(video transcript)

WELCOME! IMPORTANT NOTES — PLEASE TAKE A COUPLE MINUTES TO READ OR WATCH.

Hi, I’m Amy Cesari, author and illustrator of “Coloring Book of Shadows” and welcome to this class in art and magic, where you’ll learn all sorts of useful things about coloring with colored pencils—like how to apply shading and color and light and texture—as well as ways to unlock and express your unique spirit and style on the page.

IMPORTANT POINT: HOW TO APPROACH THIS CLASS:

As I write/record this, it’s been four/five years since I originally created this class.

And I’ve updated it in one important way — which is the structure and how you should approach this class — in short — whichever way you want.

The lessons are set up in two basic sections:

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE:

PROJECTS and SKILLS.

I used to have all the skills section first — but I’ve since realized that a lot of people — myself included — have a better time and learn better when they jump right into “projects” first.

In the projects sections, we cover a little bit of all the skills with color, light, and shadow — and do an entire piece. I think it's more satisfying and it gets you into the "good stuff" faster.

From there, you can follow whatever sparks your interest, do another project, or maybe you want to work on shading or learn more about color and mood — so you can check out the “skills” section for those deep dives into skills.

So — please choose whatever way is right to you.

If you’re the kind of person that likes to start with the skills — that’s great — dive right in there, learn some skills, and work up to a project later — or whatever.

You can even start with "just crystals" or whatever — and do it in any order that you want. Your choice — this class will lead you in your creative journey either way.

YOU ARE ALREADY GOOD ENOUGH AT COLORING

Something else I wanna make clear straight away—you are already good enough and artistic enough, and you don’t actually need a class to color! All you have to do is start coloring. Like when you were a kid, where you expressed freely and without self-judgement or worrying what others might think, or wondering if you’d be good enough.

But as you’ve probably found, this is easier said than done, especially if you’ve felt stuck or afraid to express your creativity for a while. Most of us have experienced something at some point in our lives that’s dampened or totally shuttered our artistic pursuits. I know I certainly have. So, you don’t need a class and you don’t need to be better at coloring, you’re already good enough.

However! There are still plenty of reasons to enjoy classes, and of course, it’s wonderful and so satisfying to pursue growth and new skills on your artistic journey. I personally love art classes and learning new things.

ART CAN UNLOCK YOUR MAGIC

So, while you’ll learn coloring and colored pencil skills in this course, perhaps the more valuable thing is the powerful magical practices that I’ll show you to get into the flow of art and creative spirit — to quiet your fears and inner critic, and to really allow yourself to find your artistic flow.

Part of the magic of art is that it’s a deep practice in grounding, to find a calm state of awareness and heightened intuition. That’s why coloring often feels good and so calming. When you’re truly present in your body and allow the chatter of your mind to stop for a few moments —You become a conduit for your own awareness and expression of spirit to flow through.

INSPIRATION, NOT INSTRUCTION

This is a zero-competitor class. There is no right and wrong here. Everything in this class is about discovering what feels good and right to you, and expressing yourself in ways that feel right to your hand. And I hope you’ll take what you learn here not as instruction, but as inspiration to discover the best ways for you to color.

LET'S GET STARTED

So… If you’re ready to silence your own inner critic for a moment… Get past creativity blocks… and allow yourself to the space to express your own divine self, your own bright spirit, your shadows, your colors, your whole self on the page… then let’s get started!

RECOMMENDED: TAKE THIS FREE COURSE FIRST!

And if you’re really new to art and coloring and you haven’t taken my free “getting started” course about using colored pencils, I’d suggest you go back and watch that first. It’ll give you a solid start if you’re new. It’s free, and the link is down below.

https://coloringbookofshadows.teachable.com/p/colored-pencil-basics

OK! Thanks for watching, and let’s get ready to make some magic happen in the next video.