Welcome to the Open Source Art Community! Where digital and traditional artists meet for live in-person workshops, classes, and socials. Our focus is to bring together artists from all experience levels, and to utilize free and open source software like Blender, Krita, Inkscape, LMMS, Audacity, and more. This way anyone with a computer can start learning for free!

You can also book time in my personal Open Source Artist animation studio where I have all the equipment: professional vocal mics, engineering laptops with dedicated GPU’s and an RTX 2060 Super external GPU, pen tablets, traditional animation paper, 30+ Daniel Smith watercolor paints, Arches watercolor paper, an extra large scanner, and free coffee and tea!

So who is a good fit in this community? We want people who give back, people interested in the non-profit scene, people with a deep love and appreciation for the arts, folks who are warm, caring, and supportive, and anyone who loves film/TV/animation!

Events fall into 3 major categories:

1. Workshops: these are makers sessions where we will focus on a specific topic or theme (i.e. Foley sound effects scavenger hunt in the park, how to install Ubuntu alongside Windows, making your renders come alive with great lighting, etc.)

2. Classes: on a limited basis I will offer free classes on the Linux desktop environment and various free and open source multi-media apps for artists. Most classes will have a suggested donation while others with a guest speaker, or where I rent a classroom, will have a fee.

3. Socials: movie nights, meet and draws, meet and paint, etc. :)

NOTE: If you're wondering what the heck "open source" means, or any of this sounds technical, you're a traditional artist and computers scare you, or you feel intimidated by the aspect of meeting other artists at varying skill levels, using technology, etc., then please come explore with us, bring your own perspective and reach out to myself (Daniel) or Roya with questions. We are excited to meet you!

ABOUT YOUR ORGANIZERS:

Daniel: Hi! I was born and raised in Oregon and I’m a digital artist, hiker, trail runner, recovering engineer and wannabe entrepreneur! At the time of this writing I've attended over 100 meetups (since starting July 2021). Not only did Meetup help me get back in shape but I also met some amazing friends and even my girlfriend Roya on this platform!

Roya: Hi! I enjoy hiking and I'm a blossoming interior designer and space planner. I geek out on all things furniture and anything that sparks my creativity! I like to explore new food options and love cooking. Always looking to make new friends with similar interests that are active and like to go on adventures! And obviously I enjoy spending time with my boyfriend Daniel (btw he is writing this 😆).