Every artist needs a guide. 

There is no better way to accelerate your growth as an artist than learning from those who've gone before you. As your trusted guide, I'm here to provide you with a wealth of insight and ideas that will nourish your creative growth. This is what it means to Apprentice.

Consider the Painterly Landscape and Portrait Courses. They were designed very intentionally to guide you through the stages of the Painterly Roadmap, equipping you with the vocabulary, techniques, and understanding you need to create looser, more expressive paintings in pastel.

As you continue your journey inside of Cultivate, you may be feeling anxious to make lots of progress right away. I'm here to tell you not to worry about making big strides right now. Instead, focus on learning foundational skills and techniques. Things like thumbnail sketching and drawing foundations, understanding light and form, value, color, composition, mark-making, edges and painterly application. There’s so much to learn!

Cultivate rotates quarterly through various topics related to the landscape, portrait and figure, still life and floral, inviting you to encounter themes where you have less experience. Don’t worry, just be an Apprentice!

Allow me to guide you through the topics as you focus on learning the lessons taught and imitating working methods with the goal of gaining proficiency in your craft. Don’t put pressure on yourself to discover your own creative voice right now! Instead, gain the foundational skills, knowledge and understanding that you’ll need to progress to the next level.

MILESTONES

When these milestones are accomplished Apprentices are ready to move on to the next stage.

• Vocabulary Comprehension - You understand the vocabulary of value, light and shadow, perspective, basic color theory, composition, and mark-making.
• Drawing Proficiency - Your drawing skills include accurate proportions and rendering form with light and shadow in monochrome.
• Lesson Execution - You can proficiently follow Lesson Demonstrations, using the provided reference photos to execute concepts and techniques.
• Specialized Proficiency - You've gained proficiency in one of the core topics: landscape, still life, floral, portrait and figure.

ACTIONS

• Execute concepts and techniques that are taught in each lesson by following along using the reference photos provided to gain full comprehension.
• Get feedback inside of our private Cultivate Community on your progress based on how well you are executing the skills and techniques set forth in the Growth Exercises.
• Watch the October 2020 Still Life Introduction on Revealing Light & Form from Season 1 for a vocabulary of light and shadow. Then watch Lessons 1-3 to learn how to work from life in the studio to develop light and form. 
• Watch the Growth Strategy about Studio Lighting to learn about effective strategies for lighting your studio and take a look at a few light fixture qualities that can be useful for studio lighting.

• Watch the September 2021 Plein Air Landscape Introduction from Season 3 to learn ore about working on location.

• Watch the Growth Strategy about Creative Confidence to encourage a growth mindset.

• Visit the Resources Section and use The Book List for further study and equipping.
• Watch the December 2020 Structures in the Landscape Introduction from Season 2 to gain a foundation in the laws of linear and atmospheric perspective.  

• Watch the October 2021 Drawing Foundations Introduction from Season 3 to gain a better understanding of the basics of drawing.

• Watch the  January 2023 Painting Drapery Introduction from Season 6 for foundational training on drawing and painting drapery. 

• Watch the January 2024 Cast Drawing lessons from Season 8 for foundational training on how to capture form and structure.
• Watch the July 2023 Mark-Making Introduction to gain a greater understanding of the language and practice of mark-making.
• Watch April 2021 Understanding Edges, Lesson 1 from Season 2 for a vocabulary of edges.

Painterly Course Review

•  Go back to the Painterly Landscape Course and watch Milestone 2 Lessons 4 and 5 to review and practice mark-making techniques.
• Go back to the Painterly Portrait Course and watch Milestone 2 Lesson 1 on the Visual Techniques and Approaches to drawing, and Lesson 2 for a refresher on Light & Shadow. 
• Go back to the Painterly Landscape Course and watch Milestone 4 to strengthen your understanding of basic color theory and how to develop a color concept in your painting.
• Go back to the Painterly Portrait Course and watch Milestone 4 Lesson 1 on Understanding Color & Light for a color theory refresher.
• Go back to the Painterly Landscape Course and watch Milestone 5 Lesson 2 to learn about three basic underpainting techniques.