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Check back on Sunday August 10th for, you know, the full deal.
Take your art seriously and never loose the fun.
the
Kitchen Table Atelier
An ongoing studio workshop for being the artist you want to be
There are approximately 100 Million reasons to NOT be the artist you want to be.
But they don’t need to stop you. Leave the dishes in the sink, return that email tomorrow, tell your loved ones you’ll see them later and make your DAMN art.
The Kitchen Sink Atelier is a ongoing workshop that supports your growth as an artist by helping you:
Hone your particular voice and style
Sharpen your technical skills
Grow in community with other artists
Prioritize a regular practice
How does it Work?
A Studio Membership Includes:
A Technical Skills Workshop Every Month
Often live over zoom, occasionally pre-recorded
Workshops are recorded and available to studio members for 3 months to watch or re-watch during that time
Usually an hour to an hour and a half
Puts the technical skills in coversation with your own personal voice and style
Topic Examples: figure drawing, perspective, composition, expressions, landscapes, drawing animals and objects, voice and style
A Live Open Studio Artist Hang Every Month
An hour a month to hang out with other artists while working on your own project or a prompt
A chance to share your work, see what other people are working on, get inspired, find motivation
A Group Critique / Work or Project Review - twice a year
A chance to look at everyone’s work and get personalized feedback
A Community Chat
A place to share what you’re working on, see other people’s work, get inspired, find motivation
A place to respond to optional prompts
What are the foundations of a solid art practice?
Voice and Style - You can have perfect technique but if you’re not saying something, and that things doesn’t come from some deep and real part of you, you are leaving something on the table. We come to art to understand the humanity in others and ourselves. Never leave behind the richness of your own thought and feeling in pursuit of perfect skills - it is the combination of the two that will make you profoundly capable. A solid art practice always has an eye on personal voice and style.
Technical Skills - Anatomy, perspective, proportion, composition - these aren’t the most important pieces but they can be the difference between tip-toeing up to ideas and really being able to masterfully play with your thoughts on paper. If it’s hard to get your ideas across because your drawings are distracting due to, say, having to hide everyone’s hands behind their backs because you don’t want to draw hands, it’s time to sharpen your technical skills. And as everyone who has those skills knows, you can always keep improving them. If you can’t draw something the way you like it’s not your personal style, it’s that you haven’t learned enough about how to draw it yet.
Community - The solitary artist myth is just that - a myth. Most people get great benefits come from being in an artistic community. Watching other people’s work develop, showing other artists your own work. Knowing what kind of input is helpful in your process and when, and how and who to ask for it - these are important tools. It is hard for most of us to be an artist in a vacuum, it is a delight to see your ideas in relation to other people’s ideas and to gain inspiration, energy, and perspective from their work.
Regularity - All these things become deeper, richer, more developed with regular practice. Regularity looks different for different people and at different times in your own life. Sometimes 3 hours a month is what you have to give to your art, sometimes it might be 3 hours a day. Either way can be a regular practice that allows you to grow your art alongside your life.
TEACHING AND TALKS
I learned to draw as an adult and found the process both immensely enjoyable and also unbelievably frustrating at times. The same was true about building a creative practice. I teach so I can see that joy in others and lower that frustration.
I teach one-on-one lessons as well as classes for the 92NY and other organizations. I teach in person and online. To find out when new classes are coming up, join the email list at the top of this page.
REACH YOUR CREATIVE GOALS
If you’re a student ready to schedule one-on-one lessons, fill out this form and I’ll be in touch.
If you’re an organization looking for a class or an event, check out these options.
one-one-one Lessons
In one-on-one lessons, we look at where you are in your creative work now, where you'd like to be, and work to get you there.
Our lessons might include anatomy, perspective, composition, line quality, content, voice, humor or style. We might be talking about idea generation and refinement, about motivation and confidence and help you build a steady practice, or about what materials are working for you and which aren’t. It all depends on where you’re trying to get to with your work.
You don’t need to commit to weeks of lessons, we’ll meet however often is ideal for you and your creative practice.
How Much? How Long?
I offer one-on-one lessons for $100/hour. If this isn’t financially possible for you at this time, let me know and we can talk about options such as a group lesson, or you can join group classes I teach.
For simplicity I prefer payment through Venmo or Zelle, due before the lesson starts.
Who should take these classes?
I teach motivated students of all skill levels and ages. Whether your goal is doodling more in your journal, drawing a yearly holiday card or making a living as a creative freelancer - we’ll focus on the skills that are most important to your particular goals.
How do i start?
Fill out this short form here and I’ll be in touch.
About Me and my teaching
I teach drawing because it is a powerful skill to have. Drawing can connect you to where you are in a specific moment, or to who you are in that moment. It can help you remember or help you explain. It can help you come to terms with something unpleasant or memorialize something remarkable. It can be a way to construct your own memory, or to share that memory with someone else. A regular creative practice can make you feel whole, can make your life more rich, and that spreads to the lives of those around you. It can also sometimes make you money and fame, if that’s your thing.
I am a professional cartoonist with a background in anthropology and sketch comedy. I publish cartoons in the New Yorker Magazine as well as Wired, the Wall Street Journal, Woman’s World, Alpinist, Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine and others. I also work with the Red Cross, World Bank and other organization and individuals to produce work that clarifies complex topics in visual form. In my more personal work, I love taking months-long hikes and bike rides and drawing what I find there.
SomE Past Classes and Talks
