Take A Class: From Ideas to Artwork: Keeping and Using a Sketchbook-Journal

I’m super excited to be teaching a new 11-week class this Fall at the Lawrence Arts Center called From Ideas to Artwork: Keeping and Using a Sketchbook-Journal. Registration is now open; the first class is the evening of Sept. 10, 2024!

 

We’ll use a sketchbook-journal to draw, write, collect, and reflect, using inspiration from nature, culture, and our inner worlds for making art in any media. (All levels welcome; some walking). — LAC catalog

 

In this class we’ll engage in all manner of sketchbook-journaling processes towards looking at the world through fresh eyes, the eyes of an artist. We’ll engage a variety of exercises towards finding inspiration from the natural world, the built environment, cultural artifacts and events, and our own inner landscape of memory and imagination. While we’ll mostly meet in the arts center building, we’ll take a few walking excursions from the arts center and may meet once at the public library.

 

This is a class I loved teaching 15 years ago and have reworked and expanded it to be an 11-week class! Classes meet Tuesday evenings, 6:30-8:30 pm, beginning Sept. 10.

 

Sign up online or in person at the Lawrence Arts Center (940 New Hampshire, Lawrence, KS). Message me with any questions, and do inquire at the arts center about senior discounts and financial aid, if needed.

 

I hope you’ll sign up soon and join me for this inspiration-gathering adventure!

 

Online registration: https://bit.ly/3T4hiNZ

 

Facebook: Lora Jost, Artist

 

Exhibit Opening in Newton, Kansas, on July 20, 2024, 6-8pm

I’m excited about our exhibit opening at the Carriage Factory Gallery in Newton, Kansas on Saturday, July 20, 6-8pm, with artist talks at 7pm. All are welcome! The exhibit is with my brother Scott, Lawrence-based artist Kim Brook, and Salina-based artist Carolyn Wedel. Carol, Scott, and I have roots in Newton!

Drawing Practice class, Lawrence Arts Center

“Blind” contour drawing

I am excited to offer a class called “Drawing Practice” at the Lawrence Arts Center this Winter. It will meet once a week for 8 weeks on Tuesday evenings, January 9 to February 27, 2024, 6:30-8:30pm. Enroll online, or at the Lawrence Arts Center.

This introductory drawing class will focus both on exercises to strengthen our ability to draw from observation, as well as additional exercises to strengthen our abilities to draw from memory and imagination. Each student will be provided a sketchbook of their own to use and to keep, and basic drawing tools will be provided to use during class.

Mapping darks and lights

We’ll draw from still life setups as we engage classic skill-building drawing exercises such as contour drawing, gesture drawing, continuous line drawing, sighting methods to help us to draw in proportion, and exercises that help us draw light and shadow, too. In addition, we’ll doodle a lot (and “noodle”), we’ll make loose and controlled drawings, we’ll enlarge, abstract, stretch, and distort our drawings, and we’ll draw at different rates of speed. We’ll practice drawing from memory in different ways, we’ll imagine monsters made from random marks, we’ll go on drawing scavenger hunts, and we’ll chronicle our day — just for fun — as a simple 4-panel cartoon.

Turning “doodles” into “monsters”

Our class will serve as a support group for drawing outside of class, too, and we’ll think about strategies to help us make time to draw at least a little bit each day — but we’ll never beat ourselves up if daily drawing isn’t something we can do — homework is always optional. Our goal in this class is to simply draw enough to forget whether or not our drawing is “good.” Our goal is to practice as much as we can, and by doing so, to make drawing a pleasurable part of our everyday lives.

You can register for the class on-line or in person at 940 New Hampshire St., Lawrence, KS, phone 785.843.2787. Financial aid and senior discounts are available.

“Drawing Practice” class at the Lawrence Arts Center

“Blind” contour drawing

I am excited to offer a class called “Drawing Practice” at the Lawrence Arts Center this Spring. It will meet once a week for 8 weeks on Wednesday evenings, March 18 – May 6, 6:30-8:30pm. Enrollment is now open.

This introductory drawing class will focus both on exercises to strengthen our ability to draw from observation, as well as additional exercises to strengthen our abilities to draw from memory and imagination. Each student will be provided a sketchbook of their own to use and to keep, and basic drawing tools will be provided to use during class.

Mapping darks and lights

We’ll draw from still life setups as we engage classic skill-building drawing exercises such as contour drawing, gesture drawing, continuous line drawing, sighting methods to help us to draw in proportion, and exercises that help us draw light and shadow, too. In addition, we’ll doodle a lot (and “noodle”), we’ll make loose and controlled drawings, we’ll enlarge, abstract, stretch, and distort our drawings, and we’ll draw at different rates of speed. We’ll practice drawing from memory in different ways, we’ll imagine monsters made from random marks, we’ll go on drawing scavenger hunts, and we’ll chronicle our day — just for fun — as a simple 4-panel cartoon.

Turning “doodles” into “monsters”

Our class will serve as a support group for drawing outside of class, too, and we’ll think about strategies to help us make time to draw at least a little bit each day — but we’ll never beat ourselves up if daily drawing isn’t something we can do — homework is always optional. Our goal in this class is to simply draw enough to forget whether or not our drawing is “good. Our goal is to practice as much as we can, and by doing so, to make drawing a pleasurable part of our everyday lives.

You can register for the class on-line or in person at 940 New Hampshire St., Lawrence, KS, phone 785.843.2787. Financial aid and senior discounts are available.

Doodle-draw in “Imaginative Drawing” this winter at the Lawrence Arts Center

Doodle-creaturesIt’s the simplest of exercises — we all did it as kids. Make a squiggly doodle mark, and then turn it into something else! Thanks to cartoonist Lynda Barry for reminding us in her books Syllabus and Making Comics, how to draw as playfully as we did as kids!

 

I’m prepping for the class I’ll be teaching at the Lawrence Arts Center this winter called, “Imaginative Drawing.” It’s an 8-week class that begins in January. Enrollment is now open; click this link for on-line enrollment.