What is Virtual Voyage?
G’day Friends!
We’re 3 Virtual Voyages in and I’ve finally decided to write a blog post to explain it all! If you’ve ever heard me explain it in person you’ll know why this was probably necessary about 10 months ago! Well, VV4 is just around the corner, and there’s no time like the present, so here we go!
WHAT IS IT?
VIRTUAL VOYAGE
- Themed for Inspiration, Open for Imagination -
Simply, it is a themed, live online, jlbCREATIVE WORKSHOP experience.
The idea started with the desire to create an art journaling workshop that we could complete together in real-time. My other workshops are self-paced and I wanted a way to step students through the course and engage with teaching in a way that was interactive and entertaining. Furthermore, I wanted to provide content offerings similar to my “Playtest Patreon” experiences and theme the lessons. There was a lot I wanted to pack in! Haha
Then it clicked - a Voyage! Seriously, the idea just jumped out during the brainstorming session. Having worked on cruise ships as a performer for most of my young adult life, there seemed to be a similarity in the structure of a cruise and the loose plan I had for my course; cruises go to multiple places in one itinerary, offer a variety of things to see and do and are generally a very social experience for the guests. It worked in my head, so I started translating it to a course structure.
The course is structured like a cruise (voyage), and the themes show up in our “Ports of Inspiration”. We essentially split up the course into different themes, or the” itinerary” into “Ports of Inspiration”. This let’s us keep inspiration fresh and our imaginations flowing. In our first Virtual Voyage itinerary, we visited 4 Ports of Inspiration (POI) over 4 weeks -
Down The Rabbit Hole themed to Alice in Wonderland
Fathoms Below themed to The Little Mermaid
Avant Garden themed to Christian Dior’s Garden
Over The Rainbow themed to The Wizard Of Oz
So, these were the themes I used to create lessons and content with. There are more examples below, but for instance, the first lesson was a tutorial in perspective and I used the Alice in Wonderland theming to teach it.
Since the second workshop, Virtual Voyages have started to take on an “Umbrella theme” - where the whole workshop had an overall theme, in this case, the work and style of Tim Burton. This workshop was 2 weeks before Halloween 2020 and had a much more densely packed itinerary. We visited one POI, “Burtonville”, which allowed us to incorporate many sources of Tim Burton inspiration within a short time frame -
Frankenweenie
Beetlejuice
Sweeney Todd
Corpse Bride
Nightmare Before Christmas
Edward Scissorhands
Most recently, we had an umbrella theme and 4 POI’s for VV3’s “The Red Curtain Cruise”. Our umbrella theme was the directorial work of Baz Luhrmann and our 4 Ports of Inspiration were
TRUTH themed to Strictly Ballroom
LOVE themed to Romeo & Juliet
BEAUTY themed to Moulin Rouge
FREEDOM themed to The Great Gatsby
This was also a 2 week Voyage and was incredibly packed with teachings and content reflecting my love for feminine faces and fashion forms.
This is the simplest way to show what subject matter we’ll be working with, but what is inside the course can be a little trick to explain - so I’m going to detail exactly what you’ll find in Virtual Voyages right now (as at May 2021). Please note there are slight differences in each workshop and this information is a generalized look at the course experience.
SO, WHAT WILL I EXPERIENCE IN A VIRTUAL VOYAGE?
From the start, we see a Virtual Voyage (VV) logo for our cruise. VV1 is our original workshop logo, and VV2 + VV3 start to reflect the theming of the cruises.
ITINERARY
This is your roadmap for the content planned and when it will be distributed.
I typically make the itinerary publicly available as well, just so you know what the format of your content will look like and when you can expect it to arrive before joining the course.
You can also see any changes in theming dated here. Recently, I have considered which themes appear at which stages of the course, depending on the lessons I am teaching and how they relate to lessons coming up later in the course. It is not imperative to complete ALL lessons chronologically but we generally build on knowledge learnt throughout the course.
SHOPPING GUIDE
An Amazon shopfront filled with supplies I frequently use and am likely to use throughout the course. Click here for example.
UPDATES & ANNOUNCEMENTS
A running thread relevant to any changes in course content or updates with information for students.
PASSENGER FORUM
This is a forum space with dedicated areas for passengers (students) to engage with other passengers. Below is a current list of forum spaces and what they’re for:
General Chit Chat - engage in any-topic banter with your fellow Virtual Voyagers. In general, if it doesn’t fit in the other forum categories, it probably fits here.
Social Media Mix & Mingle - share your social media links/handles for other Virtual Voyagers to visit and connect with you.
Queries & Questions - enter any questions you might have that you believe your fellow passengers might be able to weigh in on.
Shops Onboard - our onboard boutique, where you can post links to your favorite stores (including your own) to enable fellow passengers with great art journaling finds.
Gatherings & Happenings - post about your other online meetups and hangouts for fellow passengers to attend and connect with you. Hangouts are to be art/art journal related.
EMBARKATION DAY LIVE STREAM
This is the first day of the course. Generally, a live Zoom stream, dedicated to delivering information that will assist in kicking off our cruise - about the workshop, navigating Teachable, sharing information, setting expectations, games, an opening lesson (VV2 + VV3) and the like. Very laidback, a nice way for us to get started officially.
PORT OF INSPIRATION
Our POI’s are to signify our theme we will start working with. Like arriving in a port of call on a cruise, we arrive at our [port of] inspiration and start to explore that. Some POI’s are very specific and others are very open for interpretation. See above for a list of POI’s from VV1 to VV3.
CRUISE ACTIVITIES
Cruise Activities are video tutorials. When I was a younger cruiser (10 or 11), I remember getting my daily itinerary and being so excited to see the activities for the day. Whether it was step aerobics or scrapbooking, I would show up and enjoy being guided through random activities. For VV workshops, I use Cruise Activities to teach lessons that might be a little too long to teach in our LIVE setting. These are self-paced and generally come in 3 sections. Part One is a good lesson to get you started, Part Two extends you a little further and Part Three is for students who like to do the most (me, haha). They are self-paced and likely include PDF references to assist with the lesson. Below is a look at Cruise Activities from previous workshops.
![VV2 The Nightmare Before [Holiday]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e5acf8ff8286310c14522dc/1620709713279-0YKT04GXR13J5NG0MGL0/nbh.png)
SEE DAY
A Sea Day on a cruise is a day spent at sea (obvious, I know haha). What this meant from the ships perspective is that there are thousands of people with nowhere to go and nothing to do - so we need to entertain them! See Day content is meant for your eyes, not your brain, so this pun is deeply layered… haha. See Days can look very different, but they are a nice brain break whilst you’re soaking in other lessons. Whilst they’re designed for entertainment rather than education, they can also be used as inspiration for students who wish to extend themselves and try what is being shown. Below are a few examples of See Days from various Virtual Voyages.
PORT TREASURES
Port Treasures are digital downloads. Like collecting souvenirs from ports of call, Port Treasures are a collection of digital content for you to collect throughout your workshop. I also like to put together some blog style photo tutorials on how to use these Port Treasures. Below is a look at some different Port Treasures and infographics showing them in use.
LIVE ON THE LIDO DECK
Live on the Lido Deck (LOLD) are Zoom live streams. The top deck/pool deck of Cruise Ships are commonly referred to as the “Lido Deck” and are gathering/hangout spaces for passengers to meet and enjoy each others company throughout their cruise. I like to operate this Live Stream the same way, a much more laid back way to get together for a couple hours, work through content from the course and try fun live lessons together. Below are some samples of work completed in LOLD streams.
POOLSIDE ACTIVITIES
Much like Cruise Activities on a cruise ship, there are many random activities that happen poolside. They’re generally more laidback, fun outdoor events to be enjoyed poolside. For Virtual Voyage, these are Printable Activities - designed to engage your imagination and creativity, but not starting you from scratch. You can print the activity out and complete it, or transcribe the activity into your journals, but this is a nice relaxing activity that exists to stimulate you, not necessarily extend you. Below are some Poolside Activities from VV1 to VV3.
THEME NIGHT LIVE
One of our most exciting offerings for Virtual Voyage! We host live, themed art journal parties on Zoom to celebrate our Port of Inspiration. On most real life cruises there are theme nights and dress codes, so we simply created one for Virtual Voyage. This is about celebrating the POI we visited and having a great couple of hours together. The format for most Theme Night Lives has been as follows…
Opening Number
The most hilarious moments of any Virtual Voyage, our Cruise Director Steve creates a small skit to welcome you all to the party. I find the ridiculousness of these opening numbers are a great way to set the tone for our theme nights (no pressure, all fun) and the most dramatic way to reveal our costumes haha.
Lesson
We get ourselves moving with a fun live lesson using the theming of our Port of Inspiration. Here are a few of our Theme Night Live lessons.
Game
Sometimes we like to play games for prizes and we’ve come up with a whole list of games to choose from that also give people a nice break halfway through the stream. I have to say, I am always shocked at how good everyone is at the games! I always think I’ve made them just tricky enough and am constantly surprised haha. We’ve played Bingo, Pictionary, Memory, Word Scramble and Trivia crosswords. Prizes are typically jlbCREATIVE products (stamp sets/washi tapes).
Lesson
After our mid-stream break game, we return to our lesson or start a new one. I like to gauge where students are throughout the course and adjust content accordingly - eg., if we had a couple challenging lessons leading up to Theme Night Live, I will most likely keep those lessons less complicated for balance. If I am seeing a lot of activity within the group throughout certain areas I may also cater lessons towards that. Because Virtual Voyage includes live content offerings, I allow room for adjustment to really tailor the experience to the group. Below are more samples of Theme Night Live lessons.
Show & Tell
At the conclusion of our Theme Night Live, we usually complete the recording (and upload for replay later) and have an opportunity for Show & Tell. Each Voyage we experience a higher number of students sharing their work (which I love) and we’re looking to implement a split version where some students present their work in the recording, if they wish, and those who don’t wish to be filmed may present their work after the recording is stopped. This is a wonderful part of our stream where we can enjoy the diverse creativity within our passenger community. We also share our work on social media with the hashtag #jlbVirtualVoyage and below is a look at fabulous work created by Virtual Voyage students.
PASSPORT STAMP
This is a downloadable graphic inspired by passport stamps that represent our leaving the Port of Inspiration. Below are some of our past Passport Stamps.
SPA DAY
This denotes a rest day within the itinerary. Since the course is loaded with content, we plan days to rest so that students may have some time to catch up with anything before we move forward. This also gives me an opportunity to re-work and adjust anything for the course real-time.
DEBARKATION DAY
This is the last day of the course; a live Zoom stream, dedicated to wrapping up our workshop and having a final chance to be together. It is very laidback and a great way to recap everything and put a nice button on the experience. I generally flip my journals live and chat through my next steps. We like to open up a final opportunity for students to share their favorite work and we bid farewell to each other until the next Virtual Voyage is ready to set sail. Below are journal flips from VV1 and VV3. They are not the flips from the Debarkation Day live stream but they offer a look at the variety of Virtual Voyage content from those workshops.
OK, THAT’S A LOT, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD KNOW?
Why yes, of course! haha.
No, I actually think there’s nothing more to see, but I do have a bunch of questions I get asked about Virtual Voyage that I thought I might give quick answers to just in case you had the same questions…
WHO SHOULD SIGN UP FOR THIS?
Anyone! I encourage artists at all levels to sign up and give it your best :)
DO I NEED TO BE GOOD AT DRAWING?
Not at all. I do my best to prepare lessons that outline a simple path to success. I generally assume anyone joining already has a sketchbook/art journal and has dabbled in drawing before, but you certainly don’t need advanced skills.
DO I HAVE TO HAVE ALL THE SUPPLIES?
No, but you will get the most out of the course with at least a simple set of supplies. Pens, pencils, a good journal and a set of student grade watercolors are a great place to start. I have put together a list of my own faves in this Amazon storefront to give you a good idea of supplies used in Virtual Voyages.
I CAN’T MAKE THE LIVE SCHEDULE, CAN I DO IT LATER?
Yes, all the content is available to go back and visit at any point. However, I recommend you join the live offerings if you can as I think the experience is much more enjoyable.
I DON’T LIKE THOSE THEMES, IS IT WORTH IT TO JOIN?
No, I don’t think so. These workshops are themed and all content relates back to those themes, so if they aren’t of interest to you there is a risk you won’t enjoy it. I have had students in the past trade out themes for themselves, or continue with the themes they do like in other lessons, but this has all been self motivated. I have absolutely no problem with students adapting lessons to suit their preferences :)
DO YOU OFFER ANY DISCOUNTS?
No, I do not typically discount the courses. If you are already enrolled in any course/subscription on jlbCREATIVE Teachable you will be emailed a “return student coupon” that you may use when signing up for new Virtual Voyages. Please make sure you have not opted out of email notifications in your settings so you receive your coupon (and double check your junk mail folder as well).
WHAT HAPPENS IF I MISS SOMETHING?
No worries, all the content is either pre-filmed or a live replay becomes available afterwards.
CAN I SHARE WHAT I MADE ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
Of course. I encourage sharing your work on social media. To respect the value of the workshop your fellow students have paid for, I just ask that any lesson content isn’t reproduced in a way that makes course content publicly available ie., please do not re-distribute or make publicly accessible step-by-step lessons, templates and educational processes from tutorials. The simplest way to share is to share your process and your results :) You may also contact me at jameslukeburke@msn.com if you have any other questions about sharing.
DO I HAVE TO DRESS UP FOR THE PARTIES?
No, we don’t enforce any dress codes, but it is always more fun to get involved ;)
WHERE IS IT?
Teachable. Click here to see the full range of Workshops, content and subscriptions currently available on the jlbCREATIVE Teachable.
WELL, THAT’S EVERYTHING!
I hope this has illuminated the Virtual Voyage experience for you! We are currently planning our next workshop, Virtual Voyage 4 (VVIV), beginning in June. We’re excited to see many of you return and welcome a whole bunch of new Virtual Voyagers!