of what we are doing in this class.

 

UNIT 1 Introduction

We had to submit some examples of our old work so they had a basis of our drawing levels. Here are the 2 examples I submitted.

 

UNIT 2 Preparation

In this unit we learned about the materials & tools we would be using (A shopping list was provided for reference). He covered the basics of perspective, dynamic compositions, vanishing points and how to find a horizon line when one is not so easy to find. Here is my submission on perspectives.

 

Unit 3 Layout

In this unit we learned the importance of creating a quick sketch to help guide the final watercolor view. We also learned how to frame our views using a 3 x3 grid. The sketch below was done in about 5 minutes.

 

It is amazing how so much about learning gets left behind once we leave school, get jobs, start families..how we sometimes forget to remember that learning is a lifelong gift that we can give ourselves and in so doing, discover more about the world around us to share with others.

and who knows...maybe we’ll even inspire them to find their own “inner student”.