Thoughts: On Growing as an Artist

 Above the basic palette that works great from Miniac's 4 hour course in Oshawa this summer.

Below the mini that we got pretty deep into given it was a short course.
I liked the course and picked up a few new tips, got to try some scale 75 paints and have some fun.  Also got to check out a new part of town and a new store called Critical Hit Lounge that was awesome. Also I am going blind when it comes to 28mm. :P

In November I had a 2 day course that was about 8hrs a day out in Oakville. This one was with Fernando Ruiz.
He paints in a different style using a lot of washes and glazes over a white primer (like watercolors) and had some great tips for how to get a high quality paint job done FAST. Day one was this bust concentrating on the face:
 Day two was with his heavy use of retarder style and this 75mm viking...
 Again, learned some new tricks and had fun and enjoyed the company of fellow painters and discovered a new part of town and new store called Lords of War.

It was awesome.

I can't travel to every course and they can be expensive, but I participate in Inktober (see my Deviant Art gallery here) and try watercolors and gouache and markers  and calligraphy to explore new ways to be creative and see my mini painting in different ways - in addition to taking these courses.

Have you taken courses? Are you planning on it? Are the online resources enough or are you a classroom learner like me? How do you develop your style and level up with your hobby?

Thanks for looking, let me know what you do in the comments below and remember; you can't spell paint without a little pain.