PLEASE JOIN THIS ZOOM MEETING, TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 10AM PACIFIC (1pm East Coast / 6pm UK)

Please help me experiment with a “proof of concept” idea, ‘My Window’, a collaborative art-making virtual engagement experience I want to offer event and meeting planners as a fun communal activity for virtual events and meetings. I just need 60 minutes of your time.

REGISTRATION

Please click here (or on banner above) to register in advance and receive a unique Zoom link to join. By registering you are agreeing to be recorded and giving me permission to use the recording in any way I wish (I hope to use the recording to put together a demo sample to promote this as an engagement option for virtual conferences, team building and other virtual events).

Collaborative artwork made up of individual attendees’ drawings of the view they each see looking out of their window, all created during the live interactive Zoom session! A time-lapse replay of the collage process is shown below.

EVERYONE WELCOME!

No art experience needed. After you’ve registered just position yourself so you can see a window, gather some art media of any kind and then join the Zoom meeting and start sketching your window (the frame, what you see through it, reflected in it, etc..). You can work with any media – pen and paper, pencil, crayons, iPad with Procreate app – all is okay, digital or traditional. This is a Zoom meeting so please make sure you’ve updated your Zoom. If you’re new to Zoom please visit my Zoom 101 page for some Zoom tips.

WHAT TO EXPECT

We will start with a welcome, intro slide-show and short drawing demo followed by time for you to draw or paint your view out of a window, ideally one in front of you that you observe directly. I will demonstrate using the Procreate app on an iPad Pro, though participants may use any media, digital or non-digital. If you don’t have an iPad and want to prepare traditional art materials ahead of time I recommend Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle Water-Soluble Wax Pastels and heavy-weight mixed media paper (Cass – UK or Blick – USA)

WHY A WINDOW?

The symbol of the view out of a window has a long history in fine art: from Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, through Henri Matisse and Rene Magritte, to Edward Hopper and David Hockney, to name a few. This participative art experience builds on that tradition. You are welcome to take the subject matter of ‘My Window’ as literally or metaphorically as you wish. You can liberally mix observation-based marks with those drawn from your imagination. You have your Artistic License sitting in your pocket so feel free to use it!

HOW TO SHARE YOUR ARTWORK

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR PADLET GALLERY LINK

Please go to this link mywindow.world or point your smart device camera at the QR code below.

These links will take you to an online gallery known as a “Padlet”. Padlets are widely used by teachers teaching school online. It offers an easy way for you to upload your artwork. To upload your art just double click anywhere in the Padlet or click on the plus symbol. Then click on the upload icon (up arrow) and select your digital image (whether a digital painting or a photo of traditional artwork). Please make sure your name is associated with it and add a title, description and what media you used.

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

I will use the artworks submitted to construct a single, unified, final collaborative artwork that incorporates all the submitted individual artworks by the participants. I will treat each artwork as an individual brush stroke and build up a mosaic collage of them. I’ll then share that final collaborative artwork (after the session) with all participants as a thank you. Feedback, comments, suggestions and ideas from participants will be most welcome! Please make good use of the Zoom Chat feature:-)

Here are a few things to help you prepare:

MAKE SURE YOU CAN SEE A WINDOW

Place yourself somewhere you have a good view out of a window. The subject matter of our artwork will be ‘My Window’. It can be any window, any view, ideally something right in front of you that you can look at as you draw.

CHOOSE YOUR ART MATERIALS AND HAVE THEM READY

Any art media is okay! From regular pen on a piece of paper through to digital paint using Procreate app on the iPad, all is ok. Just prepare in advance so you have everything at your fingertips when it comes to the creation portion of the session. I’ll be demonstrating using Procreate on the iPad. I use the words drawing and painting interchangeably here – whatever you wish to call what you do is fine:-)

ARRIVE 5 MINUTES EARLY

Being Zoom, it typically takes a few minutes to settle in. Please try and arrive 5 minutes early. When you arrive please experiment with going between Gallery and Speaker View and find the chat and introduce yourself and where you are located.

SCHEDULE

We start at 10am Pacific. The rough schedule, with estimated time allocation, will be:

1. – Intro, Warm up, ‘My Window’ Slide Show (no painting, just watch) – 10 mins

2. – Short Demo – review of art ideas (no painting, just watch) – 10 mins

FOUNDATION -Distress surface

FRAME – Quick, rough window frame

SHAPE – Block out main shapes

FORM – Fill in shapes with value (light/dark) and, if you choose, color

FOCUS – Work into details in select places – choose your focus

FINISH – Add your name and the date to the artwork

3. – Paint your window (no instruction, just music) – 30 mins4. – Access the Padlet Gallery (link on the ‘My Window’ web page) and upload your art to the Padlet. If you work with traditional media just photograph your art and upload the photo. – 5 mins

5. – Feedback, thoughts and suggestions (please type these into the chat throughout the session as you think of them). – 5 mins