This virtual Acrylic Art course was different from my usual art classes for kids. An acquaintance encouraged and gently pushed me to do such a course for adults so they could do something different and nourish their minds. She said this as she observed my style of teaching as her kids are in my art class. She thought my style of teaching was unique because I taught in a caring way and in each class I come up with new and different ideas of what I taught. Another plus point is that I don’t follow any rules and I am very friendly with my students. All of this makes my art classes somewhat unique.
But I still was not confident about this. I have done a few workshops for adults before, but those were in-person, I was a bit nervous about doing an online one for adults. Then my siblings insisted that I could do it and was good enough to teach adults too in online classes. That helped me gain confidence and I thought that ok, it is probably a good idea to do something new and positive at the end of this crazy year 2020. Then after thinking and discussing with my brother, I came up with the poster for this Acrylic painting course. And I named my Art course: Crash Course – Learn how to make a masterpiece. I planned it as a month of fun with 8 sessions.
I posted this colorful post on Facebook, on my WhatsApp groups, other social media and also my cousin posted this in some local groups. As a result, I got a lot of queries. And then by the end of November, I was very happy and excited to close on a group of 6 for this course.
After that, it was time to decide on what I would teach. A lot of ideas came to mind, I did a lot of research on Google and spent many hours on the internet. I wanted the content of the course to be such that it gave everyone a clear basic knowledge of Acrylic painting in a way that they could themselves work toward perfecting this on their own and it the course would be fun enough that after that, they would look forward to indulging more of their “me time” in art.
I designed a four-part course:
- 4 in 1 painting – Introduction to Brushstrokes
- Nameplate – Color mixing
- An Indian Lady – Drawing a portrait on canvas
- Lord Buddha – Painting a realistic human figure
Introduction to Brushstrokes
I began the course with a brief lesson on Artforms and then introduced everyone to different types of brushes and brush strokes.
Then in the same session, I showed them how to paint four paintings on a canvas sheet using only two types of brushes and four different strokes. Everyone liked this idea and enjoyed painting the painting session.
Color mixing
In the second part of our course, I taught how to paint a “nameplate” for home sweet home’s door on a canvas sheet using Acrylic paints. With this, I taught how to mix & smudge paints using white paint. We painted a house with its windows & door, grass, and flowers outside it using one type of brush and the brightness of the shining Sun.
I also showed them a creative way to frame and hang this “Nameplate” on our door without having to get this canvas sheet framed professionally. I taught how to create a frame that looked like it was made of “bamboo sticks’ ‘ but made using Newspaper, pistachio shells, paints, and wool. This was #creative, #handmade, #inbudget and you know not what :)… When I first showed this, no one was able to figure out that the frame was made of these things easily available at home. I was very happy to hear that everyone loved my creative idea and they also made this one of a kind, creative frame for their sweet home’s “nameplate”!
Drawing a portrait on canvas
For the third section of the course, I had been thinking a lot about what to teach, then one name came to mind – a very famous and honored Artist, Jamini Roy. I remembered teaching one of his paintings to a children’s Art group but with water painting. Then I thought to myself that I will paint and teach an art piece inspired by Jamini Roy’s painting of a lady.
I started the session by giving a small introduction about the life and works of Jamini Roy. I used this painting to teach how to draw a portrait on a canvas, how to get proportions right etc. Also, I went over how to paint realistic looking eyes, face, clothes, and ornaments. Another important part here was to get light and shadow right. While working on this painting, I also shared several Acrylic painting hacks and tips with the group. I enjoyed this session thoroughly! And I am incredibly happy to say that along with me all my friends enjoyed painting this colorful portrait as well :). And I feel blessed to say that it came out very beautifully for all of us!
Painting a realistic human figure
Lord Buddha is the epitome of calm and peace. Whenever I look at a painting or a statue of Buddha, it gives me power and boosts me up. The feeling is like that of being in a meditation room in which I feel calm, relaxed, and empowered. When I am working on a painting of Buddha, I feel like painting more and more because while working on it I am lost in my own world where there are no problems, worries, or hurt, just happiness, around me. Each painting narrates a different meaning of my life and holds a story.
This one is my third painting of Lord Buddha. I painted this while teaching in an online art workshop. I selected this for teaching portrait painting because, with this, we can learn various proportions, light & shadow, etc. in an easy way. I also taught how to draw realistic bamboo plants (that you can see in the background) and how to paint a halo.
So for the fourth section of the art course, I selected this for teaching portrait painting because, with this, we can learn various proportions, light & shadow, etc. in an easy way. I also taught how to draw realistic bamboo plants (that you can see in the background) and how to paint a halo. As my “students” told me, it was a calming and enjoyable experience for them to learn this. One of my student’s feedback touched my heart. She said that while painting the Budhha, she felt very relaxed and calm. It was just like doing meditation and my way of explaining painting lessons felt like she was listing a spiritual speech. I would have never imagined that my explaining things can make someone feel like attending a meditation session. After listening to this from my friend, I really felt very blessed and happy :).
Before ending the course, I thanked everyone for their participation and summarized what we did in the course. I asked everyone to share their feedback on their experience so I could improve myself and do better next time. We all had become friends over the course of the course :) and planned to keep in touch and sharing our work in a WhatsApp group! My “students” also asked me to sign them up for my next workshop :)
Feedback
Sharing some of the feedback from my students below
