Voici quelques trucs qui ont croisé ma route ces derniers jours, et que je crois être super intéressants pour vous. Ils rejoignent vraiment l’esprit du Paint Yourself Happy Challenge!

A Josie Lewis Ted talk

You might have already stumbled upon Josie’s art on Instagram, full of rainbowy colors and lots of color being used. She is often accused of wasting paint by very angry haters.

In this TED talk, she compares haters to our inner critic, which I found fascinating. And her explanation of the concept of flow is sooooo insightful. And it might explain a lot in my art journey, currently connecting deeply with my human journey in ways I had not envisoned two years ago.

A beautiful TED talk to watch (though you might get a little emotional watching it… I know I did, so tiny warning!). Thank you so much to my friend @Freubelding for sharing this with us.

Vous probablement déjà croisé les créations de Josie Lewis sur Instagram, pleines de couleurs, de motifs et de bonheur. Elle est souvent accusée par des critiques (cela vient avec le succès!) de gaspiller la peinture, et ces gens sont souvent très en colère!

Dans ce TED talk, (les sous-titres en français sont disponibles!!), elle compare ces “haters” à notre critique intérieur, et j’ai trouvé cela fascinant. Le focus de la conférence est également sur l’état de “flow” qu’on atteint parfois. Et son explication est fascinante. Et explique bien des choses que je vis ces derniers temps.

Un TED talk que je vous recommande chaudement (mais je vous avertis…. vous aurez p’te quelques émotions en le regardant, moi, cela m’est arrivée!). Merci beaucoup à @Freubelding pour la recommandation.

• Josie Lewis Ted Talk – A Grieving artist goes viral finding flow (avec sous-titres en français)

Bad Arty Parties with Kathryn

During Autumn, Kathryn made a trial run of these parties. They are so wonderful. I was a little “worried” at first because, well, zoom with strangers! But every single one of these events was a blast.

Kathryn gives a short meditation a reflection at the beginning of the class then guides us through a few timed exercises that are always so amazing. Like, I had no clue I could draw a portrait! Without looking at my page to top it off!

These short sessions have been such a wonderful moment in my autumn and I’m realizing, looking back, they had a huge impact on making me see the potential in my artistic journey.

She is offering these again starting on February 11th. Will I see you there?

Kathryn offre de super ateliers zoom live. D’inspirantes méditations pour commencer les sessions et ensuite, quelques exercices guidés, parfaits pour explorer et étirer notre zone de confort. Offerts en anglais.

• Bad Arty Parties by @_kathrynjohn (they start on the 11th of February)
• Examples of what I’ve made in the past here and Kathryn’s highlight stories for more info

A free Laura Horn video class

Ahhhhh…. Laura Horn. Laura is always offering great content, whether through her classes, her podcast (latest two episodes on tips for working in skectchbooks!) or her instagram posts.

She is offering a free class starting tomorrow on how to build a library of elements to use in your work. I have to remind myself I decided on my prompt idea for week 2 of the Paint Yourself Happy Challenge back in January, and can’t believe the amazingness of this class releasing during my the week of my prompt!

Often times, I tell people I love Laura’s classes. But in reality, I’ve never actually finished one. They always propel me in new directions with my art, and I chose to follow this direction. For this reason, I consider them, a great investment. I might do a post on these soon if you guys would like to know more about this!

Les cours de Laura Horn sont toujours fabuleux. Chaque fois, les cours m’ont tellement propulsée dans de nouvelles directions et inspirée, que je n’en ai jamais terminé un!! Ils m’ont tellement fait grandir, que je considère tout de même qu’ils valent vraiment la peine.

Laura sot un nouveau cours/challenge video cette semaine, et le thème tombe pile poil avec le thème de ma semaine du défi Paint Yourself Happy.

• Free Creative Elements Challenge – Free video class by Laura Horn

Coucou! Ce billet rassemble les questions fréquemment posées à propos du challenge. Si nous en avons oubliée une, posez-là en commentaires à la fin du post.

Hola! Acqui son les respuestas a las preguntas sobre el desafio. Si hay uno que olvidamos, deje un comentario al final de la publicación.

The FIRST rule of the challenge

Have fun!!! This is not meant to be another item on your to do list. This is more of a challenge to daily make space for a few minutes of self-care. With gentle prompts to guide your explorations to remove the blank page syndrome and make the most out of your 5 minutes.

• 9 tips for long challenges

La première règle du challenge. Ayez du plaisir! On ne veut pas ajouter un autre item sur une to-do list déjà longue. C’est plutôt un challenge pour se créer un espace de quelques minutes dans la journée pour se détendre et prendre soin de soi. Avec quelques idées de défis pour vous guider dans une exploration et retirer la crainte de la page blanche et faire en sorte que vous profitiez à fond de vos 5 minutes

• 9 astuces pour les challenges longs

La regla más importante del reto. Diviértete!! El objetivo de este reto no es añadir una tarea más a tu lista de cosas que hacer. Es un reto para ayudarte a hacer tiempo para tí y pintar cada día, aunque sea durante unos pocos minutos. Propondremos ejercicios tranquilos para guiar tus exploraciones, evitando así el síndrome del folio en blanco y pudiendo aprovechar al máximo tus 5 minutos.

• 9 consejos y trucos para unirse a un desafío de pintura a largo plazo

Do I NEED to post every day?

No. The goal is to paint every day, for a few minutes. To play. To have fun. You may do the exercises without showing any of them if you prefer. The requirement to post daily (stories or posts) is only for the prizes portion of the challenge. If you only post to stories, please make sure to have a story highlight with all of your 28 entries so we can find it quickly!

Dois-je absolument poster tous les jours? Non. L’objectif est de peindre tous les jours, pendant quelques minutes. Pour jouer, s’amuser. Vous pouvez faire les exercices tous les jours sans les montrer si vous préférez. L’exigence de poster tous les jours (en story ou en publication) n’est là que si vous souhaitez être admissible à l’attribution de prix à la fin du challenge. Si vous postez seulement en stories, assurez-vous que vous avez une story à la une qui rassemble vos 28 cérations pour que nous puissions les retrouver rapidement.

Es obligatorio de publicar cada dia? No. El objetivo es pintar todos los días un rato. Para jugar y experimentar. Para divertirse. Puedes hacer los ejercicios sin enseñarlos a nadie si lo prefieres. El requisito de publicar diariamente (en tus historias o posts) es sólo para participar en el concurso y ganar los premios del reto. Si planeas publicarlo únicamente en tus historias, por favor asegúrate de tener un destacado para guardar tus 28 pinturas y que lo podamos encontrar fácilmente!

Is there a time limit/minimum time to creating daily?

No! If you only have 5 minutes, that is perfect. If some days you have two hours, go for it!

Il y a une limite de temps à respecter? Non! Si vous n’avez que 5 minutes, parfait! Si certains jours vous avez deux heures? Allez-y!

Minimum/maximum tiempo para pintar cada dia? No! Tanto si tienes 5 minutos como si tienes 2 horas, a por ello!! 

Do I have to follow all the hosts?

No. We don’t like these sorts of rules. If you like our work, of course we would be happy to welcome you in our communities. If not, it’s ok. You may still participate in the challenge, follow the prompts, share your work while tagging the challenge and hosts if you wish.

Dois-je suivre toutes les organisatrices? Non. Nous n’aimons pas ce genre de règles. Évidemment, si vous aimez notre travail, chacune de nous sera heureuse de vous voir vous joindre à notre communauté. Mais sinon, pas de souci! Vous pouvez tout de même participer au challenge, partagez vos créations tout en tagguant le challenge et les organisatrices.

Es necessario de seguir todas las organizadoras des desafio? No, no nos gustan ese tipo de reglas. Si te gusta nuestro trabajo, por supuesto estaremos felices de darte la bienvenida en nuestras comunidades respectivamente. Si no es el caso, no hay ningún problema. Podéis aún así participar en el reto, seguir los ejercicios propuestos, compartir vuestro trabajo etiquetándonos y añadiendo el hashtag si lo deseas.

What will be the prompts?

Well…. can’t give you this year’s prompts, but you can go to Simone’s profile for last year’s prompts!   She made a guide with the 2020 PYH prompts.

Des exemples des défis? pas ceux de cette année! mais allez faire un tour sur le profil de Simone pour voir les défis de l’an dernier!   Elle a fait un guide instagram avec les défis de 2020.

Ejemplos de ejercicios? no puedo decírtelos! pero puedes ver el perfil de Simone para ver los del año pasado! Ella ha creado una guía recopilando los ejercicios del año pasado.

Only watercolors? What about inks?

The challenge is based on watercolors mainly, but do what makes you happy! And if you stay until the last week….

Juste aquarelle? Encre noire et autres permises? Principalement l’aquarelle, mais tout est permis si cela vous rend heureuse! Et si vous restez jusqu’à la dernière semaine…

Solamente acuarelas, o podemos utilizar tintas u otras? Principalmente acuarelas, pero cualquier medio está permitido si te hace feliz! y si aguantáis hasta la última semana …

Why do we have to wait to have the prompts?

It will be worth it! And remember, the objectif is play, no overthinking and planning to make the best piece possible for each prompt.

Pourquoi attendre pour donner les défis? Cela vaudra la peine! Et rappelez-vous, l’objectif est de jouer, et non pas de trop penser à comment faire la meilleure réalisation possible!

Valdrá la pena la espera!! Y recordad que el objetivo es divertirse y no pensar demasiado en crear la mejor obra de arte para cada ejercicio.

List of 2021 prompts

soon….

bientôt…

pronto…

I was loosing track of them so I decided to make a list. And why just keep if to myself, right? So here is goes!

And to all those creators who share these things for no cost with us, I would like to take a minute and say thank you!

This is an evolving post. I will add to it as I find new stuff or when people tell me about other initiatives. If you know of one not listed here, please drop a comment at the end of the post! Thank you to those of you who have added to this list!

Coloring pages

Many artists draw. I’ve seen many coloring pages. Some related to what’s going on and some totally unrelated to change our minds. Those can be printed without leaving the house!

• Ellen Willberg (@ellenwilbergart), a gentle soul who even closed her Esty shop to encourage people to shop at others’ shops who are more financially, is offering free coloring pages with animals and flowers. Perfect for a soft and relaxing coloring session. These would also be perfect for watercolor.
• Kamila Stankiewicz (@st.kamila), whom I just discovered through Ellen, offer a free coloring page of a little girl in flowers.
• Elise Gravel (@elise_gravel), an author and illustrator of children books from my corner of the world and whose books we have at home (not all of them yet, but one day!), has many free coloring pages in her shop. The one asking you to draw viruses is perfect for the occasion! (tous sont également disponibles en français!)
• Ania Mohrbacher (@aniamohrbacher), an illustrator of whimsical worlds and the beautiful fairies living in them, is offering a beautiful bunny coloring page! (thank you to the friend who sent it to me….. but I can’t find who I need to thank!)
• @youcolormyworldd has a few dark fairies awaiting a little color! I can’t wait to try these
• Kendra Castillo (@kendracastillodesigns) offers no less than 12 coloring pages! Abstracts and flowers, you will love them as an adult too. (thanks to @melissamaryjenkinsart for this one!)
• Emilie Lienard (@lapetiteruse) offers 4 coloring pages, among which a rose that I’ve seen many watercolor artists wanting to print and paint, I myself need to fix my printer!!! (thank you to @waywardwhispers)
• Ulla Thynell (@ullathynell) has six beautiful magical worlds to color. Dragons and mystical creatures! (thank you to @waywardwhispers)

Free art classes

• Marie-Noëlle Wurm (@marienoellewrum). Marie-Noëlle is a wonderful artist and person. Each of her classes make me reflect not only on the project, but on the whole artistic process. I highly recommend her classes. During the next few months, Marie-Noëlle is making her class Unleash Your Creativity: Draw Without Fear in 5 Simple Exercices FREE. Go now!
• Laura Horn (@laurahornart) is filming a free class! That is going to be fun! I’ve purchased a lot of classe from Laura Horn and they have always brought me so much so I can’t wait to get my hands on a free class. How about you? You can register to her newsletter to know when it’s published (I’ll update here when it does).
• Kolbie Blume (@thiswritingdesk). One of the first people I started to follow in this watercolor journey of mine. Kolbie is releasing daily 10-minute tutorials on Youtube during the isolation-time. She also teaches on Skillshare. Check her profile daily because she will make one of her classes free each day during the next week (yup, no trial to sign-up for!). And her skillshare classes are quite worth it!
• Wendy MacNaugthton (@wendymac). Just discovered her today. She hosts a free drawing class on every school day at 10am pst.

Projects

• Melissa Jenkins (@melissamaryjenkinsart) makes the most amazing natural inks. If you follow me on instagram you know I love to use them! She has put an avocado ink recipe on her blog, along with tips on substitutions for the ingredients you might not have on hand. It might be the time for me to finally take out of the avocado pieces out of my freezer.
• Cécile Metzger (@coucou_illustration) offers a downloadable adorable bear paper doll to make with the kids.
• Wies (@sowiesowies) is offering as well a Bear and Owl paper doll to make at home. And they look very cool!
• Margaux Kent (@pegandawl) is offering a sketchbook making tutorial on her instagram page. She also shows you all of the supplies you will need. The tutorial is live in her stories(she even has a giveaway to send a few people some waxed thread and a needle if you need some!)

Challenges

• Melissa Doty (@melissadoty.art) hosts Square sized challenges twice a year, and skipping, combing and doing general bizarre stuff with the prompts is highly encouraged. She is hosting The together challenge with song prompts to get you in the mood with a Spotify playlist.
• Soothe Me Art Journaling by Kasia Avery (@kasiaavery). A challenge aimed at art journal to take your mind off the news.

Past challenges

• The Paint Yourself Happy Challenge initiated by @_studioartisjok. I’ve talked about it over on Simone’s blog so I’ll keep it short. I’ve had so much fun with this challenge (you can see my pieces in my Instagram stories highlights)! Most of the prompts I made with my kid, so it’s definitely a challenge you can redo over and over again. I might actually revisit some prompts myself.

Ressources to talk about the Coronavirus with the kids

• Elise Gravel (@elise_gravel) made a beautiful illustration about how the virus travels and how staying at home helps. While you’re at it, check out her other free printables, the one about consent that I just discovered is worth a discussion as well! (tous sont également disponibles en français!)
• Brains On (@brains_on) is a science podcast for kids. They have an episode on explaining to kids Coronavirus and how it spreads. It is not alarmist, yet conveys information that is important.
• WUSF has a podcast episode titled Coronavirus: Advice For Answering Children’s Tough Questions In Uncertain Times (thank you @aniamohrbacher for the suggestion)

Others

• 12 famous museums offering virtual tours
• Live cams of the Monterey Bay Aquarium
• 11 Science and Techs Museums you can tour virtually

Suggestions to add?

I will add to the list whatever you throw in the comments (as long as it’s pertinent!).

So, any other suggestions? Please comment! (or dm on instagram, but I think I might have missed a few, sorry!)