Speaker: Cathy , Iceland/USA
Cathy : Hi - my name is Cathy Josephson. I am from Minnesota in the United States, but I live in Iceland and I have been here for the last 27 years.
Can you show us some of the artwork you've produced with Draw Awesome?
Cathy : When I was in school as a kid, we used to call this 'Show and Tell' time and we would bring something that was of interest to us to show our classmates. And this is one of the first drawings that that Phil taught us how to do. - and this is graphite and I was so pleased with this fellow and the two other gentlemen that we also drew, that I decided to put them on my Christmas Card this year and this card I sent to my friends and family here in Iceland and also to my friends and colleagues in North America. So I think it turned out very well and I'm pleased with how I was able to draw these figures... because of the lessons from Phil. And then then we also have this is pen and ink which I had never... never tried before. But yeah, I'm pleased with this one too. So this is one I have kept and then we also did - we also worked with pastel and I thought "Oh. this... this I understand I can do something with the pastel" and so so I did and I learned an awful lot from that. I have never been very confident with watercolour and I think maybe that was what we did in grade schools that I decided I didn't ever want to paint again. But one of the lessons was pen and ink drawings and these are sketches that we were... I did not go as fast as Phil wanted us to go, but I did - I did get them finished and I am very pleased with these. I had never, had never thought that I could have something that looked so good. And then the last one I want to show you is a salad. And this was with polychrome coloured pencils and I can tell you it pays to use the good stuff. I have had coloured pencils and I didn't - this is - they were just not good enough. And I'm very happy with with Phil's suggestions as to what supplies or... art tools that we should order and use if we and use if we can. And I have followed through and I'm very happy that I just decided to do it. And this is a hobby and I want it to be very successful for myself and I make greeting cards and I maybe can use some of these on my next greeting cards. So I'm quite pleased!
Before starting Draw Awesome, what what techniques did you struggle with?
Cathy : My level of art experience before starting with Draw Awesome was pretty well 'try it and see how it turns out'. I had training from my grade school years and I hated art. I didn't want to draw anything, but when I moved to Iceland, I wanted to meet some friends. And so they were... ...they were meeting to draw and paint for fun. So I borrowed some paper and some old types of pastel and used my fingers and I don't know what came out, but it was something that other people have liked. And I've been playing with it for all these years without a clue about how to do it better - or even just right!
How do you think Draw Awesome has helped you?
Cathy : I don't know that I can really explain how much I have learned from Phil with his very excellent lessons. I feel now as if I have a good idea of what I'm doing and how to do it. I am more eager to show my even... my 'less quality, lower quality' drawings to my friends and family and they are very helpful and praise me, which makes me feel better. Like most people I enjoy hearing that I've done well and I'm eager for the next project. I have to admit, though, that I am very, very restless this week because it's a Rest Week and I don't want to rest! I want to draw something! So I'm looking forward to the next lesson after two days. I'm enjoying this a great deal. All the lessons are very challenging, but certainly one little step at a time it works. It's the best approach that that I think I could have found anywhere. I'm very happy with what I've learned. I'm very happy with Phil as a teacher and it has been well worth it in every way since I joined last Spring.
Finally, would you recommend Draw Awesome to others?
Cathy : As far as the Courses that we're - or the Modules that we are taking on, one-by-one, I think it is very, very excellent that we take things in time that we don't need to rush. That we we can actually go at our own speed even if we're supposed to hurry up through a sketch. It's okay if we don't it's okay if we take longer ... Phil's instruction is very easy to follow and we are always able to simply pause the video until we catch up. And he also is telling us when it's time to catch up. He's an excellent teacher. He is very encouraging and I would recommend this art series for anyone and in fact, I'm working on a few people right now. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn better, learn how to draw or paint better, who wants to enjoy a group and that's the other part about Draw Awesome. It's a group that supports each other. It's a group that does not pick things apart. It's wonderful to have the support of the other members of the group, the other students, the other artists. Some of us are real artists. We should think more that we are real artists and keep on learning. But I would highly recommend this Course to anyone, anyone. It's an excellent Course
