This has been the biggest hurdle for me, and you've expressed it dead-on. But I'm finally learning to go with the flow of what my body draws, and I'm loving it! So, thank you (again!) for all you taught me! 💙
Thanks so much for this! I struggle with wanting to discard or collage overtop of drawings I do not like. And yet, many times, I will look back on a drawing I thought I hated and find merit in it. Love your drawings and appreciated this immensely. I am going to try to ignore my inner critic and refrain from doing away with anything. Yours was a reminder I sorely needed. So glad to have stumbled upon your content here on Substack.
I was shaking my head in agreement through this whole comic. Very true and it wasn't until I learned to work with permanent ink and let those "mistakes" become interesting turns that I felt like my voice was coming through. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for this. I am having so much more fun embracing my poor art skills once I started thinking of them more as a means of expression and less as a need to manifest exactly what I had envisioned.
Aubrey speaks the truth! She is such a talented artist, writer, coach, and teacher. I find her view of the world so interesting. I took her class as a writer and emerged feeling much more confident about my drawing. It is very frustrating when the idea in your head doesn’t match what ends up on paper. But Aubrey helped me view my drawing in a different, more positive, way, and now the time I spend drawing brings me great satisfaction.
I’m an essayist with ADHD. I love writing and need to do it, but get bogged down in the sorting of thousands of words to say a nuanced yet simple thing. More than once: “I could probably learn a thing or two from Aubrey Hirsch.”
I love the idea for your class and might be interested! I make YouTube videos and really wish I could animate some of the things I am trying to say but have NO idea where to begin. Will your course cover tools assembly and training? I really don't have artistic skill. I am fine with lightly characterized blobs like Innuendo or Over Simplified. Even this is beyond me.
Hi Amy! This is a great question and I apologize in advance for what will be a lengthy answer!
The goal of the class is to be as inclusive and accessible as possible to anyone with interest in making comics. It's important to me that the class works for people interested in experimenting with digital art AND those with no digital drawing equipment or software who are working in natural mediums (pencil, marker, crayon, etc.). So we talk about both! I offer advice, tips and some instruction on both. We also break down process on our own work in workshop and speculate about the published pieces we discuss and how they were made. For people more interested in getting into the weeds in Photoshop, I often offer a little extra time after the official class ends to answer more technical questions. There's also an open discussion built into the syllabus at the end of the course to talk process, assembly, publishing, etc. (This is for the 6-week version. The one-day version is inspiring and idea-generating, but is too short to include any digital art how-tos!)
As for the "art training", all of the drawing exercises in both versions of the class assume that participants "can't draw" and are more about working around that (How do we simplify complicated objects to make them recognizable? How can we add visual interest without requiring additional skills? etc.) than suddenly transforming everyone into amazing artists. No artistic skill is required! You can feel comfortable coming as you are and I think you'll be amazed at what you can do!
I hope this helps answer your questions! If not, feel free to follow up with me!
I signed up for the one day class. I am never going to learn photoshop or buy a subscription. It's way too complicated for nonartists. I would love to hear about any tools in existence that make it easier to create simple comics! I don't know how I could possibly make use of pen and paper. Like... take a photo of it? If you have any recommendations of tools in advance of the workshop, that would be amazing. I have tons of ideas.
This has been the biggest hurdle for me, and you've expressed it dead-on. But I'm finally learning to go with the flow of what my body draws, and I'm loving it! So, thank you (again!) for all you taught me! 💙
I love hearing this, Andria! Thank you!
Thanks so much for this! I struggle with wanting to discard or collage overtop of drawings I do not like. And yet, many times, I will look back on a drawing I thought I hated and find merit in it. Love your drawings and appreciated this immensely. I am going to try to ignore my inner critic and refrain from doing away with anything. Yours was a reminder I sorely needed. So glad to have stumbled upon your content here on Substack.
Thank you so much! And I'm so glad!
haha this is great!
Thank you!
Great post, Aubrey!
Thank you!
I was shaking my head in agreement through this whole comic. Very true and it wasn't until I learned to work with permanent ink and let those "mistakes" become interesting turns that I felt like my voice was coming through. Thank you for sharing.
That's very cool. I love that!
"lean into the weird stuff your body does when you're drawing" i felt my body relax when I read this <3
I love that!
I signed up for Aubrey’s class and can’t wait! I love when homework is reading comics
So excited to have you!
Thanks for this. I am having so much more fun embracing my poor art skills once I started thinking of them more as a means of expression and less as a need to manifest exactly what I had envisioned.
Yes! that's what it's all about!
Aubrey speaks the truth! She is such a talented artist, writer, coach, and teacher. I find her view of the world so interesting. I took her class as a writer and emerged feeling much more confident about my drawing. It is very frustrating when the idea in your head doesn’t match what ends up on paper. But Aubrey helped me view my drawing in a different, more positive, way, and now the time I spend drawing brings me great satisfaction.
Thank you so much, Gwyn! It's been such a pleasure to get to know you and your work!
I couldn’t be more excited you are doing this!
It's the most fun class I have ever taught!!
I’m an essayist with ADHD. I love writing and need to do it, but get bogged down in the sorting of thousands of words to say a nuanced yet simple thing. More than once: “I could probably learn a thing or two from Aubrey Hirsch.”
Aw. I love that! I think you will!
This makes me want to give drawing another shot - thank you! 🙂
Posting twice for emphasis
Hi!! Any workshops planned for the fall?
Not as of right now, but I'll definitely post it here if that changes!
I love the idea for your class and might be interested! I make YouTube videos and really wish I could animate some of the things I am trying to say but have NO idea where to begin. Will your course cover tools assembly and training? I really don't have artistic skill. I am fine with lightly characterized blobs like Innuendo or Over Simplified. Even this is beyond me.
Hi Amy! This is a great question and I apologize in advance for what will be a lengthy answer!
The goal of the class is to be as inclusive and accessible as possible to anyone with interest in making comics. It's important to me that the class works for people interested in experimenting with digital art AND those with no digital drawing equipment or software who are working in natural mediums (pencil, marker, crayon, etc.). So we talk about both! I offer advice, tips and some instruction on both. We also break down process on our own work in workshop and speculate about the published pieces we discuss and how they were made. For people more interested in getting into the weeds in Photoshop, I often offer a little extra time after the official class ends to answer more technical questions. There's also an open discussion built into the syllabus at the end of the course to talk process, assembly, publishing, etc. (This is for the 6-week version. The one-day version is inspiring and idea-generating, but is too short to include any digital art how-tos!)
As for the "art training", all of the drawing exercises in both versions of the class assume that participants "can't draw" and are more about working around that (How do we simplify complicated objects to make them recognizable? How can we add visual interest without requiring additional skills? etc.) than suddenly transforming everyone into amazing artists. No artistic skill is required! You can feel comfortable coming as you are and I think you'll be amazed at what you can do!
I hope this helps answer your questions! If not, feel free to follow up with me!
I signed up for the one day class. I am never going to learn photoshop or buy a subscription. It's way too complicated for nonartists. I would love to hear about any tools in existence that make it easier to create simple comics! I don't know how I could possibly make use of pen and paper. Like... take a photo of it? If you have any recommendations of tools in advance of the workshop, that would be amazing. I have tons of ideas.
Sure! I have lots of advice about digitizing natural medium art. Can you ask this at the end of the workshop? It would be a lot to type out!