WHAT:

• Creative virtual coffee hours to bridge the Safer-At-Home isolation. (The last series ranged from people sheltering at home alone to families with three generations at the kitchen table; from Alaska to Belgium and beyond; and from ages 5 to 89. People invited friends from other states, and colleagues and cousins from other continents. It was so much fun that we're doing it again.)
• Suitable for solo attendance, and it can be fun if you bring a 'drawing associate': your kid, housemate, etc. (If they can write their name and draw a moderately recognizable stick figure -- and you're already committed to sharing serving utensils and boxes of antibacterial wipes -- then they meet the essential job requirements. :) )
• A three-week drop-in series -- each session will stand alone, and they'll also build on each other.
• Each week will have a handful of lightly-facilitated drawing exercises, mostly inspired by and adapted from the fabulous work of Lynda Barry (specifically, her books Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor and Making Comics.)

WHEN: MULTIPLE DATES

• Three Tuesdays in May: 10:30 - 11:30am, PDT. (May 12, 19, 26).
• PLEASE NOTE: You can register for any combo of these dates; EventBrite will not have that detailed info in calendar form, so you'll need to enter your selections to your calendar manually (or edit it manually when you save it from EventBrite).

WHY:

• To loosen up, surprise yourself, and delight each other.
• It's an empathy generator.
• Low-key, creative image-making can have fabulous carry-over effects, from more creative problem-solving to greater compassion, from better focus to cheerier moods. And even if that weren't true, it's fun and interesting in the moment, and that's worthwhile, too.
• I love Lynda Barry's work and her brilliant ways of making drawing accessible, and this will be a fun way to share that interest. As Lynda says, "Just like your liver, you don't need to like how your drawings look for them to work." (Or something like that.)

WHO:

• For people who loathe / love / are-afraid-of / believe-they-can't / know-they-can draw.
• For people who are working from home / self-quarantining, and want a social, creative break in their week.
• For people who are holding lots of responsibilities, are finding it hard to focus, and/or are feeling a bit burned out. (Sometimes letting somebody else structure an hour of your time with creative sparks and non-goal-oriented activity is surprisingly refreshing.)
• It can be fun to do with 2-3 people around the same table. If you have a 'drawing associate', bring them.

LOGISTICS:

• This workshop will take place by videoconference. There'll be screen-sharing, show-and-tell, and talking, so a reasonable camera/mic set-up will be helpful (but not mandatory).
• Link + log-in information will be shared with registered attendees.
• It's free, but space is limited, and registration is required. (You'll need a Zoom account, which is free to get.)

SUPPLIES:

• A devil-may-care attitude and a sense of humor.
• NEEDED SUPPLIES: Plain paper + a couple of pens.
• OPTIONAL SUPPLIES: something for adding color (markers, colored pencils, crayons), something for adding contrast (black flair pens or other fairly narrow black markers), and something to secure paper to a surface (a notebook, a clip board, binder clips, and/or masking tape).
• A Zoom account (free to get: https://zoom.us/ )
• Extra credit: a drawing associate, if you've got one. (see above.)
• No requirement at all to have the Lynda Barry books, but you'd probably enjoy them: Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor and Making Comics