Art Blog — www.SharonRoss.art

Every April I vow to join the #pleinairpril folks on Instagram as they follow Warrior Painter’s inspirational community and strive to paint en plein air every day during the month of April. I’ve attempted this challenge four times and “made it” only once, typically falling off on weekends or somewhere about the last third of the month.
This time of year is also when Tuesday Painters (a group of local artists I like to gather with to create and talk about the art process) move our practice out of doors and take full advantage of the New England landscape for our inspiration.
This year I have also added a second run through Justin Donaldson’s landscape course so that I could keep improving and work with the cohort from the gouache course a little longer….

that is all just to say I have a lot of landscape things happening this month and it’s such a delight.

Today I met up with Tuesday Painters and here’s a quick little video about that adventure that I hope you all enjoy. The painting I started today will be completed in-studio from some of the reference images I took and the memory of how it was standing in that sun drenched field in historic area of Bolton Ct.

Save for one unhappy bumble who kept nosing around my easel, I can’t think of a better way to spend a warm spring morning.

When I was a child I stressed about school and grades and rules. I bought into the idea that formal institutional learning was the only effective way to learn. In challenge of that idea (though an unintentional one, I assure you) I decided to pursue art as a career. In art the learning strays from formal many many times throughout your artistic journey. Don’t let me mislead you, I still went to art school, a reputable one for my area and at the time, but the knowledge I gained in art school was really just a scratch on the surface.

Backstory

I have taken many courses, both formal and informal, over the years in an effort to further develop my skills as an artist. At some point in the past four years I happened upon the artist Justin Donaldson and his art programs. I was unfamiliar with his work or his community but somehow landed in one of his tutorials on GUMROAD. From there I bought into a few of his courses during the early pandemic days but, due to an absolute life upheaval, I was not able to complete these programs. I became part of his discord community and started to connect with other artists who had come together through Justin’s work and teachings.

Last summer, with a fresh resolve to build a portfolio that would help me re-enter the working art world - I jumped into his oil painting program which then spurred me to go back and finish those courses I had let collect digital dust. .

The Format

Justin’s Gouache Course is an 8 week examination of the most important things to know when painting with designer gouache or poster colour paints. The course consists of pre-recorded lessons, resource materials, live feedback sessions and a discord community of artists working through the course at the same time (unless you have opted to take the course self-paced and not during a curated session).

The purchase of the course is either with feedback (deemed a ‘full seat’) or without (known as an ‘auditing’ seat ) and folks with a full seat can expect personalized feedback each week regarding the work they have shared in the discord community in response to the exercises in the pre-recorded videos.

The Lessons

Having done half of this gouache course twice (with a significant amount of time in between) I can say that Justin’s presentation of the materials scaffold in such a way as to ensure your skills are building upon themselves with each lesson. Often it is difficult to ‘take it slow’ as we all want to hit that next level right away. Spending the time to work through each stage as if you are a beginner (if you are but even so if you are not) allows you the important process of incubating the concepts and techniques presented. By the time I had finished the course in full, the early lessons made the most sense in their delivery and sequence.

The Feedback

Live feedback is an absolute asset when it comes to Justin’s courses and he is both thorough and gentle in his critique of progress. Not all artists are built for feedback and so his guidance is both kind and concise, ensuring that artists really hear his feedback and never feel poorly after a feedback session. For auditing students there is a real opportunity to sit in on the feedback sessions and participate in the chat while work is being examined. There is as much to be gained from the live feedback sessions as the pre-recorded lessons. Justin is generous with his time and will examine all concerns during these sessions. I have dreaded feedback of my own work for various reasons, but have never come away feeling like I ‘failed’.

The Community

By far, one of my favourite side effects of taking Justin Donaldson’s Gouache Course has been the inclusion in the class’s discord community. Having gone through this class with two cohorts I can attest to the caliber of artists who seem drawn to Justin’s courses and the camaraderie he facilitates. From the first introductions, to the sharing of our ‘wins’ and ‘fails’ with each exercise, Justin’s courses give artists a safe and comfortable critique group who encourage open sharing of artistic learning. It is my experience that the artists I have met through Justin’s courses are not only life-long learners, passionate about art, but they are also skilled learners and ready to challenge and learn from one another. In Justin’s Gouache Course everyone reaches their own ‘next level’ and is cheered on by a group of their peers.

Having taken many courses since those old art school days to help me further and develop my skills and confidence as an artist and illustrator, I have a strong affinity for formal institutional style learning. I have also found a myriad of informal learning environments to be equally helpful for artistic growth, both approaches are accessible and abundant when looking to learn online.

Justin Donaldson’s Gouache Course is a special combination of formal lesson presentation, with skills and techniques that build upon the previous learning, over the course of 8 weeks, and informal peer support and connection.

Would I recommend?

I would recommend this course for any artist who is interested in working more with gouache or is jumping from another medium to gouache. Any artist who wants to know how this medium is unique or different from what they are already using will enjoy this course by Justin Donaldson. In my opinion, this course is best suited to artists who can commit a few hours of weekly working time and a about an hour or two of video lesson time. I think that artists who are comfortable communicating online will navigate the gouache course with ease and benefit most from watching the feedback sessions either live or as a replay.

Have you taken one of Justin Donaldson’s Courses? I’d love to hear your thoughts.