What would YOU like to see taught next year

[Corporea]

ok... I might could do this, as we say here in the south!

I found this.  It's $12.  That might work.  I may buy one and see how it paints up.  If the casting is iffy, it wouldn't be a good option, but I could see it functioning as a 4 hr class- I think it would have to be. thoughts?

[ub3r_n3rd]

18 minutes ago, Corporea said:

ok... I might could do this, as we say here in the south!

I found this.  It's $12.  That might work.  I may buy one and see how it paints up.  If the casting is iffy, it wouldn't be a good option, but I could see it functioning as a 4 hr class- I think it would have to be. thoughts?

I like it!!!

[Dilvish the Deliverer]

24 minutes ago, Corporea said:

ok... I might could do this, as we say here in the south!

I found this.  It's $12.  That might work.  I may buy one and see how it paints up.  If the casting is iffy, it wouldn't be a good option, but I could see it functioning as a 4 hr class- I think it would have to be. thoughts?

Classic!

[MissMelons]

45 minutes ago, Corporea said:

ok... I might could do this, as we say here in the south!

I found this.  It's $12.  That might work.  I may buy one and see how it paints up.  If the casting is iffy, it wouldn't be a good option, but I could see it functioning as a 4 hr class- I think it would have to be. thoughts?

 

Yesssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[Clearman]

55 minutes ago, Corporea said:

ok... I might could do this, as we say here in the south!

I found this.  It's $12.  That might work.  I may buy one and see how it paints up.  If the casting is iffy, it wouldn't be a good option, but I could see it functioning as a 4 hr class- I think it would have to be. thoughts?

 

I think a 4 hour class would be perfect, even if it was a combo of skin tones and expressive faces.  Add in eyes, proper contrast, and maybe hair, it would be 4 hours easy.

[Dragoneye]

2 hours ago, Corporea said:

ok... I might could do this, as we say here in the south!

I found this.  It's $12.  That might work.  I may buy one and see how it paints up.  If the casting is iffy, it wouldn't be a good option, but I could see it functioning as a 4 hr class- I think it would have to be. thoughts?

Me too!

[Wren]

These are random musings on some of what people are discussing, I have no involvement in selecting or scheduling classes apart from my own. (Though I am always looking for new topic ideas that I'm suited to teach!)

On the ergonomic class - one of the current instructors is a highly trained physical therapist as well as a great painter. A few years back he did a seminar with tips for good posture and seating set up, and addressing specific concerns/needs that members of the audience had in the Q&A period following his lecture and demonstration. (A lot of what GHarris mentioned.) I thought it was a wonderful idea and had suggested he do it for years, and I really enjoyed it and found it informative. There were others in attendance who also seemed to find it helpful, but it did not by any means sell out, so the belief that interest was too limited is probably why it has not been offered again. I will try to point that instructor at this thread to see if it gives him ideas for whether he'd like to consider a second try of it in a future year.

The textures class I do is textures you can make with dashes and dots (stippling and short strokes). The focus is on using that to simulate fabrics, but I mention other applications. I show/discuss linen, felted wool, crushed velvet, sequins, and soft fur. I think Jess' is similar in focus, not 100% sure. Creating differentiated smooth textures (silk vs. fine wool vs. satin etc.) requires excellent blending skills and ability to place paint precisely, since the difference between those materials is range of value (how light/dark you go) and exactly where those lights and darks are placed with the brush, and in what proximity to one another. I discuss it in a couple of my classes and show some photos, but as much time as I've spent teaching and working out how to teach miniature painting related things, I am not sure how I would approach that as a class subject, and I'm not sure I'm confident that only people with the appropriate level of skills to make use of the material would sign up. I'm not even sure how well I'm doing this kind of thing myself yet, to be honest!

I recommend reading over class descriptions carefully and not just scrolling past titles. I say this as I'm seeing suggestions for topics I know we already have classes on. There have been and I'm sure will continue to be classes offered on speed/tabletop painting, for example. It is far from the case that every class is intended or only of interest to the people who paint for display! Anything that references fast is likely to appeal to tabletop gamers. James Wappel paints to play and to be fast. His classes and style are great for tabletop folks. Matt DiPietro's sketch style also fits, Derek Schubert often does one called Good, Fast Painting or something like that, and I have a memory of Tish Wolter doing one like that, too, though could be mistaken. Aaron Lovejoy has done quick painting in the past, not sure if he has been doing that one lately. There are probably other instructors with courses on the topic as well. I'm a slow painter, so I've taken most of the ones I mentioned myself in hopes of picking up tips. :->

I'd been pondering how to get a bigger face for a class on faces. Not busts exactly, but something in that family. Cheapest idea I've had so far is PEZ heads. There are occasional ones based on human characters (and their actors) or historical figures. But those tend to be packaged in collector sets, so then it's not cheap at all. The current Superman and Wonder Woman ones would work, but there doesn't seem to be a practical way to just buy 15 or whatever of just one character.

For those looking for advanced classes - one thing to note is that a lot of the advanced stuff is not going to be hands on. What starts shifting something towards advanced is not a particular technique/colour/brush use, but HOW those are applied. It's knowing principles of colour theory, composition, pushing to simulate light, etc. Honestly what I teach in my Level Up class is probably at least four classes worth of stuff, but I consider myself lucky to get people out to one talky class. I know others of the instructors have classes on some of these topics. I am currently considering whether to break out issues of contrast into a separate class, and possibly improving your artist's eye as a separate class, but then I'm not sure what to do with the rest of the material. I know people love the hands-on stuff and I aim for it as much as possible, but if you have a solid handle on blending and decent brush control, you may be at the point where you'll get more out classes that talk about theory and how thinking about what you're painting. (And books, and YouTube videos, and just go ahead and start studying traditional art cause here's where we really start stealing. Or merging into. I've been doing that the past two years and it's helping my understanding of what I'm trying to do and how to explain it better to others tremendously, even if I won't have work hanging in any galleries any time soon. ;->)

[Bold]

15 hours ago, Corporea said:

ok... I might could do this, as we say here in the south!

I found this.  It's $12.  That might work.  I may buy one and see how it paints up.  If the casting is iffy, it wouldn't be a good option, but I could see it functioning as a 4 hr class- I think it would have to be. thoughts?

 

Some piano teachers give out 5" busts of famous composers, and they sell for about $5 at themusicsource.org. (note from OneBoot: click 'Gifts' then 'Statues and Busts.')

 

Edited October 27, 2017 by OneBoot
Removed commerce link

[GHarris]

4 hours ago, Wren said:

On the ergonomic class - one of the current instructors is a highly trained physical therapist as well as a great painter. A few years back he did a seminar with tips for good posture and seating set up, and addressing specific concerns/needs that members of the audience had in the Q&A period following his lecture and demonstration. (A lot of what GHarris mentioned.) I thought it was a wonderful idea and had suggested he do it for years, and I really enjoyed it and found it informative. There were others in attendance who also seemed to find it helpful, but it did not by any means sell out, so the belief that interest was too limited is probably why it has not been offered again. I will try to point that instructor at this thread to see if it gives him ideas for whether he'd like to consider a second try of it in a future year.
 

 

I am actually a licensed physical therapist assistant, so a good sized chunk of my schooling was in ergonomics, posture, therapeutic exercises and so on. If you have a good physical therapist that may already be interested in teaching an ergonomics class I could easily be convinced to help out if they are doing some more hands on stuff or with helping people follow what's being demonstrated. 

 

I don't paint much but I will spend hours at a time sculpting and, well, I'm not getting any younger. Watching my posture, trying to make my work area as ergonomic as I can, and doing corrective exercises and stretches has done a lot to help with pain, fatigue and focus. I actually had to rehab my shoulder about ten years ago because of neck pain- due to the way I held my arm when I was working I stretched out some muscles and shortened others, causing hypermobility and instability in my shoulder. Learning how to take care of yourself may not sound as cool as learning a new painting or sculpting trick but in the long run your body will thank you for it!

3 hours ago, Bold said:

 

Some piano teachers give out 5" busts of famous composers, and they sell for about $5 at themusicsource.org. (note from OneBoot: click 'Gifts' then 'Statues and Busts.')

 

 

I can't be the only one that is hoping they have Ray Charles.....

[Dilvish the Deliverer]

The superhero key chains might work; like this one

 

 

Last I looked there were a bunch of them from all styles and they didn't seem that expensive.

 

And as shown, some of them paint up real nice.

[SamuraiJack]

9 hours ago, Wren said:

I'd been pondering how to get a bigger face for a class on faces

 

Scibor basing parts?

 

[Thes Hunter]

On 10/25/2017 at 8:48 AM, Kuro Cleanbrush said:

I also am happy to see this thread, and I wanted your opinions on which classes I should teach next year as well!

 

My blending class seems to always sell out (or even oversell!), so I'm willing to teach two slots next year if that would be helpful to everyone.  It is also a very fun class for me to teach, so I'm hoping that that will be a win-win.

 

My exotic NMM class also always does well, but, for next year, I was contemplating simply doing a basic NMM class.  However, NMM takes a while to teach, and so I wondered if a 4-hour "Everything You Need to Know About NMM" class would be more welcome.  My idea for that class would be to cover steel/silver and gold NMM over flat and rounded surfaces before diving into more advanced techniques like sky-earth NMM (chrome) and alternate highlighting methods.  Along the way, we would hopefully have some time to add some scratches and blood and practice each NMM color family hands-on.  Is that too much, or would anyone be interested?

 

Instead of one 4 hour class could you make a part one and part two? I may start having hard drive disk space failures in my brains storage capacity with 4 hours (even with a break.) 

 

that way I could take them on different days, or there could be a clear morning and afternoon session or so could take them a year apart (which I personally would be more apt to try.)

[Thes Hunter]

16 hours ago, SamuraiJack said:

 

Scibor basing parts?

 

 

@Wren - someone could sculpt one - a few and mold them and cast them in something like dental plaster or cheap resin. 

 

Would that work? 

[Mr Melons]

14 hours ago, Thes Hunter said:

 

@Wren - someone could sculpt one - a few and mold them and cast them in something like dental plaster or cheap resin. 

 

Would that work? 

@odinsgrandson makes his own. It's a really clever process too.

[Wren]

That is a more complex solution than I am set up for, but would work for some folks, I'm sure!