Hi everyone, my name is Lizette. I am also known as Linzé Brandon because I am a published author. Linzé is my pen name. I do art more as a hobby and creative inspiration/outlet when I am not writing. I have been drawing and painting for years, but decided to focus on dry mediums since there is not time to do everything although I have five large paintings I have to finish for our living room. Best intentions and all that 
I am busy with preparing a few drawings for an exhibition in August, and am quite excited at the opportunity.
I love Matt’s video lessons, although the time zone makes it impossible to watch them live, but I do watch, and learn a lot every time. Thanks, Matt!
1 Like
Hello. My name is Pat. I am a late starter in art but love all mediums. Anything with eyes is what I love to paint/draw.
1 Like
Just reading through these posts last night and it almost brought me to tears. I cannot tell you how much these comments mean to me. Sometimes it’s hard to know whether or not what you’re doing is making a difference for people when you’re tucked away in a studio or typing away on a lesson. Thank you to all of you who have posted these comments. They mean the world to me and inspire me. Welcome to everyone!
12 Likes
Hi everyone! My name is Brenda and I have been with this site on and off for about 3 years. You’ll see some of my art on here (in the critiques section) under my old name, Sedore. I work with coloured pencil and pastel mainly, but sometimes in graphite and watercolour. I love the tutorials on here and have learned so much since I started. I credit you, Matt with getting me into doing wine pics with your coloured pencil wine picture. I did that tutorial and went on to do two more of my own, one of which you critiqued 
I am back and look forward to doing the bird tutorials among others!
I have a website: brendagrate.com and an instagram @artistbrenda
2 Likes
Hi everyone,
my name is Anna, I am from Poland, I paint about 5 years. I love soft pastels, watercolors, sometimes I also paint with acrylic. I’m new on this forum, but I’m connected with the website longer. I learned a lot thanks to this community. I wanted to thank Matt for all the tips and critique of my artworks
What can I say about myself? I am a very sensitive person, I love cats, I have a three-year-old sphinx cat he always paints with me.
He is is the sweetest sphinx in the world.
I think It’s enough about me 
I am very happy that I am here and that I have the opportunity to see all these beautiful paintings 
4 Likes
Hi Kathy. Welcome aboard. I have been busy with many other things these days, so haven’t really produced anything recently. But I will get back into things soon and hope to be sharing more in the coming weeks. Enjoy!
Hi Argel. Were you a contributor on the old forum? I seem to remember your name. I love your cat (absolutely beautiful). Have you drawn or painted your cat? If so, would you like to share it with us? That would be fun.
1 Like
Hi Brenda. I remember that critique with the wine pouring in the glass. I must tell you that I often go back to it, simply because I find it amazing. I felt like I could reach in and grab that glass. (In fact, at first, I thought it was a photograph because it was so well rendered) That blew me away. I also loved the Hare
Hi everyone, I’m Debra Parkes from the U.K. near Poole in Dorset. I have always enjoyed drawing and after losing my hobby of horses found time on my hands again. I took a drawing course using graphite which helped my skills immensely. I have only been doing pastel drawings the last few years having more or less taught myself to use colour. I tried a couple of teachers but, wasn’t impressed by their teaching methods. One of the teachers was using soft pastels which didn’t work for me and the other teacher had a problem of not turning up to teach us. I’m still a work in progress using pastels, learning something every time I use them. Thank You for letting me join this forum and allowing me to show some of my drawings.
Deb
2 Likes
Hello I am new to art as far as formal lessons go. I am mostly self taught with some informal insight by others.
I look forward to being more confident and creative. I would like to expand my knowledge… gesture drawing, figures, nature etc
2 Likes
Kia Ora-hello-greetings to all from New Zealand,. I have been watching Matt on youtube and his simple straight forward manner has inspired me to pick up my paints,pencils and chalks and have a crack,after a long hiatus. I live close by the beautiful Pacific on NZ’s South Island -I wake to it’s roar daily and spend much time on the beach sketching my surrounds. Until now I have had a mental block about applying colour but these exercises have encouraged me to overcome the mental block I have .
1 Like
Awwwww bless you Matt, you are making a difference in artists all over the world, still learning so much from you with more to go. Thank you so much.
Hi to everyone, I did join this but I’ve been busy trying to make a schedule for myself and learning to sketch more.
I look forward to see people’s art on here and hope to post some myself soon x
2 Likes
Welcome to the forum Debra.
Hello! I am a 75 year old retired real estate broker who is finally finding the time and space to learn art. Many years ago I studied drawing, then a little watercolor, then acrylics. Recently I have gone back to drawing and also have fallen in love with pastels, both chalk and oil. I am currently taking classes in drawing and pastel and have a studio set up in my lake cabin in Floral City, Florida. I am eager to learn all that I can!
3 Likes
Hi, Bonjour! For 5 years now, I have been teaching children in the Arctic; winter daylight is short and by choice I do not have t.v. because I wanted to spend more time drawing. I learned so much from the portrait lesson here. In my spare time in the North, I hope to capture the true beauty of the landscape, the people and their culture.
2 Likes
Hello everyone! I am Anna Maria, I’m Danish, and I have finally desided to return to my passion for art that I was so devoted to in my childhood and teenage years. I’ve had some formal training in my youth, and I also had an internship at an advertising company where I learnt a lot from many talented artists there. I did though deside on becoming a highschool teacher specializing in language, it and communication, so during the buzy years with family and fulltime work, I didn’t have time for art, but I do now. Despite the training and exprience I gained in my youth, I still consider myself a newbie, and I am very excited about the virtualinstructor. I think this is the best and the most comprehensive online art classes out there, and I am very impressed by the high quality of the art and the way Matt instructs and conveys his knowledge. Currently, my main focus is becoming better at drawing with graphite, but I also enjoy exploring ink, colored pencils, watercolor, gouache, and soft pastel + pastel pencils. Later on I might try acrylic paint, but not oils as I get nauseaous and dizzy from the turpentine fumes. Anyway, thank you so much, Matt, for providing this wonderful learning environment. I think I can say on everybody’s behalf here, that your efforts are very, very much appreciated!!
7 Likes
Hi, I am Rosanne from NSW North Coast - Australia, I have been doing Pastel art and Charcoal for a few years now, but have not had the time to concentrate on it enough. I will be making the time from now on and hope to gain much knowledge for being more involved with this group. I would like to enter some Art Competitions, just for the experience. Thank you and I hope to be able to join in as I go on.
4 Likes
Hi Artistic Peeps! My name is Cheryl . . . As I was looking for art schools online, I was accepted to one, but something told me this is the route I am to take and this will give me a better experience overall. I am not an artist, but hope to be one by the time my first year is complete here. I am so excited to be here! VI is my school and I will be treating it as such! I am here to learn about drawing and mixed media. I want to help people who have been touched by violence work through loss and anger with mixed media art, so I am here to check it all out! I love mixed media art journaling, collage and want to greatly improve my drawing and painting skills.
4 Likes
I am new to this site and was impressed by what Matt has put together for the lesson plans. I hope to gain some insight from them to assist me with my students. My students call me Mr. A for Art. I try to keep it simple so they will remember my name. I have been teaching for 16 years now and have learned much from my students, many who have moved on to their professions. I am still learning and find there is not enough time to complete all the ideas that come from the creative thought process. thank you Matt for making this forum and giving us an opportunity to communicate through it . Very nice indeed.
3 Likes
Hi! My name is Kathy but everyone calls me Gracie which is a nickname my boss gave me years ago and it stuck. I am currently employed full time at my bookkeeping job but will be semi-retiring next year. I have been away from art for 10-12 years just because of work, and family etc. I decided to start up again when I thought about retiring, so here I am trying to get back into the swing of things.
I have mainly worked with pen & ink, graphite, and colored pencil but I enjoy watching any kind of art tutorials. I’m really excited about learning new media and seeing other’s art work.
5 Likes