So You Want to Be a Professional Artist? A 15-Day Guide to Professional Practices
Advanced | 4 hours 6 min
Professional Practices
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September Lookbook // 2020
September Lookbook // 2020
CBTV
It's finally fall and there's no better time to learn something new. If you've always wanted to wield the hook or are a life-long crochet skeptic, daily exposure to Twinkie Chan's Crochet Sampler series will win you over. For a stylish wardrobe essential, sew the Nina Jumpsuit with ever-fabulous Tabitha Sewer. If you loved the daily practice with Jon Stich or are just looking to grow your acrylic painting skills, Advanced Acrylic Painting offers insight, guidance, and a brand-new perspective on portraiture. And even if the leaves are changing where you are, there's still time to enjoy beautiful botanicals when you follow along with Embroidred Florals with Lauren of Lark Rising Embroidery. View the entire class series here
Crochet Sampler: A Daily Practice
Twinkie Chan
Whether this is the month you finally learn to crochet, or it’s time for you to add new stitches to your arsenal, expert crocheter Twinkie Chan will show you how. Begin with learning basic crochet stitches and their written abbreviations, then work toward crocheting small, friendly swatches with more decorative stitches. Once you’ve spent the month immersed in Twinkie’s wonderful world of crochet, you’ll end up with a beautiful collection of square swatches that you can use as coasters or seam up to make a super cute and colorful stitch sampler to hang on the wall. Build the skills - and the confidence - to crochet almost anything with just yarn and a hook.
Sew the Nina Jumpsuit
Tabitha Sewer
If you're looking for one garment to make that you can wear all year, the Nina Jumpsuit is the perfect transition piece through the seasons, depending on what you wear underneath and how you style it. Fashion and sewing influencer Tabitha Sewer will teach you how to sew this comfy, wide-legged jumpsuit with criss-cross straps, side pockets, and midi-length legs. It's loose-fitting, casual, and easy to throw on and still look stylish. Add a new favorite piece to your wardrobe and add some amazing new skills to your sewing knowledge, such as making your own bias tape and sewing buttonholes and buttons with your sewing machine.
Advanced Acrylic Painting
Jon Stich
Artist, illustrator, and instructor Jon Stich spent years developing his signature style. In this class, cover the fundamentals of acrylic painting before moving on to more advanced techniques in order to find your own. First, make representational paintings by finding midtones, light tones, and dark tones. You’ll work with a limited palette and mix colors to paint a still life, a monochromatic portrait, and finally, a color portrait. By following Jon’s clear and concise methods, along with his friendly insight and patient instruction, you’ll find a new way to both see and craft color, leading to thoughtfully-assembled portraits.
Embroidered Florals
Lauren from Lark Rising Embroidery
Learn a contemporary embroidery project that works a bit like a fill stitch sampler. Lauren Holton of Lark Rising Embroidery brings her wildly popular designs to life with an arrangement of textures that she demonstrates how to create. With Lauren's expert instruction and helpful tips, you'll leave this class having completed a beautiful piece of home decor and will have a wealth of fill stitches to incorporate into future embroidery projects.

In celebration of National Embroidery Month 2023, Lauren of Lark Rising has shared an additional gorgeous pattern - Orange Grove. This project uses variegated cotton embroidery floss in juicy shades to make split stitch oranges and satin stitch blossoms. You’ll then use a satin stitch in leafy green shades to complete the composition. Find the pattern below and check out our full blog post here
Wardrobe Basics: Sewing Dress No. 2
Sonya Philip
When you're in need of a project that's easy to sew and simple to style, look no further than Dress No. 2 by Sonya Philip. Part of her "100 Acts of Sewing" line, this wardrobe workhorse is eminently wearable and serves as an excellent base for layering. The A-line dress pattern features three-quarter sleeves, a scoop neck and patch pockets. Once you’ve learned how to make the basic pattern, Sonya shows you how to add inseam pockets, shorten to tunic-length, make a sleeveless variation, or add a color-blocked hem. It accommodates a wide variety of fabrics; try cozy flannel for chilly winter wear or cotton lawn for a breezy summer garment. The downloadable PDF pattern covers all variations and comes in size XS - 4 XL.

Bust measurement (your body size):
XS: 32 inches (81 cm); S: 35 inches (89 cm); M: 38 inches (97 cm); L: 41 inches (104 cm); XL: 44 inches (112 cm); 2XL: 47 inches (119 cm); 3XL: 50 inches (127 cm); 4XL: 53 inches (135 cm)

 
Improvisational Patchwork: Pineapple Quilt Blocks
Heather Jones
A Pineapple block traditionally features strips of patchwork that radiate out from a center point, creating a beautiful design full of energy and movement. While it’s typically important to cut precisely and match your points perfectly, modern quilter Heather Jones teaches a method for piecing this block without measuring or matching, resulting in a loose, contemporary version of the original. This class is a fun way to create blocks quickly using leftover scraps of fabric, and it’s perfect for anyone who wants to practice improvisational quilting techniques and play with color.
Crochet Shawl Workshop: Side-to-Side Shawl
Marly Bird
Side-to-side shawls can appear daunting, but it’s actually one of the easiest shawl styles to construct. Using simple increases and decreases and basic crochet stitches, Marly Bird shows you how to create a mesh-like stitch pattern, keep track of your shaping as you go, and customize the size of the shawl by working more or less shaping rows. When the shawl is finished, you’ll learn how to weave contrasting tassels through the mesh stitches to create a must-have fringed accessory. 
Foundational Figure Drawing: Heads
David Tenorio
The head and face are often the most daunting part of sketching a figure, but the process can be simplified by following basic rules of proportion. Artist and educator David Tenorio gently demonstrates how the head can be broken down into segments, resulting in properly proportioned facial features and details that make for a realistic portrait. You’ll learn the “ball and jaw” method, how to sketch with charcoal, and how to place features into the face. Finally, you’ll learn how to trust your eyes, recording what you see rather than how you believe faces to be – a skill essential for drawing the human figure.
Unconventional Book Structures
e bond
For the adventurous book artist interested in exploring the book form, look no further than e bond’s innovative and exciting class. Because each of these bindings work with single sheets of paper - as opposed to folded stacks - these structures are surprisingly simple to create. In this class you'll learn three different bindings, beginning with the palm leaf structure, one of the earliest forms of books. Then move on to two forms of the dragon scale binding, which can be scaled-up to sculptural proportions. Finally, practice the blizzard book, designed by Hedi Kyle, and learn how it can be adapted for a variety of ephemera. 
Cricut Crafts: Easy Monogrammed Cosmetic Bag
Amber of Damask Love
It's super easy to whip up a custom monogrammed cosmetic bag with your Cricut Maker. Amber from Damask Love shows you how to design your own monogram and cut it out in vinyl on your Cricut Maker, plus you'll learn how you can use the Maker to cut out all of your fabric pattern pieces. Once the elements are cut out, Amber shows you how to install the zipper, box the corners, and assemble the bag. The glittery vinyl monogram goes on last as a special finishing touch. 
DIY Room Décor: Color-Blocked Bulletin Board
Courtney Cerruti
Learn how to turn a basic cork panel into a colorful, decorative bulletin board in a snap. Courtney Cerruti shows you how to paint a color-blocked design on cork and add a colorful rope hanger. She then shows you how to spruce up your pushpins by attaching colorful pompoms and paper flowers with hot glue. Hang your finished corkboard in your kitchen or bedroom – it’s perfect for displaying your favorite photos and inspirational imagery.
So You Want to Be a Professional Artist? A 15-Day Guide to Professional Practices
Lisa Solomon
Are you ready to take the leap into becoming a professional artist? In this four-hour long course, author, artist and educator, Lisa Solomon, teaches you how to present yourself as an artist in the world. Commonly referred to as a “Professional Practices” college-level course, Lisa shares her decades of practical know-how in 15 bite-sized lessons. These classes will help you learn how to create your portfolio, make connections, exhibit, apply for shows, attend residencies, copyright your work, market yourself and so much more. Lisa tells it like is it with cautionary tales from the art and gallery world as well as inspiring stories from her own experience. The accompanying 80-page downloadable PDF is full of rich resources to set you on your path, including helpful samples and web references.

This class is not only a starting point for anyone who is ready to call themselves an artist, but also for working artists who could use some structure and guidance in growing their practice. By the end of this series, you will learn how to take yourself more seriously and see your business dreams come to life.
Taught by Lisa Solomon
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Are you ready to take the leap into becoming a professional artist? In this four-hour long course, author, artist and educator, Lisa Solomon, teaches you how to present yourself as an artist in the world. Commonly referred to as a “Professional Practices” college-level course, Lisa shares her decades of practical know-how in 15 bite-sized lessons. These classes will help you learn how to create your portfolio, make connections, exhibit, apply for shows, attend residencies, copyright your work, market yourself and so much more. Lisa tells it like is it with cautionary tales from the art and gallery world as well as inspiring stories from her own experience. The accompanying 80-page downloadable PDF is full of rich resources to set you on your path, including helpful samples and web references.

This class is not only a starting point for anyone who is ready to call themselves an artist, but also for working artists who could use some structure and guidance in growing their practice. By the end of this series, you will learn how to take yourself more seriously and see your business dreams come to life.
Downloads:
Learn how to:
  • Create a CV
  • Write an artist statement
  • Do your taxes
  • Set up a business as an artist
  • Apply for grad school, residencies, and shows
  • Create a portfolio
  • Create a studio space
  • Balance life and work
  • Frame and install work
  • Survive and thrive with failure
  • Use social media
  • Understand copyright laws

What you'll get:
  • A thorough primer on how to launch your professional art career, typically only available as a college-level "Professional Practices" course.
  • 15 HD video lessons you can access online anytime, anywhere
  • An 80-page PDF course hand-out, with samples and copious web references
  • Step-by-step expert instruction from author, artist and educator, Lisa Solomon
  • The ability to leave comments, ask questions, and interact with other students

 
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So You Want to Be a Professional Artist? A 15-Day Guide to Professional Practices Reviews
168 users recommended this class to a friend
Jo Nowak-Thompson
I thought the information was concise and well presented. Oh, and relevant. But what I liked most of all was the generosity that Lisa exhibited and the hope she seemed to have for me. I'll work on closing the gap she mentioned in the last chapter.
More than 3 months ago
 
Shilah McGuinness
WOW Amazing resource! Thank you, Lisa!
More than 3 months ago
 
Jay D
Awesome! Love this class! Detailed and Informative!
More than 3 months ago