Inspirational Drawing – Go to this page!

Make your inner critic work with you …

Grow your skills by fully embracing your creativity!

Your inner critic might say that your drawing looks childish or stiff or nothing like you have visualized in your mind. This doesn’t mean that you aren’t creative! Art is teamwork and as in any teams, there is the role of evaluator. Evaluators ask great questions and make sure that everything is going to the right direction. However, your evaluator – the inner critic – should not be the only team member. Your feelings and creativity should be involved too!

When creating art is good teamwork, it will be enjoyable and exciting. It will also evolve in the direction that will satisfy your vision, your inner critic.

Enjoy drawing – from the very beginning!

Many say that to do that, you should master a plenty of techniques first. But then, copying photographs, studying the color wheel, arranging a still life (not to mention sketching, sketching, sketching) – does not sound very inspiring. Combined with the strong inner critic, no wonder if it rarely happens that you actually start drawing!

Being Finnish teaching in English, I know that to be able to communicate, you don’t need to master the whole English grammar. Actually, most of us don’t even fully master the grammar of our own native language! And even if we did, we would not necessarily be able to use the grammar for expressing emotions and telling imaginative stories. So why spend tedious days, months, years learning how to create accurate realistic drawings, when there are quicker ways to enjoy free, intuitive use of colors and shapes!

Self-expression can be part of practising

“Practise, practise, practise!” You must have heard this advice when refering to drawing. Yes, skills develop by practising. But practising is not preparing for the journey, it is the journey! Drawing can be an enjoyable experience – a delightful travel to your rich inner world. And while you are traveling, you can develop your skills, use all the inspiration you will see along the way, and find places and dimensions where words can’t take you.

Inspirational Drawing

is a 4-week online workshop, starting in February 22nd. It will teach you how to start drawing so that it is enjoyable and uses your full potential.

You will learn:
– practical ways for processing inspirational material (yes, if you have 100 Pinterest boards, this includes you!)
– draw lines and color images with confidence
– the best: let your subconscious take control and remove stiffness from your end result
+ art journaling inspiration: use the exercises to fill a book with 100 % you!

My students say:

It opened me up to be more free, loose, and expressive in my drawing and gave me a new appreciation of colored pencils and how to use them. It also gave me new ideas for inspiration and starting a drawing. And lastly, it gave me an appreciation for loving my ‘ugly duckling’ work as well as my ‘good’ work. It was an EXCELLENT course!
– Deb Weiers, Canada

The class let me finally get in touch with “THE REAL ME” instead of just my technical ability to produce art. This was my best experience with my search for “CREATIVITY” ever.
– Saundra Weed, USA

I am looking and seeing differently, and have a new way of focusing.
– Sue Rowlands, UK

Totally opened me up to a more creative way of looking at my process of drawing and the use of color. Loved the philosophical aspects of the videos/PDF’s as well as the actual art aspects.
– Valerie Lima, USA

I have a new direction to go experiment with, so many new ways to cultivate original ideas which is what I was hoping for.
– Cheryl Rayner, USA

Being a realistic artist I always found it easier to just reproduce what I saw in front of me. I’ve always admired the kind of creative work Paivi does, but had no sense of how to accomplish it. Because of her clear explanations and exercises, now I do!
– Diana Beam Weinberg, USA

I’ve taken many on-line classes but learned more ART in this one than I thought possible. On top of ART I’ve learned about myself and how I go about making art.
– Mary Werner, USA

I don’t need a particular subject to get started now, I can let my intuition lead me and simply follow it through its course.
– Rosemary Bosse, Australia

This is the best class I have taken and believe me I have taken a lot. I actually did the exercises and plan to continue practicing what I have learned.
– Patricia Armbrust, USA

It made me look at things in a different way, and gave me the freedom to just create. It gave me the freedom and confidence to choose different colors and not be confined to what is expected. It also showed me that inspiration is everywhere.
– Liz Norton, USA

I really liked how often you commented on everyone’s work on the Facebook page. And your comments were so helpful and polite!
– Sherry Pollack, USA

Paivi is a very inspirational, creative & supportive teacher. Her methods are very expressive and freeing.
– Diane Woolf, Canada

Teacher: Päivi Eerola

I am a full-time artist and designer with degrees in both industrial design and computer engineering. With that, I have a long experience of how to use strong logical reasoning so that it does not prohibit, but feeds creative, intuitive doing.

I created the course “Inspirational Drawing” for us who like to think and connect, but who also feel that life cannot be defined by words only. We visual people need our own words, meaning: images! As reading books is nothing like writing your own thoughts, watching beautiful images is nothing like creating your own.

I believe that the best drawing exercises are methods. They will teach you the processes that can be repeated with a different end result each time. That makes starting easy and your skills, vision and imagination will grow along with drawing.

Course Material

Twice each week, you will receive a PDF file + links to the course videos.
They will inspiringly introduce the theme of the week
and guide you through the exercises.

The course material is downloadable to your computer. If you save the material to your computer, you can access it from your computer as long as you want. The course material is available for download until the end of 2016.

Connecting with Teacher and Other Students

The course has a secret Facebook group where you can connect with the teacher and other students. You can post your work, ask questions and join the conversation. We also have a teacher-led discussion topic each week.

If you prefer to get feedback privately, you can email a picture of your finished exercise to the teacher and get constructive feedback by email.

Required Supplies

– white paper
– if you want to start your own art journal: a blank book (teacher’s recommendation: Moleskine Sketchbook (large) or Dylusions Creative Journal (large or small) as the quality of the paper is perfect for colored pencils)
– black, thin-tipped drawing pen, tip width 0,4-0,8 mm
– soft-tipped colored pencils (teacher’s recommendation: Prismacolor Soft Core or Derwent Coloursoft)

Course Schedule

Course starts: February 22nd 2016
and ends: March 20th 2016

Week 1: Draw with Intuition!
– Getting to know the supplies
– How to let the subconsious override
– Getting started with intuitive drawing and creative coloring

Week 2: Beautiful Shapes and Patterns
– Practising motoric skills by drawing simple shapes
– Creating rich surface patterns from basic elements
– Using positive thinking to increase imagination

Week 3:  From Details to a Big Picture
– Creating our own interpretations of inspiring images
– Designer’s mindset: small changes, big difference
– Compositions, proportions and structures as a tool for imagination and self-expression

Week 4: Living Colors
– Creating effective color mixes
– Picking colors from inspiring images
– How to continue developing drawing skills

I will open-mindedly and open-heartedly share techniques that I have developed, used and taught during the past years.

Questions and Answers about Inspirational Drawing

What technology do I need to have to fully enjoy the course?
You will need Internet access and an email account. You will also need basic programs to view (and download) MP4 videos and PDF files. Usually these can be already found in your computer. To participate the group discussion, you will need a Facebook account. If you want to upload your artwork to the group or email your artwork to the teacher, you will need a camera or a scanner, at least a phone camera.

I am an absolute beginner. Is this course for me?
Absolutely! The only mental requirement is that you are interested in developing a connection between your pen and your inner world.

I have created art for years. Is this course for me?
Most probably! This course is especially suitable for those, who have created realistic drawings but want to step out of their comfort zone and examine a more intuitive approach. On the other hand, this course is also great for those, who have been enjoying messy mixed media but who want to add more expression and thought to their art.

This is the description of Inspirational Drawing 1.0 Go to the page of Inspirational Drawing 2.0  to sign up for the latest version of this class!