Introducing...(drumroll) April Dixon!

This week I’m posting about my mentor on this project; April Dixon.

I set up a meeting with her to interview her about who she is and why she’s qualified to be a mentor on this subject. I’ve written down the questions I asked and what she answered. Here it is-

Q: What do you teach?

A: I teach Art 1, Art 2 and 3 and Junior High Art. I also teach English and History, since I’m also a facilitator.

Q: How long have you been teaching?

A: I’ve been teaching for about 10 years now.

Q: When did you know you wanted to teach art?

A: Since I was about 16 in high school. I met a really cool art teacher there and realized that she got to teach art to kids for a living, and thought that’s what I wanted to do.

Q: How much education do you have in art?

A: I took art classes for a long time, but the first one in a school was during my junior year. I kept taking art classes into college and got a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts.

Q: What would you say is your specialty in art?

A: I think… oil painting.

Q: Have you been a mentor before?

A: Not in this specific way, but I like to think that I’ve been a mentor for kids before while I’ve coached or taught. I try to see which kids need the most guidance, and help them in any way I can.

April's a very motivated person, and I often feel motivated when I'm around her. She's extremely experienced with lots of different types of art, so I know I'll learn something new about art when we collaborate. I look forward to working with her!

Baby's First Post!

I've just posted my first comic! The url of the blog is helpingthroughcomics.tumblr.com
Tonight's post was about how sometimes, you don't do as well as you wanted- but it's all right. You don't have to be perfect! I'll also put the url of this blog in the description so you don't have to hunt for it.

The Beginning

I have decided for my project that I am going to start drawing something inspirational and helpful every day until the end of this project. This means making images about self care (taking care of your mental and physical health) or encouraging phrases. I plan to post these on a tumblr account. These posts will be targeted towards people who are having a hard time, whether it be physical or mental. I hope to add in LGBT and feminist subjects as well.

I decided on this project because art is something I really enjoy doing, and I have not done a lot of it lately. I also am very passionate about social issues and love spreading helpful information. I thought mixing these subjects would make a project I would easily focus on. This would allow me to help others in a way I have not before. I expect to learn how to consistently work on something, and gain skill in art.

I plan to set aside time each day to work on the next thing I am going to post. I will post every weekday, since we are doing this on school days. In case of times I can’t work on this project, I plan to have posts queued- this would mean that the blog would keep posting what I have made until it runs out of posts. This would give me time to get back to work. I asked April, my facilitator (and an art teacher), to be my mentor on this project since my work will be drawn.

I may come into contact with obstacles, such as sickness, having to go out of town, or no internet. In which case, as I stated before, I will have a queue of posts that I will organize to keep going until I come back or recover. I intend to use my art tablet and my notebook for this project, so there will be no technical difficulties. If one of them is lost, I am able to keep going with another medium. Since my supplies are just these, I have no need to buy any other supplies or equipment.

In conclusion, I am going to run a blog that posts inspirational and helpful things that I will draw every day. I hope to help people who need encouragement, and help people learn to accept and take care of themselves. I want to do this project because I want to start drawing more and take a more active position in the communities I am so invested in.