Art Page

What art tools do I use?

• Gimp 3
• Pocket Procreate
• Watercolor
• also sometimes oil paint

I am a big believer though that its more about the knowledge of an artist vs the tool or medium they use! In the past ive used very simple art programs like paint, or kidpix. I also started out drawing with just pencil and paper! I do think that the medium you use can change the feeling and look to your art, but you can do amazing things in any form of medium. I personally love watercolor for how fast it drys and the vivid colors from it :)! its also super easy to paint anywhere with watercolor.

Interested in commissioning me?

Please email me at emma@3maqi.art Please read my tos for more info

I do art mainly for fun so commissions from me do take a while. However if your commission is a gift / has a deadline we can work around that :)!

How did you learn?

Ive been drawing since I was pretty young to be honest, but most of my art education was in highschool. We had a ton of different courses and I was always taking one a semester. I also was taking graphic design at the same time, so thats helped me learn how to use digital art programs as well. I took a big break making art during college, only taking one class in school. However, during covid, I had to go back to my hometown from college. There I found out about a figure drawing class, ran by Ian Paul Morrison. A super talented artist, who really helped me get a good running start in figure drawing. It was a really small group of about 5 or less people. So he would give us tips on how to improve our figure studies. I really didnt realize how lucky I was at the time to get his guidance. Im forever grateful for that.

After I moved back to milwaukee for college, with a new found inspiration for art, I started doing plein air paintings. I lived 15 mins away from the lake, so I would walk there and paint the beach. I also would just doodle in sketch books to keep me from getting rusty.

After college, I moved to Chicago for my current job. I decided to take a few adult education art classes, to get a deeper understanding of some concepts, plus it had been about 3~ years since I had taken an offical art class. I took 2 classes at SAIC Adult programs, a drawing class, and a class for figure drawing portraits. I also took a oil painting class at Lil Street Art Center. I also decided to plan a trip aboard, one focused on art education. Mainly since I never really studied aboard when I was in college. It was something I had considered doing, but money, time, covid and also me not really making an effort to do so prevented me from doing so. I decided on the program in Florance, Italy - Charles H. Cecil Studios Mainly because it was was all english class, was in italy, and I was very impressed by the art that this studio makes.

The class was very intensive, it was a 2 week program. a few days were focused on charcoal drawings of the subject of the model. The remaining days were focused on creating the oil protrait. I highly recommend this class to anyone interesting in drawing from life, at scale. I think ill make a blog post to go over the class more and share pictures too.

After my class in italy, I decided I wanted to keep drawing people. I actually had a art studio for a bit. I didnt keep it for long though as it was very pricey, I was moving into my own place and had enough room for myself. I tried out a few different figure drawing classes, but I really feel in love with platform studios. I actually have a little friend group who I draw with every wednesday, its super cute!

How do I learn?

I sometimes wish I went to school for graphic design, or maybe something else a bit more art focused but its ok! life turns out differently sometimes. My advice to anyone wanting to learn, is like any other hobby and skill, you get in what you put into it! If you live in a city I really recommend figure drawing studios. Going to platform studios weekly has really helped me improve & kept me consistent. I know there are online classes and clubs, if you live in a smaller city. Adult education classes have also been very helpful to me. I took mine in person, but there also so many online classes as well. There also so many free online resources on youtube, skillshare, and other places on the internet. Don't forget about art books too!
If you want to create art professionally, art school would probably be worth it. I would really do your research on what you want to do, and what schools are out there. For example, if you want to make illustrations for magic the gathering, a school focused on experimental art is probably a poor match. Art education is super expensive, so getting grants is highly recommended. I also recommend looking into being a public art educator. Many public schools teach it, and its way cheaper then private art schools. My sister actually did that! You could also try to talk to artists in the field, and ask them what they did for art education.

TL;DR

My art education has been really a handful of classes in my adult life, constant doodling, high school electives, and figure drawing weekly. Also just being obsessed with making art. To be honest, I don't know many famous artists, but I just love creating art!