I enjoyed the course’s step by step approach. Starting with foundational drawing skills and shading techniques, to 3-d modeling then on to color theory and how to use the different mediums and tools to create the effects you would like. The videos of great artists and their works is also helpful and inspirational. Even if you don’t think that you have any artistic ability, Carmen can get those latent seeds of talent blooming in no time. Highly recommend even if you’re just interested in a basic art course and not Buddhist art.

Hello Carmen,
The color technique course was certainly very nice and educational.
Especially the shadow sides, stripes instead of circles that I was used to.
It still takes a lot of practice.
Just opened the beautiful folder, I’m speechless.
The White Tara is already special, many thanks 🙏

I loved taking this course. I have to admit, I loved the fact that there was no time constraints on the course, since I have a busy life. I loved all the extra material in the course, the connection to the old Dutch masters, the documentary on the Chinese artists, the connection to Escher, the documentaries on colors. This course will continue to help me with using colored pencils and blending with other drawings, not just my Thangka drawings. I love colored pencils as a medium, and the course made me appreciate them even more than I do.

In the 90s I took an intense color theory course, I did not enjoy it but your course gave me hope that I do understand color way better than I thought. I did like the connection you made between the old Dutch Masters and Thangka Art, very much. I just took the Buddha head class and I made two heads. I will use a pencil with shading on one and color pencils on the second. When I finish them, I will send photos for you to see. Thank you for offering your classes on-line. I hope to take more classes in the future.

Tashi delek, Carmen, it’s so nice that at the start of the Colouring Techniques Course you indicate to be especially ‘playful’. I find that I did quite well during this course. I really enjoyed ‘silent drawing & coloring like a child’. I completely agree with your vision of ‘bending the rules of color theory’ BUT ‘to be respectful to the tradition and lineage of Tibetan Buddhist Thangka Art’. I hope to learn even more from the lineage and tradition at the White Tara Thangka Course. An eye opener for me was ‘imagine the light coming from within’. It has already helped me and will continue to help me. Thanks for these valuable ‘preliminaries’, Annette

The Colouring Techniques Course was so much fun, and beyond my expectations. I love the Dutch Masters, Rembrandt and Van Gogh are 2 of my personal favorites. I was happy to have some exercises with the colored pencils because I have never used them before. I have been drawing and painting throughout my life, but have never tried using colored pencils, so it was great to get to experiment before the actual course begins. You gave very helpful tips and ideas to consider, I am grateful for that. Your ability to explain the lessons clearly and show through examples was also very helpful. I only wished I had more time to devote to the exercises, but such is life! I’m really looking forward to drawing the Buddha course soon.

I just want to say that the course exceeded my expectations. I especially learned and enjoyed the teachings on shading and blending, as well as the bonus information on artists. It was good to make the connection with the old Dutch Masters because I felt more of an appreciation for them after this. This will definitely help me with upcoming Medicine Buddha class and I only wish I had taken this course prior to the Buddha Face class. Many thanks and deep bow to you.

Thank you for your precise instructions as well as perspective and access to you directly. Being a complete amateur in all things art, the Coloring Techniques Course was so valuable to me. I think I enjoyed the shading and blending the best, although I find I am quite timid about shading. I am getting bolder. Here is a coloring of the lotus where one has no blending and the other I used water color pencils and blending.

I just finished the colored pencil coloring class and I have learned so much. There is so much information in this class. I loved how you included Rembrandt’s Shading techniques and the bonus videos. I am excited to begin my Buddha face class.

I really enjoyed doing the course, especially that the exercises you made were used to the end to practice all the techniques. By taking pictures in the meantime, you can see step by step what the exercises change in the drawing.
I found the connection with the Dutch Masters very interesting and as a result of that the first exercise also, only this way of shading I have not encountered further in the course and I have not applied this way.
The course will certainly help me with coloring the White Tara; I did not use the course on the Face of the Buddha, because I had not fully worked through the course then. The course has more than lived up to my expectations.

I took a class last summer, live, in Italy, and have wanted to paint the Medicine Buddha for years. I am not comfortable with computers, but this class worked out well. Thanks. It is clear, nicely divided up into sections, so you can do as much or as little as you have time for, and come back, know where you are and continue. Recording these classes is a work of love, now they will be accessible to more people who can’t travel. Grazie Carmen. Tanti grazie.

About the Colouring Techniques Course:
Wow. Yes, Carmen, what a fabulous course. I didn’t really know what you would present. It is a very comprehensive drawing course, introducing pencil and shading and blending and color and how to use it. I love all the examples of students work. Seeing the variety and different personal styles gave me the courage and inspiration to keep going. It was also very nice, not being in a classroom with other students, being able to see other people’s work, and some other faces. I loved, loved, loved the supplementary bonus links to Rembrandt and Vermeer and Van Gogh, I spent hours in the museums drinking in your rich heritage. Thank you.

I’ve never really used colored pencil formally before and I am grateful to learn new techniques. Who knew how many values you can get with one color pencil? And with the instruction on blending I now know how others achieved the softness in their Thangkas. I didn’t know you could use Q-tips, or paint thinner to blend and extend the color. I very much like the water color effect you can get with the solvents.

If I had taken this color class first, my Medicine Buddha would have been very different. I won’t struggle so much with my next one, having learned so much in this course. I missed the comradery of the classroom, but I loved being able to pause and rewind and practice and re-listen to the different lessons.

I love the way the course is laid out and developed, taking us through each step with lectures and then exercises. I enjoyed the lectures about the old Dutch masters very much, and the way Carmen segued into Tangka.
It’s very clear and helpful and now I feel I have the knowledge to complete my drawings from previous classes.

I have been attending Carmen’s workshops for over seven years now, and I have not finished learning yet. The more you delve into this matter, the more fascinating it becomes. Drawing Thangka is a special and wonderful hobby, and Carmen is a fantastic teacher; passionate, but also very clear in her explanation and inspiring in terms of guidance. Recommended!!!!!!

I loved this course. I approached it with a degree of skepticism thinking colouring pencils could only ever achieve a matte and flat finish but the shine achievable using Carmen’s techniques even for a beginner like me is amazing. Carmen has kept up her usual very high standard with this course. I loved the extra bits like learning from the Dutch Masters and all the links to documentaries on colour. The most important thing for me though was that in this course I gained confidence in colouring my Buddhist drawings which I never had before thanks to the way Carmen gently and methodically guides from the simple to more complex Buddhist symbols in her very quiet relaxed approach. I was colouring in confidently before I realised it. Thank you very much Carmen. I hope to do many more courses with you.