School's in Session!

Hi all -
Before everyone got here, I did some prep work for the students and (with the aid of Bryan - I don't want him to go uncredited) sanded and varnished some lapboards for the SEQA students. I did 12 boards total, but this is only three of them. The view out beyond them is pretty nice. This is on the patio outside of Studio Two.

That was on the day, the little darlings were to arrive, so I had to clean up and get ready for them so they didn't think I was a bum.


I can't believe how smoothly it all went with the weather being so nice compared to last winter. In 2010, I was slogging up and down the hill for 6 hours and this year it was all over in less than 45 minutes. Everyone found their room and starting getting that "wow. I'm in France!" look.

The next day, after their trip to the APT Marketplace, I got to experience something new that they started after I was here -- a picnic lunch at Pont Julien - the old Roman bridge. As you can see, the weather was pretty ideal and everyone had a nice time.


Monday brought the first day of classes. At 9:00 a.m. my Advanced Drawing class (first photo) brought their eager faces in to Studio 2 (seemed like home) and had a great class. We did so well and were having such a good class that we forgot to take a break -- and it's a three hour class.

The next class was Travel Portfolio. It's a great class. I have 16 students for that one. It's my biggest class here. We went to the quarry to draw after my introductory lecture and had about an hour (or a tiny more) to be able to draw on site for the first time in France. Unlike last year's class where it was too cold to sit and draw most of the time, this was perfect weather for it. As you can see, there's always one "climber" and Daniel is my man for this class (as is, Matt, Sarah S, etc.)


Finally, on the second class day (Wednesday - yesterday), things really got rolling.

My hardest class so far is the crosslisted Vis 1 and Vis 2 class. But everyone is working to make it as smooth as possible and Wednesday's class went pretty well. In the photo, we're near the end of class and the Vis 1 students and discussing their Chickasaw layouts (yeah, I bring that assignment here, too) and the Vis 2 students are finishing up their 'arriving at studio 2' in-class storytelling assignment.

The next two photos are the students from my Travel Portfolio class. We took a trip to the nearby village of Menerbes and they did some great drawings. It 's been great seeing their enthusiasm and how dedicated they are to trying new things and pushing their artistic skill set to a new level.

The last two photos are of my Advanced Drawing class. We had a lecture and then used the interior of the library to do some quick panel set ups with storytelling of a guy asking a girl on a first date. On site drawing can speed up the backgrounds that you draw and they did very well.

That's been it for the first week of classes. I am drawing my tushy off on the BLACK BOX (more later on it) and I'm catching up. It's so much warmer here than last year it's amazing. The sun is always bright when it's out.

I still miss Sue, though. She'll be here in a few weeks.