I’ve been thinking, talking about it, and making small steps towards the creation of this class all over the past two years, if not three. I am beyond happy to finally share it!

What is Skillshare?

Let’s start with Skillshare. Skillshare is a streaming platform for learning… skills! There are a lot of classes about art, but also all sorts of things like video editing, social media strategy or even, cooking classes! Skillshare is like a “Netflix” for learning skills.

If you want to try Skillshare, use this link for a one-month trial of Skillshare.

I’ve been using the platform myself since 2018, as a student. I’ve learned quite a lot and followed many classes from fabulous teachers. Soon to come, I will share a list of favorite classes I’ve followed.

About the class: Playful Color Swatches

A good way to understand your watercolor paints is to swatch them, meaning making a little reference card with the color painted on it so you can really see its hue as a paint, not only what is printed on the tube or pan.

That is the simplest form of swatching: the paint chip. But things can get much more interesting.

Watercolor paint properties

Watercolor paints have many properties that differ from one color to the next, depending on the pigments used and what the paint is made of, for example:

• the range of the hue,
• transparency vs opacity, 
• staining properties, 
• the ability to layer the color,
• the possibility to lift the color,
• how it behaves in water.

I will teach you what these properties mean throughout this class. 

Why learn about paint properties and swatch my colors?

If you want to explore all of your paints’ potential, color swatches can be done in a way to document all these properties. 

But technical swatching of watercolors can become tedious. And I want to show you how to approach these swatches in a playful manner.

The color swatches we will paint together

In this class, we will try many example of color swatches so you can find your favorites:

1. The simple “paintchip” swatch
2. The technical swatch
3. The color chart
4. The palette mixing swatch
5. The chaotic and playful swatch
6. The wavy pattern

In this class, I will show you that there is some space for playing and creativity while learning about your colors. 

You will learn different ways to swatch your colors AND have fun AND create little pieces of art along the way.

The project

The project from this class will be a lovely reference page of swatches for a color palette of your choosing. Like in the example below.

These are a beautiful way to document color palette, play with them and find all the colors you can make while mixing your chosen colors.

Let me know if you have any questions!

UPDATE:

I’ve added the class on Gumroad as well, where you can buy it as a standalone class, to watch whenever you feel like it! It is available on a sliding scale in which you can pay what you want above a minimum.

Je suis Kathryn’s sur instagram depuis un moment. Je crois l’avoir rencontré par son travail sur les encres naturelles à la base, et j’en ai peut-être achetées quelques unes! L’automne dernier, Kathryn a lancé une offre pour tester le concept qu’iel a baptisé “Bad Arty Parties”. J’étais très, très intriguée. Et depuis, j’ai assisté à 7 ou 8 de ces séances, rencontré de merveilleuses personnes, et dessiné, et joué, et fait des collages, et des choses auxquelles je n’aurais jamais pensé à intégrer dans mon processus créatif.

A flipthrough of my Bad Arty Party sketchbook

This winter, I dedicated a sketchbook to these sessions, as I wanted to keep all the explorations in one place and not lose any. So here is a little flipthrough of my sketchbook!

Cet hiver, j’ai dédié un cahier à mes explorations, pour les rassembler et ne pas les perdre! Alors voici un petit tour à travers ces explorations créatives.

What happens during a Bad Arty Party?

First rule of Bad Arty Party, don’t talk about the Bad Arty Party. Just kidding! During these sessions, Kathryn guides us in different quick paced creative exercises. There isn’t enough time to indulge in self-doubt… you need to create and cannot over think.

The sessions this winter/spring had elements themes, which added an interesting twist (yup, I did light my sketchbook on fire and spoiler, it smelled bad!).

La première règle des Bad Arty Party, ne pas parler des Bad Arty Party… C’est une blague!!! Dans ces sessions, Kathryn nous guide à travers divers exercices créatifs, avec un rythme soutenu. Ceci ne laisse pas de temps pour le doute, la critique intérieure. Pas le temps de trop réfléchir, il faut créer.

Les sessions d’hiver/printemps avaient de plus un thème lié aux éléments, ce qui a ajouté un twist intéressant (et oui, j’ai mis le feu à mon carnet… et oui, cela sentait mauvais!).

What the Bad Arty Party brought into my creative life

There are several ways these sessions have played a large role in my creative life these past few months. And I share some of these insights with you here.

Ces séances ont eu beaucoup d’impact dans ma vie créative au cours des derniers mois, et je vous partage ici de quelle façon.

Just enjoy the art parties

First and most important, these are art sessions and that in itself is wonderful. It means you made time for yourself, to play with art stuff, being guided by a wonderful creative soul…. just lean in to it and have fun.

D’abord et avant tout, ce sont des sessions d’art que vous avez pris le temps de mettre à l’agenda et en soi-même, c’est merveilleux. Laissez-vous guider par les instructions de Kathryn, une merveilleuse personne créative.

Realizing I can draw!

Oh these parties brought me so much. For one, I learned I could draw! Yup!!! How? Kathryn guides us into different “without looking” drawing exercises. And these are so interesting…. Even though you don’t look at your sheet, you still end up with something that vaguely ressembles the thing you were going for. And this amazed me. Somehow, it gave the impulsion to add more drawings in my work. It made me remember that with time and concentration, I can actually draw.

Ces séances m’ont apporté beaucoup. Par exemple, j’ai appris que je suis capable de dessiner! Oui! Comment? Kathryn nous guide dans des exercices de dessin “sans regarder”. C’est tout à fait intéressant….. Même si on ne regard pas la feuille, on finit avec un dessin vaguement ressemblant à notre sujet. Et cela m’a impressionné! De façon surprenant, cela m’a donnée une impulsion pour ajouter davantage de dessin dans mon travail. Je crois que ces exercices m’ont rappelé qu’avec du temps et de la concentration, je suis capable de dessiner.

Strengthening my practice of enjoying the process

The biggest take-away of these sessions is learning to enjoy the process of art making. To make some good art at some point, you need to make bad art. A lot of bad art. Good art comes out of being very much into your process, and often, accidents or explorations bring in an unexpected direction and you find something amazing.

Ce que vous retirerez de ces sessions, c’est d’apprendre à aimer le processus de faire de l’art. Pour réussir à faire de bonne réalisations, vous devez malheureusement passer par en faire de mauvaises. Et beaucoup de mauvaises. Les bonnes réalisation ressortent souvent d’explorations, voir même d’accidents qui se produisent lorsqu’on essaie des trucs, qui vont nous amener dans des directions inattendues et boum! On tombe sur un truc merveilleur.

Making bad art, while knowing it will be bad and internationally trying to make it bad really helps you focus on the process part of the art making and forget about the results. And it is easy to start focusing on the process, but then loose sight and get caught up thinking about the result.

And THIS is the magical part of Kathryn’s Bad Arty Parties. Their guidance is key. With the fast paced prompts (gently) thrown at you by Kathryn, you have no time to fall in the trap of overthinking your result. And you focus on the making.

This way, you know what truly focusing on the process feels like, and you can then bring this in your regular art practice. And then you come back for more sessions because, like anything, focusing on the process is something that needs to be practiced.

S’installer pour faire “du mauvais art”, en le faisant intentionnellement, en décidant à l’avance que le résultat sera nul, et bien c’est la recette parfaite pour se concentrer sur ce qui se passe sur le papier et oublie ce que le résultat sera. C’est super facile de s’installer avec cette intention, et puis quelque part en chemin, on oublie et on se met à penser au résultat.

Et c’est LÀ que la magie des ateliers Bad Arty Parties de Kathryn opère. En suivant Kathryn comme guide, qui nous lance (gentiment) des défis à temps limité, il n’y a justement pas le temps de trop réfléchir…. on fait. C’est ce qui prend toute la place dans ces ateliers.

Avec ces ateliers, vous saurez comment on se sent pour se concentrer sur le processus plutôt que le résultat, et vous pourrez plus facilement importer cela dans votre pratique artistique. Et puis vous reviendrez surement, parce que comme bien des choses, cette capacité à ne pas se concentrer sur le résultat doit s’entretenir.

Can/should I attend multiple parties?

The answer to this question is…. a very loud and affirmative YES!!! For one, they are a bunch or fun. And Kathryn works hard to find different angles, themes and prompts for each of their/her parties. But you know what? Even if the prompts were somewhat similar…. you always end up making something different.

La réponse en cours….. OUI!!!! Tellement oui, full enthousiasmé! D’abord, ils sont trop chouettes et on s’amuse bien. Et ensuite, Kathryn travaille très fort pour trouver différents angles, thèmes et défis pour chacun des ateliers. Mais vous savez quoi? Même si certains exercices étaient les mêmes, on finirait par faire un truc différent chaque fois.

To know more about the next sessions

Kathryn is holding next sessions pretty soon. I will most likely see you there!

Kathryn offre de nouvelles dates très bientôt pour d’autres sessions. Elles se déroulent en anglais, mais je crois que vous pourrez trouver cela intéressant si vous avez un niveau de base!

• See Kathryn’s website to see new dates for Bad Arty Parties
• And also do check out Kathryn’s shop for some amazing art pieces and inks

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

Last Spring, I finally signed up for a pottery class, after much hesitation. It finally fit in my schedule, I was so happy. My mom and I would finally get our hands soaked in clay (and clothes too surely!). The hope : having a crooked thing to call our own by the end of the class.

Each week, I discovered new ways I might screw up. But that’s is fun! This is what makes pottery an interesting and grounding practice. You need to concentrate, pay attention and truly be in the moment. You cannot be thinking of something else, or I guarantee it, you will make a mistake (and learn from it!). For me, it was an impressively relaxing activity, by making me think about what I was doing in the present moment. Something we often forget to do in our daily lifes.

Le printemps dernier, je me suis finalement inscrite à un cours de poterie après pas mal d’hésitations. Finalement, ça fittait dans mon horaire, j’étais bien heureuse! Ma mère et moi allions finalement avoir les mains couvertes d’argiles (et surement toute notre personne!). Notre espoir : avoir une petite réalisation, surement un peu toute croche juste pour nous à la fin du cours.

Chaque semaine, j’ai découvert de nouvelles opportunités de tout gâcher. Mais c’est une bonne chose! Je crois que c’est ce qui fait de la poterie une activité vachement intéressante et assez “grounding” (c’est quoi le mot en français?). Il faut constamment être concentrée, avoir conscience de ce qu’on est en train de faire, bref, être dans le moment présent et pas ailleurs! C’est souvent quelque chose qu’on oubli au quotidien.

The studio: Pottery by Elfée

Elfée Saint-Laurent is a wonderful human being. She is also a teacher who became a potter, so she really enjoys teaching! I went to an open studio of hers where I got to meet her and learn a little about her process, and watch a turning demo. I was mesmerized by the turning on the wheel…

Her happiness when speaking about the clay, the process, all of the steps. That’s what finally decided me to sign up for the class.

And I strongly encourage you to take a look into Eflée’s shop. The lanterns, the vases, the plates…. so many beautiful pieces! I have a few pieces at home, and probably more will be added in the years to come.

Elfée Saint-Laurent est une humaine formidable. Elle est également prof, qui est devenue céramiste à temps plein, alors laissez moi vous dire qu’elle aime communiquer sa passion par des ateliers!

Je l’ai d’abord rencontrée lors d’une visite à son atelier pendant laquelle elle a fait une petite démo au tour. J’ai été hypnotisée par le processus, mais surtout sa passion à nous expliquer…. c’est ce qui m’a décidé à m’inscrire à l’un de ses ateliers.

Et je vous encourage fortement à faire un tour sur sa boutique en-ligne. Vous y trouverez plein de beautés que vous voudrez toutes amener chez vous! Les lanternes, les vases, la vaisselle….. j’ai plusieurs de ses réalisations chez moi, et d’autres s’ajouteront certainement avec les années!

Beginning of the class: where is all the hope and dreams!

During the first class, Elfée explains that almost all students end up with 2 or 3 pieces. And that it is amazing that people often have a style emerge quite fast. My mom and I were like “yeah, yeah, we’ll just aim at not making the ball of clay fly in the studio!”.

Well by the end of the 3 classes, we managed to not break our pieces and end up with results we are very proud of! To top it off, because the class was interrupted, we the option to restart the whole class (for a very fair price). Of course we choose to! So we ended up with two sessions of turning clay. YAY!!!

Pendant le premier cours, Elfée nous explique que presque tous les participants repartent avec 2-3 pièces. Et que de façon intuitive, la plupart des gens finissent par faire rapidement des pièces qui se ressemblent les unes aux autres. C’est comme si chacun se trouvait un style rapidement. Ma mère et moi étions dubitatives et partagions un objectif tout simple : s’assurer de ne pas faire voler une motte d’argile mouillée à travers l’atelier!

Et bien à la fin des trois cours, nous avons toutes les deux réussi à produire des pièces convenables qui vont servir et dont nous sommes fières! Et en plus, comme COVID-19 s’est mêlée de la partie, nous avons repris le cours quelques mois plus tard, en ayant la chance de pouvoir tourner deux fois et de repartir avec 6 pièces.

And just to show how right Elfée was about a style emerging, these are my finished pieces. The ones on the left are those from the first class. The ones on the right, the second class. It wasn’t planned or anything. It just was!

Et juste pour montrer à quel point Elfée avait raison lorsqu’elle nous parlait du “style” des participants, je vous laisse apprécié ces images de mes réalisations. À gauche les trois pièces tournées lors de la première session. À droite, les trois pièces tournées lors de la reprises, plusieurs mois plus tard. Et je n’avais même pas de plan!

The steps of wheel-turning

The introduction class is a three week thing. Each week, you focus on one step of the pottery making process. Elfée begins the class by explaining the process, then shows it, and then…. your turn to try!

L’atelier d’introduction se passe sur trois semaines. Chaque semaine, c’est une étape dans la production. Chaque semaine, Elfée commence par une explication du processus, suivi d’une démonstration, et ensuite…. c’est à notre tour!

1. Turning the clay

Yup! That is the one thing we think about when taking of a pottery class. Need I say the movie? Yeah…. we want the magic of the clay turning on the thing…. the water helping out to center the clay….. and oh my gosh! Making a thing that turns fast, but not too fast…

Managing to get some height into your piece, and then ending up with a little plate because it all went wrong (you thought I made mixing plates on purpose?). But the nice thing is you can always transform you little crooked thing into something. It can also be a beautiful crooked thing!

Ouiiiii! La raison principale pour laquelle tout le monde s’inscrit à un cours de poterie je crois. Ai-je besoin de mentionner le film? Ouais…. on veut tous sentir la magie de l’argile qui tourne sous nos mains, l’eau qui aide au processus et ahlalala… le sentiment d’arriver à centrer (ou pas!) un truc qui tourne vite, mais pas tant….

Ensuite, réussir à lever la terre et à obtenir une certaine hauteur, et après terminer avec une petite assiette parce que, ben, c’est ça! Mais la chose la plus chouette, c’est qu’on peut toujours transformer notre affaire un peu croche en quelque chose d’intéressant. Et c’est aussi ça la vie!

2. The whirling

Just when you think you are out of trouble, you will learn to “whirl” your pieces. That is when you make the little things to give your piece a finished look: a feet on your glass, smoother edges, little lines and textures, make holes or sculpting features to make a lantern.

Oh yeah…. and make the piece a flat bottom so it doesn’t wobble too much!

And let me tell you that trying to make a nice round foot on the wheel with a piece that isn’t very symmetric makes for such an interesting and funny experience!

Juste quand vous pensez ne plus pouvoir détruire votre pièce, il faut la tournasser. Ça, c’est l’étape où vous mettez les éléments qui font la finition de votre pièce : un joli pied, un petit lissage de texture un peu partout, des lignes ou de la texutre ajoutées à d’autres endroits, ou encore des trous pour faire une lanterne.

Ah oui! Et s’assurer que le bas soit plat. Pour que cela ne soit pas chambranlant.

Et laissez-moi vous dire qu’essayer d’ajouter une pied rond sur le tour à une pièce pas du tout symétrique…. c’est assez intéressant et plutôt rigolo!

3. The enameling

And then, when you think you are done with the difficult and dangerous decisions, you enamel you pieces. For instance, add too much glaze and have your piece fuse with the oven!

Elfée offers a number of options for glazing (so many!!!). Many techniques are possible…. I think what took me the longest during this session was the deciding on the colors and patterns or lack of.

Et là, quand vous pensez que vous en avez vraiment fini avec les décisions difficiles et les risques de tout détruire : l’émaillage. Par exemple, en mettant trop de glaçure, et la pièce risque de fusionner à l’étagère du four!

Elfée propose de nombreuses glaçures (tellement!!!). Et on peut les combiner, et il y a plein d’effets à essayer….. Je crois que ce qui m’a pris le plus de temps ce jour-là fût de me décider sur les couleurs.

And this process is one where you need to practice your “let it be philosophy”. Because apparently, you can have a basic plan, but depending on how you put the glaze on, you might not end up exactly with the result you had in mind. And to top if off, the glazes aren’t the same colors before cooking. So you get to practice your visualization skills too!

Et cette étape vous permettra de pratiquer votre “laisser-aller”. Et oui. Il semblerait qu’on peut avoir un plan de base, mais selon la quantité appliquée, et les mélanges qui sont faits, on ne peut toujours prévoir précisément les effets qui seront obtenus à la sortie du four. Et pour en rajouter, les glaçures n’ont pas leur couleur finale avant la cuisson. Alors vous pouvez aussi pratiquer la visualisation!

And then, you put your little pieces into the kiln (the oven), and hope you did not put too much glaze and they don’t fuse with the shelves!

Et finalement, vous allez déposer vos pièces dans le four…. en espérant ne pas avoir mis trop d’émail!

The results

So after all those fearful steps, I managed to end the class with 6 beautiful pieces. This is all thanks to Elfée’s guidance. So many thanks to Elfée!!!!

Alors après toutes ces occasions de tout détruire, j’ai réussi à terminer avec ces six pièces. Et j’en suis tellement fière! Tout cela grâce aux bienveillantes instructions d’Elfée. Mille fois merci Elfée!!

It’s your turn!

Oh I feel like potters might make many puns with “turn” in their daily lives…. this was unintended at first, but heck!

So it is your turn to try. Find a potter near where you are and give it a try. It is so fun. And if you are in my neck of the woods (Montréal, Québec), do look for Elfée’s workshops! Her next intro session starts very soon.

C’est à votre tour d’essayer! Trouver un artisan potier près de chez vous et tentez le coup. C’est tellement agréable, amusant et relaxant. Et si vous êtes dans la région de Montréal, renseignez-vous sur les ateliers offerts par Elfée! Sa prochaine session commence bientôt.

Pottery by elfée – Saint-Lazare, Québec

• The details on the workshops : 170$ for three weeks
• The shop with beautiful pieces to order from anywhere
• All of Elfée’s contact information
• Follow Elfée on instagram for amazing photography of her work

Precision on my results : We had a first class in the beginning of March. But after that first class, COVID-19 stopped everything and the class had to come to halt. Eflée graciouly offered us a choice to do the first lesson a second time and to whirl our first pieces for us (this step couldn’t wait for us to get back to the studio). All for a fair price of course. That was a huge bonus as we got to walk away with 6 pieces instead of 3!

Quelques précisions sur mes résultats : À cause des mesures de confinement, nous avons repris le premier cours ce qui fait que j’ai pu tourner un total de 6 pièces. Le cours normal prévoit la moitié de cette quantité. Elfée nous a généreusement offert de tournasser nos pièces du premier cours (elles ne pouvaient attendre notre retour pour cette étape les pauvres!) et de reprendre le premier cous, le tout pour un prix très juste.

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!)