5 Things I learned from Steven Assael's Workshop

In the spring I had the pleasure of meeting and learning from esteemed artist, Steven Assael, at the Armory Art Center. Coming into the workshop I was clearly intimidated by his immense talent but was pleasantly surprised to learn how approachable and encouraging he was as an instructor. Steven made an indelible impression on me as an artist which truly affected the quality of my work. Months later I am still ruminating on major takeaways from the experience. Here are five things I learned from the Steven Assael workshop and how it made me a better artist.

1. Invest in yourself (both monetarily and with your time)

Workshops and seminars are pricey. I get it. In many cases they require us to take off work, arrange childcare and the like. In my case, I was teaching a drawing course at FAU, in the midst of preparing a body of work for my MFA thesis, and writing the supporting documentation, which was eerily looming overhead. I could've used all those responsibilities as proof positive that I couldn't attend the workshop. However, I reminded myself that one of my goals while in grad school was to work with a figure painter and this was my last shot. Simultaneously, I'd been reading a lot of articles from art biz guru's like Maria Brophy, who reminded me, when you invest in yourself your business grows. I was ready to grow.