Good evening and thank you all for joining us live for this virtual town hall on tuition assistance and army ignited Tonight we have Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston command Sergeant Major Faith Alexander from Army University and the director of Army credentialing and continuing education services for soldiers or access Colonel Julia Bell. Thank you all three for being here Just to quickly run through our plan We're gonna provide an update on army ignited and the way ahead and then opening up to questions both here in the room From the Pentagon and on social media. So wherever you're listening, please post your questions in the comments section Whether that's Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or on Reddit And we'll do our best to keep track of those and ask them here in the room SMA usually we do these in the mornings So thank you for staying up late on a Friday and thank you everyone in the room for being here 1700 Germany is probably not very happy right now But I know everyone in Korea woke up at 7 a.m. On a Saturday just to tune in so the floor is yours for opening comments I really appreciate everybody that's tuned in right now and Everybody that's in the audience in the room. I really appreciate your time being here I think my time is the army's time. So before we even get started I do want to just acknowledge that we've got a lot a lot of things going on in the world right now and You know, this is important, but I just want to acknowledge those soldiers that we have still in Iraq We still have soldiers in Syria We have a lot of soldiers in you come we've got multiple no notice deployments in the last year and We've actually had our first armor gay combat team that draw some drew some APS in Germany Pretty much on their second little quick Deployment first was going to Korea came back three months later. No notice to go to to Europe. So No matter what we're doing, we got to take care of our soldiers But I also want to realize everybody to acknowledge what all the missions that we have for our soldiers And that's why these little town halls like this really mean a lot because when you do have some time To take care of your education is important because you never know when that's going to be Taken away, and you're gonna get called to do do anything that the army asked you to do and Before even acknowledge everybody else in the room I will say we look forward to really hard difficult challenging questions And if I can't answer it then Colonel Bell will so she's really excited about that. So the harder the better Okay, yeah, she's really smart for that. So please we look for those questions and thanks to Colonel Bell and Sir Major Alexander for joining me today so army ignited a year ago, there was a lot of frustration and Soldiers were paying out of pocket We couldn't get logged in there was all kinds of issues and right now I'd like to say yep, we fixed them all And I acknowledge that so that we haven't fixed them all so we still have a long way to go so we want to actually talk today to see are we making progress and Kind of demonstrate what we're doing to make progress Because we do acknowledge right now. We have not solved all the issues, but we're working on it So this has you know my personal attention, but not just mine You know the chief of staff the army and I have talked about this the vice and I've talked the trade I commander has talked about this And what are we doing to make sure that our soldiers when they want to take a class can use tuition assistance So this has not just my attention, but a lot of senior leaders in the Department of the Army and other commands Attention so that we can do better and that's what we want to do And that's why when you ask those questions and when we say this is what we're looking at We need to ask those questions is make sure are we solving the right problems for you all? It's not it's not me. It's for you I've used my tuition assistant. I'm a firm believer in this I had my bachelor's degree because of tuition assistance I used it all the way out all the way through and I'm a huge fan and like said I would not have my degree if it weren't for that using tuition assistance So it's important to you and it's important to me and I truly look forward to the brief and I really look forward to those Hard questions. Okay, thanks Over to you from Bell. All right. Thank you sir major So can we go ahead and go to the first slide, please All right, so I am Colonel Julia Bell I am the director of the Army credentialing and continuing education services for soldiers Located at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas The access mission is to promote lifelong learning Strengthen mission readiness and to build resiliency through relevant education programs and Services in support of the warfighter Next slide. This is the agenda that we're going to follow next slide And I'll be briefing an update on Army ignited Next slide, please So first and foremost, I just want to say sir major. I absolutely appreciate the fact that you're holding this forum These are going to be some difficult questions. I agree I absolutely acknowledge that the system functionality is not where it should be and I apologize to any and all soldiers And their families who have been financially impacted by Army ignited So just to kind of give you a little bit of background on how we got to where we are Back in 2016 There was a realization and I have to admit I am to a user of tuition assistance I use tuition assistance through Go Army Ed. That was the legacy system Go Army Ed in 2016. We realized that we needed to modernize the system And that is why we have Army ignited at this point in 2018 Contract was awarded. There was a six-month protest which delayed the start of the contract to February 2019 in March of 2021 Army ignited actually deployed and unfortunately the launch was a failure and it was a failure due to technical issues as well as the lack of legacy data transition and transfer into the into the system So that being said in April of 2021 we did Implement the exception to policy process which allowed soldiers to go directly to their education Institutions and register for classes in order to allow soldiers to continue to take classes and from that point on We have done several things with emphasis on user user experience as well as fixing glitches and Most important is paying invoices so ensuring that we're paying our educational institutions So we we did that at several different levels. We held different planning meetings if you will bi-weekly With this being the focus on tuition assistance We were we were focusing on the end-to-end process within the actual system for the soldier for the education Institution as well as for the counselor. So we had several different commands and Personnel that were involved in these in these meetings to talk that into end process to make sure there were no gaps And if gaps were identified to make sure that we had solutions to those gaps Additionally, we had a team from Army University led by Command Sergeant Major Alexander that visited several different trade-off Installations and at these installations Sergeant Major met with the Education Center at the counselors Soldiers as well as any education institutions that were Co-located at that Education Center and what she was doing was she was gathering user feedback and that user feedback was sent back to us at at Army University and we were providing that feedback to our technical team as well as the end-to-end Review all of that feedback was going to our technical team so that they could work with the vendor and incrementally put improvements into the system as I said, I understand that the system still doesn't have the 100% functionality that we would like it to have and Unfortunately, those improvements are occurring slower than we'd like them to to actually Come to fruition, but I would like to share how some of those improvements have impacted the progress that we have had within the system So I'd like to start with the tuition assistance requests for fiscal year 22 so far We have had over 166,000 TARS that have processed through the system This is an improvement from last year FY 21 where we had 25,000 plus TARS that process through the system It's a significant improvement What I'd also like to say is that our educational institutions The number of educational institutions that actually use army ignited is a greater number than the Institutions that we're using go army ed. So that number two has increased and then finally I'd like to discuss our finance processing in that education institutions are able to invoice The government for those that are able to invoice the government. We are paying our our bills We're paying our bills to the tune of 43 million plus To the educational institutions that are currently supporting Soldiers that are using tuition assistance and this is across all compost So that being said also We know and understand and and soldiers may have probably heard that, you know We're looking at a shift in strategy and you know, I I've failed to say this and I apologize But our army senior leadership has been fully engaged this whole this whole time and we've been keeping them Very informed with with briefings And and so the leadership had decided to go ahead and do a strategy shift So that is what we're going to do and I've got mr. Keith Baylor online And he's going to actually give us an overview of that shift But I would like to just pause for a second if I can to talk the way forward so as we as we talk about The enhanced platform that mr. Baylor is going to give us an overview of I would like to emphasize to soldiers that at the Current time the system that's in place is the system that we use for tuition requests and and tuition assistance So there's no transition until the official notification is put out for soldiers to transition systems So please continue to use the army ignited system to request tuition assistance at the bottom of the slide What you're going to see is a very high-level overview of that aggressive timeline that PEO mr. Keith Baylor is going to discuss with you in the next slide I would like to highlight that that first phase does focus on tuition assistance. So with that mr. Baylor next slide, please Yes, ma'am. Thank you very much SMA our major Soldiers, I just want to acknowledge that It's a tough problem that we have but I'm here to me a fist and make sure that We get everything we need to do in terms of getting soldiers paid That is the number one priority with this I am a retired soldier and I am also a user of Assistants to help me obtain my education as well Approach for our make night at 2.0 will be implemented in three phases Over one year period. We're currently underway with faith one as you can see in our priority of effort in that phase is to ensure that soldiers able to process tuition assistance Without issue The main thing that we're going to be focused on is the ability to use the portal with the academic institutions and ensure that timely processing of tuition assistance Is done in this very first phase and we're shooting to have this done by the end of the summer So we're going to promise that we're going to work to get this done here by the end of this summer. Look Please understand that the the total focus is to ensure that soldiers are able to process tuition assistance in this first phase The second phase will focus on the civilians and the cadets to support scholarship request fees broken board and other capability And the remaining time Will be intended to improve the solutions to the platform And because the rapid nature of phase one and phase two, we're going to continue to work everything concurrently But our task in focus within the first 90 days is to roll out the ability to get soldiers paid Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, mr. Baylor if we can move to the next slide Up next we'll have mr. Jason bice who will give you an update on the top 10 soldier issues Mr. Bice Thank you. Colonel bell Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen My name is jason bice and i'm one of the functional representatives for the army ignited website If we wouldn't move on to slide seven So on slide seven what we're seeing here is the top 10 issues that we have noticed over the course of the two years That army ignited has been running Now upfront you'll see that the issues that have been addressed and some of them that have been resolved The one thing I do need to make explicitly clear Although these issues here are listed as being addressed for a result Doesn't necessarily mean that we've got this right So as a soldier if you still have issues such as logging into the website or still having correct information on your records Please the way forward is to reach out to your army education guidance counselor at your local education center And they'll be able to assist you in pointing the right direction at true If we can you take the care of When we say issues addressed such as soldier login issues so far from our perspective in our team We have taken the steps necessary to stop the systematic issues that might be actually on the system So as you can see here's soldier login issues soldiers have had facts and questions The email switch from the old mail dot mail to the army dot mail And the likewise incorrect personal information on the soldier profile We have taken steps and measures to address these issues I had a systematic level So if there are issues that still are outstanding, please definitely reach out to your education center Because we do need to address these issues on a case-by-case individual basis at this point Now moving forward to the issues that are still outstanding with the current system as we transition platforms over to from army United 1.0 over to army United 2.0 For number one soldiers who cannot find the degree plans for the courses We believe that this will actually be addressed during phase number one of army United 2.0 Thankfully with army United 2.0. It is it is the proven platform We're actually borrowing the other courses system And thankfully we're making it our own This system is similar to the old coordinates the team has been approving technology for past 15 years So during phase number one, we believe that which will be able to log in With the current request and tuition assistance for FY 23 from the get go For number two the inability to submit education paths in special programs path Now this will actually occur during phase one for education paths And please bear with us when it comes to a special programs path that will be during phase When it comes to number three or an inadequate financial crackers This is our yearly limits. That is our $4,000 more 16 semester hours For any FY 23 classes I should be able to get that should be available from the different phase number one Now for the lake cd FY 21 and FY 22 it is going to take a little bit longer We estimate that during phase number two or phase number three in trivial address For number four soldiers will have issues with submitting cards Again, we should be good to go for f1.3 in the get go But for FY 21 and FY 22 it is going to take a little bit longer and we're going to have that Hopefully ideally good to go by phase number two For number five soldiers, you cannot see legacy data and information The legacy data itself is going to take a little bit longer to transfer the full data set So we're estimating by phase three. We should have that ready And of course by the snow case backlog that is our service now Ideally when we transition from the army ignited 1.0 platform over to the army ignited 2.0 platform We're estimating that a lot of these outstanding helpless cases will be overcome by events or will be weak Of course, we do recognize that there are some issues that we do need to address by the type army 92.0 cuts out But for the most part when it comes to the equipment platform of army ignited 2.0 I ideally we won't have talent help this case with this new system That's it for me back to you from Thank you, mr. Vice All right for the final slide we're going to discuss issue resolution Escalation process So next slide, please which you'll see on the left hand side Excuse me, which you'll see on the left hand side of the slide are variables that we've noticed have impacted soldiers anywhere between invoices not being received from the schools with a soldier's tar on it to EIs not being able to upload Enrollment files So so those variables are on the left hand side and they may they may resemble The top 10 soldier issues, but but not all of them are the same What what's outlined there on the slide are how soldiers can assist With resolution of their issues That's the first step to initial step and if they are unable to resolve the issue at Their level the next step is to go to see your education counselor and then from there The issue is escalated to army or access headquarters for us to assist with the resolution so I would like to Emphasize that communication is key Communication from the soldier to the education institution as well as communication of the soldier to the counselor With any issues that you may have If again, if you've communicated with your education institution if you've communicated with the education counselor in most instances Those issues can be resolved at that level But if not the education counselor if they've worked it and they cannot resolve they'll escalate it to to headquarters Ma'am, can I get a quick a quick example? So if you if you look at The first example where you have Let's say a soldier and i'm having a hard time reading that because i'll have old eyes Let's say a soldier has something has not been paid right the first thing that we would ask a soldier to do We don't say go to your education center for for the sake of saying go to your education center, right? We say go to your education center because Literally almost like 80 of your concerns or problems can be resolved or escalated by an education center or a counselor at an education center So let's say something has not been paid, right? So typically normally regularly, right? The soldier and the college cannot invoice For a soldier's Class until 19 to 20 percent of that class is done, right? But if a soldier gets on facebook and they say hey, sorry major alexander This class has not been paid for The first thing I would ask the soldier is hey, have you visited the education center one? Because a counselor at an education center can actually pull that report to see if your college has actually invoiced So I kind of I want to pull that string out now the soldier will know Okay, if the if the college has invoiced now it's being injected into the right tube to actually be Be on its way to be paid. So That's just one example of several I can give you a lot of examples out there And I'm sure we'll get into it when we start answering the questions and things of that nature But that's only one example. So if a soldier says hey Something hasn't been paid or the first step is please go to your education center And have the counselor run the report to see if your classes have been invoiced Okay, because the invoice and process and the ta payback process is not instantaneous. It never has been Regardless of the platform that we're working at. So that's just one example. I kind of wanted to draw out so that So so people can kind of understand where what we're talking about when we say we say go to the education center to get those answers Does that make sense? Yes, sir major. Who's How do I contact I've gone to the education center. It's been invoiced. I'm still having issues. You said Go to the army who what's the website? How do I do that? Is it how do I get in contact if my counselor isn't available? Who do I who might send this note to? Um, so not necessarily note Each if you go into the platform, you can actually locate your actual education center And they actually have the phone number to the local education center I would say if a soldier's having any issues accessing or You know contacting that education center, please, you know, I I say this all the time Send me a note. We'll figure it out between mcom headquarters and ime moresh. We'll figure out And we'll figure out where that soldier can go to get the response and who owns that soldier actually in queue So we don't have a problem with anybody sending us a note me I'm the only faith alexander on global, right? Just like the highlander. There's only one me So we don't have any issue if you have a crazy mental image I got right there, but okay If you have a problem reaching out to your education center are nobody's answering the call Bottom line is we will get it in the in the right inject for you We have all kinds of things that we can kind of throw your name at i've done it with this What a couple of soldiers that have gone on gotten on facebook because i'm on there if you notice that faith alexander on facebook That's me, right? And so a soldier will say hey, sir major alexander. I'm having a real problem getting a hold of my education center I'll throw that back to the counselor channel That has almost every counselor in the united states army and said hey Can you please get in touch with private joe snuffey? He's at fort bragging our carolina and then a counselor will pull that individual in so there's ways to get after if You have a problem contacting anybody at the education center over hopefully i answered your questions our major you did With a caveat is i'd ask If you're really having problems there's this other thing called your chain of command So a lot of times we go at this a long time You're frustrated. You've talked to the counselor. You put it in the help desk. Nobody's answering the call um There's some fake facebook page with you know some other serge major alexander There there's a whole bunch on you know sma grinstead because i do not have a facebook page by the way um So i'd asked is to go to your leadership and the leaders get involved and help So you don't necessarily have to go straight to the serge major army you can But i'd ask you to give your leaders a chance if you get frustrated. Don't wait till you're in a crunch time financially you paid out of pocket or something You've tried all those means. Please let your chain of command know also. Thanks So i wanted to emphasize a couple of other things or highlight a couple of other things on on this particular slide The third and fourth category there what you'll see under soldiers is there there's an exception to policy number five that is going to occur in the future This is going to require soldiers to actually go into army ignited and execute an action In order for their tar that may currently be currently be stuck in the system either due to data issues Or whatever it may be but they'll go in and they'll actually identify A past tar to be processed through the system The policy on this and the guidance on this is currently being finalized by the team And once it is finalized we will ensure that it gets pushed out to all the soldiers as well as the counselors Because they will be able to provide support to you if you you have questions or concerns on how to Actually work the process, but just know and understand As you read through these things there are ways that you as the soldier Can impact resolution to the issues that you may have So this is can I ask I mean if I do that etp and I've gone over So I think you could go in if I've got this etp number five and I've already taken my allotted Amount of classes would I still be able to do the etp? So I'm actually going to say I told you we're going to ask hard questions Well, and that you just didn't know they were coming from me because our major you are that is a great question Because soldiers are still going to be held to the annual limits and their lifetime limits So soldiers if you have taken classes that are going to take you over those limits the responsibility For payment of those classes is actually going to be on the soldier So that that's a very good questions our major As far as the actual processing of those TARS I'm actually going to phone a friend. I have several SMEs that are online right now from the access team So Jennifer if if a soldier Is going in to identify a past tar for etp five and they've already exceeded their annual limit Is that tar still going to process? over Okay, good afternoon So if the soldier has reached their annual limit the soldier will not be able to create that tar And they will be able to see based on their financial traffic that they've reached their limit Okay, so hopefully that answered the question Yeah, it's just one word of caution for the soldiers if for some reason you say well I shouldn't be able to process it and you do go over your annual limit You're still over your annual limit So that's going to be a debt so I'd caution you to keep track if it's 16 semester hours and you've achieved that goal And you go ahead and process that I wanted to take one or two more classes And I'm going to slide one in I think that would be a word of caution that you got to keep There is some culpability for the user is I have taken these classes. I'm about to go over that limit I'll go ahead and press the ctp and see what happens I would caution all of us to do To be aware of that because I could see that So I and that's with any system I'd be a word of caution as we process those And a counselor should be able to see if a soldier has exceeded their limit and a counselor should to a degree Understand the etp makes it a little bit more squishy, right? But the counselor can actually see hey has that soldier surpassed their limit And they will not approve or should not approve that tar in the system for a soldier to continue that So there are there are wickets there that that kind of filters a little bit Filters that out just a little bit not as great as we would like it to be filtered But a counselor should not approve a tar if a soldier has exceeded those limits Okay Thank you This portion of the brief what we'll do is we'll go to questions now and what I'd like to do is start Here in the room We have a number of soldiers That are stationed here in the Pentagon that decided to stay after And join us so I'll I'll go ahead and and take it to our first question here in the room Sergeant Gabriel. I believe that's you so come on up Herb Renear what while he's moving up to the mic I'm not sure if everybody heard the second breather on some of the phases on the soldier issues I don't know if we got feedback on that So I actually I did ask the question because I know it was garbled in the room It went out on the stream pretty clear But that's a good point because there was one thing that I think may have been lost in in all of this some of the frustration with army ignited and the back-end servicing of that website and if you could either one of Kernel Bell or Sergeant Major Alexander Can you explain? What is the future of? the The company that's going to be or the process that that website is going to be managed by Specifically as it relates to the the contract Actually if we could Have our peo rep either mr. Baylor or mr. Sherwood Answer that question that would probably be best answered by peo Yeah, I'll attempt to answer it again. Um, I want to make sure you can hear me from clear I think the question was how we handle in it You know by the way of the contract That's correct. What are the the changes that are going to be on the back end versus what the soldiers will see on the website? Well, I'll just tell you that we're figuring that out as we go along and we're in the midst of the um development and reconciling process working with uh army you and working with the air force which is uh the system of The system of um that we're kind of adopting that works and has been in place since 2000 that we're looking to Because we're trying to make a quick start and empty them in a system that we know is working so we can get soldiers paid We're using what's proven. Um, and there's some carryover with what uh the air force does and what army does But there are some difficulties and so army you is making the determination now What we're going to adopt that the air force is doing and what we're going to treat that's army specific. Um, and that is That does have a direct effect to the fit form and function of the website So to answer the question In a direct way, we're kind of figuring it out now, but it won't be the same Exactly, I can tell you Yeah, and um That's why we briefed some of the phases. I didn't want them, you know to hear that so that phase one I think it's august september. I think that was on the slide is that's what we're trying to do is Uh to kind of get phased that in I will say this Ultimately The goal is that you don't see what's going on the back end The goal is that you go in and just it's working better You know the the tuition assistant is being processed and you don't see any of this It's just when you log in you don't have to log in 15 times and clear your browser and then Start it over and restart your computer. It's just that this time when you logged in it worked And it worked every time So that's the the ultimate goal of just having you understand those phases is that Some functionality should be getting better Over phased the first one, you know, some of that is the log in on that backside I hope that no soldier in the army has to worry about that other than me and probably the people on this stage So that's the ultimate goal is that backside support For you is not to notice it other than you just said Hey, it's a lot better than what it was and I can do this now. So That's my intent and that's the goal of this. So but uh, I think yes Okay, good. So I that was good for me to answer my own question But that's that's that also is a warning not a warning. That's bad terminology It's also letting soldiers know that hey, you're going to see messaging as it pertains to some of the things, right? So don't be surprised when you see something that says hey This is what we're doing, uh, which is why which is the purpose of the town hall to let you know that things are coming Um, doesn't mean we're shutting down and you know and that, uh, you know, there's going to be mass chaos It just means that hey there are changes And so we want to lay that out and be very transparent in what those things will be so you're not surprised if that makes any sense Okay Now that I've clarified all that as we get the first question up as he said coming up I will say Um, as we go to questions the most important thing Is that soldiers can take A college class free of worry and that the education department gets paid And that's the most important thing is not that the education department gets paid Is that you're allowed to take a college class and then we'll work on the pay problem and and we'll get you paid so Ultimately, we want you to be able to take the classes free of stress From the system that we've implemented. So thank you and I will stop asking questions to my own panel Good afternoon SMA, uh, ma'am sorry major My question has to do with funding So Are we in danger of losing funding for college tuition assistance for soldiers and if we are Would it make a difference if I were active duty versus guard and reserve? Thank you. Well, I'll kind of start off and You know kind of give the big overview if anybody in the panel wants to kind of help me out here So You know this come up. I think it was actually last year. There was a little article on this on, you know, how are we doing with funding? um But the intent for the army's leader leaders if you're allocated Your allotment to take college classes. The intent is that throughout the entire year That you're going to take those college classes. Uh, we're going to work hard that we don't do any of those, you know, Shut down stop doing tuition assistance But that always comes with any caveat, you know So this sometimes this all depends on, you know, how the money and budgets go But the ultimate goal is that there is no You know pause and funding for tuition assistance And right now we're on track and it could be different for army national guard army reserve and And compo one but that is not the intent is that every soldier regardless of compo Is that you have consistent funding throughout and that's that's our job to kind of worry about that We are looking into it but right now Right out now today at whatever time it is Our goal is to make sure that it's consistent funding for all compos I think you answered the question. That's a may I really do as the star major to the star major I think you answered the question But just digging and set out a little bit more, right So we we have to acknowledge as well is that in the last three to four years Over utilization of that that like soldiers are using their things, which is good. That's a good thing But we have used it to the point to where we're we're utilizing it over and above that what we've used in the past And so like sma said we we got to figure out and i'm not going to speak for each compo because Each compo has a compo chief to do those things, right? But Yeah, we're working very hard to ensure that you and and any soldier out there that is eligible for tuition assistance Our credentialing assistants can actually continue to to bridge the gap and continue to pursue their education Whatever that in whatever format that looks like does that make sense? But we got to acknowledge that we are using it We are using this program and the moneys within that program at a higher rate than we've ever have Um So we have to we have to be honest about that as well. Does that make sense? Yeah, that's a good thing All right our next question comes from reddit and we talked about the login issues, but One thing that isn't necessarily an ignited issue and not something that that we can fix It's a couple threads of frustrated users who are concerned about Primarily junior enlisted soldiers who are not going to be issued or may not be issued an army dot mill email and therefore can't Verify or validate their service on army ignited. Is there anything that we can Talk about, you know, if there is a soldier having that issue or or something We've already preempted to mitigate future problems with that I think jennifer or jason can answer that I I can attempt but they would probably answer it a little bit better But yes, we have thought about that as well. I'll turn it over to the team Good afternoon. So so regarding the emails Um, we have been advised that soldiers while not all of them will have to do army Dot mill that soldiers will still have the mail dot Um, however, we have heard instances where for soldiers say hey, I I don't have access to my mail dot mill anymore Um, so the guidance that we've been given Is that those soldiers would need to work with their their units to make sure that ensure if their account was deactivated Whatever the case may be The unit can work with that soldier to re-establish that email account for them Yeah, I just in case you didn't hear that that's the the goal is that every soldier will have access to some type of mail account email army account and What happened as we transitioned to army? Dot mill account from a mail dot mail It was like well, I'm not getting my army dot mail, but there's still an army account So we have a little bit of work to do that. However, there's still Is basic, you know leadership, but I'm not putting this on the soldier the leader when a soldier comes to you and says Hey, I need to access my email account for this reason Please do not ignore that. Um, this is not a soldier problem. This is the leader problem Um, I just asked the soldier to bring it up and not be frustrated with this email account You can't get it. You didn't went to the wrong spot. You didn't get are you put in army dot mill? You really need a mail dot mill. So there's a lot more to this But I think a lot of the frustration is a soldier brings this to him squad leader Says hey, I don't have time for this and I encourage you not to do that Um, so if a soldier's having problem with that the intent is they will have access to some type of email account That's you know, army related so that you can get the information that you need You could still get your college classes and tuition assistance But there's another aspect that I get frustrated with is when a soldier does ask and then nobody takes an action Um, so I encourage all the leaders Don't don't blow off your soldiers when they ask these questions about the mail the intent for the army is to have a mail dot mail account All right, we'll come back here in the room if there's a soldier anyone with the question here in the room that hasn't been addressed Uh, seeing no one running to the microphone. We'll go back to the uh to social media And can you give us an update on soldiers who may have paid out of pocket? Uh, and are Waiting for the army to reimburse that payment just very quick overview of of what those action steps are and How do we make sure that soldiers get uh reimbursed if they paid out of pocket? Okay, I'll take that question Yeah, carol bell. Let's take it because she gets it every month from the sergeant major of the army So, uh, thanks carol bell. Okay, no worries. Um, so first and foremost soldiers if you have paid for tuition out of pocket We need you to self-identify so that we know and can assist you with that So there is a tiger team that has been established within army university and in fact they're within access And and these folks are tracking soldiers that have reported that they've paid out of pocket They will do the research of that soldier's file To see where the tar is located in the system if it's with the ei or if it hasn't even entered the system So that we can work that to ground If we're if we're talking about what's the timeline for that to occur The unique circumstances drive the timeline So if we're starting from ground zero and a tar is nowhere in the system It could take up to 120 days But a perfect scenario if the tar is in the the ei's invoicing system It gets invoiced to the government. It could take up to to 60 days Or as little as 60 days based on the fact that our education institutions are able to bill us either once or twice a month And once we get the invoice it's reviewed It goes through a a process before it actually reaches the point of being validated and verified for payment And then it'll either get paid by the government purchase card or it will get paid through eft and go through d fast That does take a little bit of a longer time So that's why we add that additional 30 days in now once the ei has been reimbursed or has been paid for that invoice It's about 10 days Before the soldier will see a reimbursement for that out-of-pocket expense All along the folks on the tiger team are in contact with the soldier to verify That the soldier is reimbursed before their case is closed. So hopefully that Answered the question. Yeah The only thing is that I do want to highlight Is that the money from the army or the government goes to the educational institution? Then it's the requirement for the educational institution to reimburse the individual That's not the perfect world we want, but that's if they took a valid class We have to pay the educational institution And it's their requirement if you paid out of the pocket to pay back. We're tracking each individual by name every case and That's one of our wonderful briefings to the serve major army every month and that usually takes all the time Of how can we do this faster? 120 days It's not acceptable. So And this wonderful team gets it from me every month This is you know, if if I've paid thousands of dollars for a college class You know waiting, you know three or four months to get your money back is is not good Um, so trust me. I'm I'm I'm trying to do as much as we can to get this done Faster what asked you is try not to put yourself in that predicament. Um So in other words, if you get a notice saying, hey, you're going to be dead, and you're going to be You know in debt or we're going to give this to the creditors if you don't pay this information Or pay this payment. Please let us know immediately before you pay that There's there's other institutions that can help you out with that. That's number one. So you're not putting in a bad way Um, but please before you even pay that let your chain of command know let army university know It's our major alexander who already put her facebook page out there So, uh, put it let everybody in the loop because that's a that's a red flag for all of us So we'd like you to stop increasing that but Self identify but please help us out by not increasing the number of people these cases are intricate and they're difficult We do have a tiger team trying to work them all But it's even more difficult if we keep adding to the problem Uh, so if you do get one of those notices before you pay if you can Please immediately let us all know and see how we can jump in so that we don't have to backtrack Because it'll take a lot more time. Thank you Before we get to the next question though, I will also say that if you are If you receive one of those notices, and I'm sorry if you receive one of those notices Go to your local education center Okay, because that counselor in the education center, whether it's the the lead educator the eso in that education center Can actually liaise with the college to let them know. Hey, this is a military applicant Okay, and then usually You know that that that counselor and that uh in communicating with the ei They will they will contact the finance office and let them know. Hey, this soldier is a military applicant And they will try to liaise and work it out for for the soldier, right? Don't be like the one soldier at for benning when I visited that that he received his fifth notice And he waited until that fifth notice to go into the education center and do that If you involve individuals Uh, first at your local camp post and station, you will probably end up getting that issue resolved even You know before you can even bring it to our attention, but please that's not me saying don't come to me That's me saying that. Hey, there are people on the ground that will work with you To to resolve that issue at that level. Does that make sense? It's such a difficult topic to her. She's in tears I know let's make sure we got that right Sorry team my question is so when you Apply for and you use your gi bill you get an email saying something has been submitted against your gi bill It is pending approval. So with ta Is there something that we could replicate so soldiers who do not have access every day to their outlook mail? Or to their Army at night have it in their personal email saying this is pending approval This is how you can financially plan for the rest of the classes And once you get that fourth email saying hey, you're now at your 16 credit limit Like you should track that because it's in your email saying this is your fourth approval status pending This is now how I can financially plan accordingly. So that's how I do with my gi bill is I watch How many of my classes have been submitted towards my gi bill and I properly plan financially Okay, how much of my gi bill do I have left could we replicate that with army ignite? So you're you're saying get a notice that's saying hey or a tracking mechanism and where I hope the answer is yes, but I I'm going to provide what I know is true And then I'm going to hand off to one of the SME SMEs on on my team to to provide the additional Context I know that within army ignited there is a financial tracker That's available for soldiers to see what their annual limits where Whether they've reached the annual limits or not as well as lifetime limits now I do have to ask jennifer or even jason Is it one of the improvements that was supposed to go into the system that would send messages to soldiers to Notify them of this information or was that not part of the system at all over? So that that was a feature that we wanted to have unfortunately Just given the constraints of the schedule And some of the issues that we had we didn't get to it in the current system But we're hoping with moving to the new system 2.0 That we will be able to have that that kind of corresponds of course as always even in the new system They will be able to track on their own what they have left and of course, you know when they apply for TA There'll be a TA authorization form that also spells out how much That the soldier is using for what classes, but definitely type that that's great feedback and definitely something to hope to have in the new system Could could you hear that or was it kind of garbled a little bit? I could understand it. Okay We got it. We'll we'll take that as a task so that we don't lose sight of What what we really want and that's kind of how we got those top 10 soldier issues I'd like to say I wouldn't in my office doing that, but I maybe I may I was but But the the goal is to say hey, what functionality do you need to see? Please let us know We'll go ahead and take that one on because that to me that makes perfectly sense I get notifications all the time on my phone through a text says hey, this is happening We should be able to do that in this day. We have the technology to do that We're just not to get it in that functionality in the system However, we do have We got some major issues. We got to tackle first So we got to go after login and take normal ta And then those other things we're not going to forget about But we got to make sure the functionality of take intuitions is getting soldiers paid, but that's a function we should have All right, our next question comes from social media and and it's Kind of a two-part but in the same vein soldiers who Either don't have their school in ignited or their schools doesn't have the degree plan in ignited So the obviously the school exists the school has a degree plan But one or both of those are not in the system Can you just give us an update on maybe why that's happening if there is a soldier action step or how we're resolving that? big picture Yeah, that that's come up a couple times and The good news is when you go back You know a year ago There was a lot of educational institutions that haven't done their part to let us know and upload Hey, I am a school. I'm validated and go ahead and put it in the system We we've made a lot of gains, but it sounds like we still have some gains I don't know. Do we have to we should have somebody that can explain this right? I'm actually going to reach out to jennifer or jason for a response to that, please So I just want to clarify the question was regarding degree plans right and the soldier cannot find it. Is that the question? Either the the soldier couldn't find their school or they found their school, but they couldn't find their degree plan So kind of both of those issues Okay Yeah, and those instances I I know I'll speak to the Degree plan and then I'll let Jason talk about the school. So if this the soldier isn't able to find their degree plan The the functionality is a little over some in the fact that how it's tied and built with zip code so we do have A reference sheet that kind of indicates that counselors can kind of help that soldier find that degree If in fact, perhaps the school maybe did upload that degree Or maybe it's a new degree that just hasn't updated in the system Of course, we do have a vendor that's popular school support That they help block the eis through the process of uploading information such as degree plans into the system So that the soldier can find it. I'm going to turn it over to Jason to elaborate a little bit further Thank you boss Something to keep in mind is that not all schools agree to deal with the military So if there is a school that is currently not listed in the system One thing that you could talk through is education guidance council And they could always send up a request to headquarters and headquarters that More than happy to reach out to that school and the school's representatives to see if they are willing to join our program Now of note under the new system Actually, uh, when we start to marring that the 1.0 2.0 It is a different platform and the platform itself actually does have an abundance of schools So any school that you actually see in the current system will be available under the new system And likewise the degree programs that are perhaps missing from the old system should be visible under the new system itself Okay, uh, we'll go back here in the room for a question team so If a soldier enrolls into a to a course But it has failed to request tuition assistance and needs a etp What what are the steps and or does it automatic? Take place for the etp So when you talk exception to policy exception to policy actually Is a process that happens after a class has started So what you will have done is you will have enrolled for a course and It will go into what's called an etp draw. So we're drawing that information out of the system It's processing through to the counselor and from the counselor then goes to the e i for invoicing So i'm not sure if I understand your question correctly because when you go in to register for a class You don't want to register for an etp class. You want to register for the class and have it flow through the system. So Let me let me let me try a second. Okay, so i'm just going to kind of Build a frame around it. Okay, so the so the platform is how the platform functions is that it allows individuals to Request the class prior to the class date Okay, and so when you're looking at the exception the etp draw and the exception to policy You're actually processing that class on the back end versus the front end. Does that make sense? So during an etp draw it would draw that course or at tar through the system And it would kind of be like backwards And then a counselor would still have to approve or disapprove that tar prior to it going to invoicing Sometimes that doesn't work and sometimes we've had to pull it through and let counselors know. Hey, you're going to see stuff go through your through your gates Just make sure that the soldier is eligible to actually be able to take the class But the way the platform is built it's built to allow you to do that Beforehand the only time you would use the etp the etp process is if you cannot leverage the platform on in the front end Does that make sense? I know that's a very long answer to your question But I think sometimes individuals don't understand that Hey, you would only need to use this if something is not functioning on the platform to allow you to request that Prior to this course start date. I think I think the what he's I think I the way I understand the question is the class started for some reason i'm taking that class I didn't do all the steps and it didn't go in but i'm taking the class. I'm authorized tuition assistants I'm assuming The answer would be go to your counselor say. Hey, I've already started this class I didn't do I don't know why the world wasn't rotating the right way. I've already started it There's no tuition assistance. It would be the same as if You know, you're paying out of pocket. You should go to your counselor and request tuition assistance Even though you've started that class And then probably go in the system and try to get it in there and that's the way I understand that Is that the question you're saying? I've already started the class I already started the class. Yeah, so I think you still go to your Education counselor and say hey, I've started this class. Please validate that I need tuition assistance And unfortunately at that point it'll probably be a little bit more difficult It'll probably look like an etp Even though you've already started the class for whatever reason you did that it still starts with the education counselor Because you have circumvented the system for whatever reason and you need to talk to your counselor immediately As as long as you've started that class within that gate, right? And so as long as you started that class at As long as you've asked for that class prior to or right at the start, right? So if a course is already or let's say the course is already you're ongoing You cannot come back in and say okay now I'm going to take this class two or three days into the class window because then you would actually be kind of Uh, you could kind of like overstep in the actual policy. Does that make sense? So as long as you're in that window and gate Yeah, the counselor could still you know backdrop it put the notes in mess in your messages to let anybody Up the chain know what's actually happening with that course. I don't think that's the question Okay, I think the start date happened And I'm in the class But I don't have tuition assistance Exactly. So now and for whatever reason You know, I don't know what could they go and talk to their counselor and get tuition assistance That's the question. So so if I can we should have an SME online that can probably provide a response to that Um, anybody from our policy Well, well and it I can I can start this point up for so the question is if the soldier already Started the course and they didn't register in the system and they they want to use the ETP process Or ETP, how does that process work? And so previously the way we did the draws is you would set up a time That they basically the system would pull in all the eligible movements and they would process through the system Moving forward we're going through a new process Which is due to roll out at some time towards the end of this month and information before it's coming Where soldiers now have the ability as long as the school has sent the enrollments on your behalf You have an army credit account You have an approved EDP path with all those conditions from that for that class that you've already Are currently in the seat for would have not requested to be ahead of time You as a soldier can then go into your army credit profile and select those past dated courses Equalizing the ETP process and then it will flow through it'll go to a counselor for approval And then it will go to the EDI for enrolls I think it it'll be as similar as if Uh, you had already submitted the tuition assistance go and ask for an ETP Um preferably that you don't take the class without again those assistants But in the case that you did Uh, I still think that would be an ETP through the counselor if you had a Validated and you had you didn't exceeded your college credits You haven't exceeded your lifetime credits. I say that because there's a lot of people who are out there You know saying oh the army's not paying me tuition assistance And some of them might be actually true because you're trying to take 25 semester hours and that's not in accordance With what you're doing and that hurts other people So I want to be clear. I'm not trying to be hateful and say that we're not trying to pay you But if we let you take more classes That's this this money you've already asked, you know, we're gonna have a lot of money You're taking away from another soldier Um, so I want to be very cautious to that a lot of people are saying I can't believe you didn't pay And when there's been a couple cases where you dug in you took too many classes And if we we pay that class for you above and beyond what you've taken That will be money that's allocated for someone else and we already heard it's our major alexander say we have Yeah, we've seen a lot of folks taking classes. That's good, you know, clearly. I'm a big fan of that We want you to do that But we also don't want to disadvantage another soldier because you took more than what we've asked you to do So again, please do that, but I think it's an ETP. Thank you All right, sma sergeant major ma'am. Thank you so much for your time tonight Um, just a couple very quick recap One of the biggest things that we want soldiers to takeaways continue to use this benefit And that we acknowledge that there are still issues There is a plan in place a phased implementation Of a new vendor on the back end the front end of the website shouldn't change significantly There's not a name change. This isn't a 2.0. This is just constant improvement of the system and when you do have an issue utilize that help desk Take it And if if it comes back closed with and you're not happy with the resolution open another one But there there are a lot of systems and levers that leaders and soldiers and education centers can pull To make sure that all of our soldiers are able to use this benefit So again, I want to thank you so much for your time And we'll just go quickly sma if you have any closing thoughts I just want to say thank you for everybody in the audience and thanks for those listening in And a special thanks to those subject matter experts on on the internet Thank you for your time and and answering those difficult questions. So thank you All right, that concludes our broadcast. Thank you so much for joining us And please continue to leave your comments or questions in the post Below and and we'll have some people that are able to kind of dig through and and pull some of those out Thank you and have a great night You


Do you often feel a strong longing for physical affection? If so, you might be experiencing touch starvation. Touch starvation, also known as skin hunger, is a real phenomenon that can affect anyone, as described by psychologists like Matthew Hertenstein. In this video, we want to help you to spot the symptoms of touch starvation so you can understand that you're not just being navy. By becoming more aware of these signs, you can take the necessary steps to address your need for touch, improve your overall well-being, and nurture healthier relationships. Increased feelings of loneliness and isolation Are you constantly feeling lonely and disconnected from others? Even when you're surrounded by friends and family, do you still feel a sense of loneliness and disconnection? It can be a puzzling and unsettling feeling, leaving you questioning why you feel this way despite being in the presence of people who genuinely care about you. This could be an indication that you're experiencing touch starvation. Human touch, a psychologist Tiffany Field from the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami has discovered, is an incredibly powerful way to create connections and build a sense of belonging. The absence of physical affection, such as hugs or gentle touches, can intensify feelings of isolation and make it difficult to feel emotionally connected to those around you. Heightened sensitivity to touch Do you react intensely to casual physical contact, such as a hug or a pat on the back? Victor yourself at a social gathering, observing friends and acquaintances, casually engaging in friendly touches, like hugs and gentle pats. Do you find yourself experiencing a sudden surge of emotions or an overwhelming desire to be included in these interactions? When you're touch-starved, it's not uncommon for your body to become more sensitive to even the slightest physical contact. Dr. Corey Floyd, a communication professor at the University of Arizona, who researches affection, explains that this heightened sensitivity can manifest as a longing for touch or an intense reaction to casual physical contact, like when someone holds your hand or when they wrap their arms around your shoulder to make you feel you're not alone. Emotional imbalance and mood swings Did you know that physical touch releases oxytocin, a hormone that promotes bonding and reduces stress? When you're going through a rough day, feeling stressed and longing for comfort, but not having the physical connection you need to soothe your emotions, it can be just heartening and overwhelming. It's important to remember that it's perfectly normal to experience these feelings and that addressing your touch-starvation can significantly improve your emotional well-being. Touch-starvation can take a toll on your emotional well-being, sometimes leading to mood swings, irritability, and even increased anxiety or depression. Helen Fisher, an anthropologist and expert on love and relationships, explains that when we lack touch, our oxytocin levels might decrease, which can throw our emotional balance off. Craving non-intimate touch Have you been yearning for non-intimate forms of touch lately? When you notice a group of friends laughing and playing and nudging each other, do you find yourself craving to be a part of this interaction? Not just for the camaraderie, but also for the comforting non-intimate touch that comes with it. This longing for connection is completely natural and understandable. Perhaps you noticed that you've been hugging your friends more often, or have a sudden urge to schedule a massage. This might be a sign that your touch-starved and craving physical connection and affection in your life. Dr. Daniel Goldman, a psychologist and author of Social Intelligence, explains that humans are wired to seek touch, as it is a fundamental way of communicating empathy and creating connections. So when you're touch-starved, your body might try to compensate by seeking non-sexual touch experiences. Remember, you're not alone in craving touch. It's a natural human need. You can reach out to your loved ones for more physical connection and consider activities like dance classes or massages to experience touch in a supportive environment. By taking these steps, you'll improve your well-being, strengthen bonds, and create new connections. Rest assured, addressing touch starvation can bring positive change to your life. Can you relate to any of these signs? Feel free to share your experiences below. Also, if you find this helpful, please share it with your family and friends who can benefit from it. Thank you for being here.


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Hello friends and subscribers and first time visitors. I'm artist Susan Jenkins and today I'm here in my studio that I call Monet Café, it's just my home studio, where I love to share with you guys. And the reason I have a passion for sharing videos like this is because I think there's a lot of you out there like me. I did not have a lot of art training other than majoring in graphic design and I learned literally everything I know about painting, pastel painting and in particular, even watercolor painting and acrylic painting, I have learned from videos and from websites and from other artists willing to share online. So that's why I love to share these. Now that I have had a lot of experience in this and I'm an artist now, I think, wow, I gotta give back. So that's why I love doing these videos for you guys. So today I'm going to be doing a pastel painting. I'm going to be doing it on a prepared surface, a homemade surface. And if you don't know how to do this, I have some other videos that you can go back and check out and how to make your own pastel surface. Otherwise, you can just use a pastel paper, a good sanded paper. So anyway, this is going to be a landscape. I've got a reference photo here that I'm going to be using that I like the composition for and the feel of it. And if you have seen some of my other work, you know, I love the loose impressionistic style. So I'm going to be keeping this one loose. And I'm just so glad you're here with me today. And I hope you learned something new. I'm going to keep some real time, maybe speed it up a little bit, but I know you guys like some of the real time footage where I give instruction along the way. So I'm going to try to do that today. So anyway, I'm so glad you're here. Let's have a good time doing this. All right, so the first thing that I'm going to be doing to my already prepared surface, again, check out the video if you want to know how to do this. Otherwise, you could just tone a piece of pastel paper to whatever mood you want to set in the background. I love an underpainting, it just really helps me. So what I'm going to be doing first is making just a quick and general sketch of the composition. Now, I already have a nice composition going here. I try to do that ahead of time in my photograph.  So I've got a nice little grouping of some pine trees in here. There's a lot of light showing through this. They go all the way up out of the top of the scene here. This might be a little lower. I like, we've talked in other videos about a good composition is to keep the rule of thirds in mind. In other words, I don't want this horizon line right smack dab in the middle. I try to keep it up a little bit and this back over here goes kind of up towards the top of the composition. So it's helping with that rule of thirds. I've got kind of the horizon line back here with a nice sky. And then I've got a grouping of some trees that are kind of off over here. Some of this changes as I go along, but this just gives me a general idea. So I'm gonna be quiet here and just work on this composition. Well, I'm already seeing this seems to happen even when there's not a road in the composition. I start to do the sketch and I just see where there should be a road.  But I'm just seeing where it might be a neat little way to draw the eye kind of into this meandering around in here. We've got in general, one, two, four kind of groupings of trees here. The first one is gonna be these closest ones, these pines. I may bring them a little bit, maybe a little bit further down here. I'm not gonna be doing too much more with the sketch. I'll show you more when I start to get the values in. But we've got this grouping of trees here, which is these pines that the tops go all the way off. Then we've got this grouping of trees, which is a little bit further back in distance that are right in this area.  Then we've got this is the next closest group. And then we've got this field that kind of the reference photo actually, it might not look great. We've got this horizon line back here and then it's lower here. I might make it a little more sloping here to make it consistent. Anyway, so four groupings of trees here, here, here and the furthest ones are back here. That's gonna create some interest because these back trees are gonna have the lightest value. And I'm already seeing how the way these grasses go and everything can just let the eye just kind of flip around in the painting and draw it in where you would like it to go. So that's as fast as you can do a sketch. You don't have to do a whole lot. You're getting the basics in. You don't wanna get too fussy and detailed with the sketch part. And now I'm gonna go ahead and lay in a value underpainting that I've done in some previous videos with this color fix primer. It's a terracotta fine tooth color fix primer. It's basically four pastels. And so what it does is it has a grit itself in it that really helps the pastels adhere to it. But it also works as a value underpainting. It's darker than this surface here. So let's get started with this and it's gonna be a lot of fun. All right, so now here we go with the color fix primer as an underpainting. So what I'm doing now is putting down the darkest values. Sometimes I'll use a brush with this and sometimes I'll use a little foam brush that I have for bigger areas to get in. But I also sometimes if I don't need the area too dark, I will dilute it a little bit with water and get it a little bit lighter. But for right now, I'm gonna go ahead and get in some of these darker trees that are in the background. And as always, we don't want things samey samey. This tree is a little taller. This one's, they're kinda clumped together. This one's a little shorter. And then we've got one a little lower here in front that's gonna have some highlights on it to distinguish it as in front. Obviously the ones in the front are going to be taller than the ones in the back. So now I've got this little grouping of trees. I'm not diluting this at all by the way because trees are always darker. And in pastels, we start dark and go lighter. You can always put your lights on afterwards. Okay, so we've got these trees that are kind of going around this hill. Again, this is just to get in the big shapes. Actually, I'm seeing something that's kind of neat. Over back here, there's this far, this is gonna create some interest too. Far distant trees, really far back here that's just kind of neat. I'm putting that in there just to remind me that they're back there. And now, let's see here, we've got this grouping of trees here that even though there's light in these trees, we're gonna get the lights later when we add what's called the sky holes to these. We don't have to worry about those little spots. Sometimes I'll just take my brush and hold it a different way to get more creative strokes. It's thicker and darker down where the trunks are, of course, and it gets to be where it's finally at the bottom, just like a big mass of where you got all the weeds and all that kind of stuff. Now, I'm keeping an eye on my reference photo because it's a good composition, it's a good photo. So I don't wanna get so carried away and forget what I'm doing here with some of these. And there's a tree back here, like I said, it's behind these other pine trees, but it's really gonna be pretty dark back there. I don't like the consistency here. It's always better to have things look a little more free than just too consistent. Then it just starts to look, I don't know, cliche is a word I think of, where you don't want it to look like just everything was so planned and so perfect because things don't really happen that way in nature.  And we're just gonna kind of catch a glimpse of those through everything. And right now, again, I'm just getting values in. Now, we've got these, I'm gonna get this a little thinner. We've got these tree trunks of these pines growing in here. And I really like how some of them are kind of angled, not going straight up and down. Then there's some in the back that are going straight up and down. And again, a lot of this could change as we put the pastels in. Then there's kind of a big space, or not a big space. These are kind of grouped and then there's a space. And then there's another one that's kind of thicker right in here. That might be too thick, but I can correct that later.  There's another one right here that's thinner. It looks like it might be far away. There's one coming up kind of right in here. So trying to get some variety in these distances between the trees.  And you start finding yourself, even when people are trying to have a conversation with you, you're like looking at trees and the horizon lines and everything. It's pretty awesome actually. Sometimes I think it's much better to focus on the beauty in God's world and then little worries and stresses of life, you know? It's just great. Now I'm covering up some of these trunks right now with these values, but I can reestablish them later with whatever colors and things I lay down. Okay, so we've got the front pines, we've got the bushes here, something kind of going on behind there. These distant trees and then even some more distant trees. All right, so we've got that kind of going on. Now down at the base here below these pines, there is still a lot more dark that I'll probably establish with pastels, but I'm just getting an idea right here. Now again, I'm seeing some sort of a little trailer road. I'll see what happens with it when I get the pastels going, but I'm seeing something kind of, and again, the things are gonna be just less or smaller in the distance and a lot larger and broader and more free in the foreground. Again, I think I'm just gonna hold my brush a little bit more creatively where I can just get some kind of randomness to it.  So this, that and the other. All right, so we're getting the basics in here. I think I'm just gonna work a little bit here and you guys can just observe. Now I'm using this foam brush again. I've learned to get a lighter value by adding some water to it. Notice I put the darkest down here. I added some water and I just started letting it run out of the foam while it worked its way back. So I noticed the value of this field in this area is gonna be the lightest of the field. Actually, back here is gonna be the lightest right there but I still have water in this little foam piece here. So you see how I'm kind of getting, it's gonna go from darker to lighter in the distance and also goes from larger, broad things like these grasses to smaller. And in roads, you don't want a definite line when you have roads. So you try to sometimes just break that up a little bit. Okay, again, getting lighter and lighter as we go back. There is a shadow. It looks like the light source is coming this way and there's a shadow that runs across here. I want that to hold here. Again, I'm gonna keep that lighter back there and maybe not do a whole lot more here because I like keeping that glow underneath there. Just really pretty. Okay, so again, you see how this is just one tone or one shade of color and we can use it in different lightnesses and darknesses to get the whole value underpainting kind of going for this. Again, there's gonna be the lightest thing is going to be the sky, almost always in a landscape. You're gonna have a light sky and then you're going to have the darkest thing or typically the trees and things in the foreground. So that's a really quick basic value study and I think I'm actually gonna do something fun. This is the first time for me is trying something I learned from another artist. There's a beautiful pastel artist. She's actually beautiful herself and her work is beautiful. Her name is Bethany Fields and she uses this acrylic ink to get her darkest darks in her painting. I've never used it, but I bought it a couple of months ago and I've never had a chance to use it but I've always been curious to try it. So I'm gonna give this a shot. This particular color is, let me find it on here. I actually wanted to get a purple that was a darker purple than this one. This one's called Velvet Violet. There's one, I think it's called Purple Lake. It's a darker purple and I love purples. My favorite color and I use it a lot for shadows and other things in paintings but that's not gonna be dark enough for these trees and those values. To get the darkest trees, I have another color here that I might try. This is just called Sepia and this one is called Burnt Umber. So you're gonna get to watch me try something first time here and I'll let you know what I think of it. So here we go, we're gonna put some of that down. All right, so the one that I determined had the darkest value was this one called Antelope Brown. And I did a little test with it. I also recommend keeping some sort of a paper or something where you can sample things on the side. I use just a piece of newsprint when I'm working to get my pastels clean. I just literally wipe them beside on the paper. And so it's also works well with this and that I can, I have sponges and all kinds of neat things to use.  I live near a place called Tarpon Springs and it's like the home of the sponges. They have the sponge docks there and I actually bought a big old bag of sponges there. So this has like a neat little random kind of a look to it. I'm probably gonna regret putting that there because that's where I like to wipe my pastels. But notice how dark that came out. So I'm going to attempt, let me get my reference photo pulled up again. I'm going to attempt to use this to get some of the darker values of these trees. Of course, the darkest ones are here and I'm just gonna kind of play around again, keeping it random and free. Yeah, I like the way this sponge has a neat effect to it. It doesn't look too perfect or anything. So getting those in and of course, the darkest dark is down here at the roots, the base. And that's giving me a nice dark value. Again, you just to establish these values early on is really gonna be the key to your work and helping you stay, keep colors correct, values correct, everything else as you go along in your painting. All right, those are nice.  Almost always trees that are vertical upright have darker values. And the neat thing is laying down a darker value. If you're doing a pastel painting, laying down, I might be in front of the work here, laying down darker values, you can always go back over and get them light. I got a little bit of that down too low. But again, that's all fixable. All right, so we're just getting that in there. We're keeping it kind of random. I'm gonna get some of these pine foliage that's going on up here. Again, it's the first time I've done this, but I think I will get to where I like it eventually. And most likely, as always, get better. I've got another color here that's more of a brown that I, yeah, that's what works pretty good too. As always, you kind of learn how things work and you establish new techniques as you go along. That's the joy of art, always learning. All right, so I've got some, a lot of darker values. I might spread that out a little bit to get it a little more random. I don't like fixed things. It's just, it's no fun when things are just so perfect and fixed. That's why sometimes it's actually good to work with your opposite hand. I'm left-handed and it's a real advantage for left-handed people because you're in a right-handed world and you tend to get good at right-handed things because you're forced to, you pretty much have to. Like for example, when I was a kid in school, they didn't have any left-handed scissors. So I had to learn to use right-handed scissors and a lot of other right-handed things. Okay, so again, I'm not liking some of this, the fixedness of everything. So this brush is breaking it up a little bit for me and giving me a little bit more of that looseness that I'm wanting. But I'm already, if I'm squinting my eyes, I'm seeing how I'm getting those values in and how that sky is gonna be coming through those trees. That's gonna be really neat. All right, I'm gonna get the sponge again. I think I need a little bit more. Actually, I'll use this other brown. Got a lighter brown here. Now, some of my darkest, dark, dark values are down in these grasses. Again, I'm kind of learning how this behaves and it seems like it dries pretty quickly, so I'm working fast. But I think you can start to see how you can actually start to get a little mini painting going on. Oh, my paper's falling. I hope I didn't run out of the, oh man, let me check it. So, let's get in some more of values. Then finally can get to the part I love, which is the color, the beautiful pastels. I like still letting that beautiful gold color shine through and not covering everything up too much because that's just something that keeps your painting consistent, having that beautiful underpainting kind of glow underneath it. Some of these grasses are just kind of, I liked this reference photo because things were just kind of flowing here, there, and everywhere. It's not like this perfectly moan field. You know, it's all kind of been left to grow wild, just kind of neat. This is fun. I think I am liking this product and I think I might use it again. There is a little bit of light coming in this area and it could be the reflection of the light coming from here, but I don't want to get it too dark. And these grasses that are growing here up are going to have some shadows on the back sides of them. Oh, the neat thing is this acrylic ink. You kind of smear it around a little bit. That's kind of fun. All right, well, we're getting somewhere. And I think I'm going to adhere this paper. It's sliding down on my easel. I don't want to get out of the frame. Don't like the line right there. I need to do something to kind of change that up. All right, now I think I will kind of let this go here and start establishing where everything is a little more correctly with the pastels. So what I do often is squint my eyes to see if my values are right. Another thing you can do is put your painting in low lighting. Low lighting is literally almost like squinting your eyes. So that will help you see, okay, what do I have my lightest lights and darkest darks and just compare it with your reference photo. And right now I'm just getting generalities and it's looking pretty good. I actually have a little bit of a darker in the sky right here, but I think I'm going to do that with the pastels and not with the acrylic inks. And I see my little doggy back here coming to visit me. You want to watch? Okay. All right, you can go up now. Bye. I have the value painting established for the most part and I'm going to be using a selection of pastels. I've already kind of analyzed the photo and come up with what I think might be a pleasing color palette. I want this to have mood. Obviously it already kind of does. Just, I like that dramatic, beautiful lighting and I think I'm going to try to keep this pretty dramatic in color and in mood. So first thing is we always work large to small. So we've already established value. We've established our big shapes. So now I'm going to start working on the bigger areas and getting the value consistent all over with the pastels. My light source, that's another very crucial thing in art is to determine where is your light? And it appears to me that the light source is coming from back behind here, almost like the sun has already set and some of the light is shining out this way. So we're going to go ahead and start establishing those colors in there, those values. This is just a harder pastel. It might be a Rembrandt or something. Also with pastels, you typically work your hardest pastels to your lightest, I mean, to your softest because the softer ones don't hold on as good unless you've got, or they fill up the tubes a lot. That's basically what they do and then you can't get anything else over it. So it doesn't always work that way because you don't always have a particular color in a hard or a soft. So you just kind of learn how to deal with it and everything gets easier as you go because you just have more experience. Sometimes it can seem like things are a little overwhelming at first. I don't think I want these lights over in here but as with everything, it just gets easier and easier. And beginning, eventually you get to where you don't even have to think about it anymore. I'm going to get a different value for that. It's a little bit too light, the one that I have. I've almost got some like an orangey colors going on in the sky, like a yellowy color. And yes, skies can be yellow. Skies can actually even be green if the light is right and there's a haze. So I'm getting some of this, more of an amber color, a goldeny color. It's not quite as red as that underpainting. So again, this is not to get anything just specific right here. I'm just getting the general idea of the feel. And if we get to where we work too much in one area, you get stuck on one spot, your painting is going to lose its harmony because it's just not going to be correctly balanced everywhere. I've got some darker blue sky color here but it's not quite that dark. See here, let me grab something else. Again, that's why I like this newsprint here. I can check my color and I can clean off my colors too. We've got some darker blues at the top of the skyline, perhaps not this dark, but we can gradually get it lighter as it comes down. Again, working on that dramatic color here. Whenever you do, I'm just adding these to check color. Whenever you do sky holes, the color is usually a little darker in the sky hole than it is on the surrounding sky, just a tad in value. Just see this color here, I love this color. This may seem a little dramatic right now but it's going to gradually come together. Now, as we're getting closer to this light source, those blues are gonna just keep getting lighter and lighter. Some of this is working from the photo and some of it's working from kind of instinct or imagination. And again, that stuff gets easier as you go. It's not something that happens immediately.  And that's pretty awesome. Okay, again, now I can start using this blue to kind of lighten up what's over here. Gonna add a little bit more of that dark, but I do like it. Bring it down into here a little more. It's almost like the sky is exploding out, you know? There's a little bit more of this darker, maybe not that dark along this. Sometimes your pastel is just rough and it's not a good spot to work with so you have to kind of play around, yeah. See now that's coming off much better. It's almost like some purples over in this distant sky over here. Again, you wanna get the right value. Sometimes these little fellows are hard to hold too. I drop them a lot. Yeah, I like that purple, that's nice. I'm working carefully though because you can get your colors muddy quickly. If you just aren't paying attention, you just keep laying and laying and laying color down, it can get kind of muddy looking. So I don't want that, I wanna keep them fresh. Oh yeah, I like that, I like that.  Now, even though these trees are already dark from that ink I used, acrylic ink, I'm still gonna get the darkest darks in here down at the base. Again, there's variety to these. We don't want them all just reaching straight up and I'll give some more definition to these trees to give them, make them look a little more realistic when I add the sky holes in there. I'm just getting one back in there, I'll get that one later. And notice how when I do things I'm kind of what you might call scumbling is a technique that you're letting it go a little bit of every way this way and that way I need a little bit more branches and things down in here so that things don't look so specific. All right, so we're getting some of those in there now. I feel like I want some kind of reaching out a little bit more here. Yeah, I have enough endomness going on. That might be a little much. Okay, so instead of getting too fussing on that I'm gonna obey my own advice and get to working somewhere else. So again, just getting the darkest values established. And I think I'm seeing where, yeah, if you want this to be kind of like the idea of the road, almost where it goes off into nothing. Not to cover up all of that beautiful glow with the underpainting. Okay, I do still have some of these trees are still darker right in here. And I've got, I already see I've got my, this tree line coming down too low here. I'm going to raise it up when I do more pastels back there. Just smoothing that out a little bit. I don't like to blend with my fingers too much but that was a little dark. Okay, so I'm squinting my eyes and looking at the basic colors and tones here. Okay, and always behind shadowed areas, your colors, your greens are gonna be cooler rather than a warm green. And this is a cooler green that I have here. It's cooler and it's not as bright in value. Light in value, I should say. Try to get this to where it looks like it's kind of going back behind those trees a little bit. And remember there was a shadow coming off of that group of trees there. And I love to share constantly about keeping things as just a suggestion rather than a definite. And with grasses and things like that in the distance especially, it's just a suggestion or almost a blanket of things instead of individual blades of grasses. I'm wanting to harmonize the blues going on here with over here. You don't want your colors to not play off of each other in the scene. So some of these blues are going to be helpful with that sky. Keep it look kind of consistent. And same in here, some of these grasses down in here are going to have some of those blues. And maybe even on this side of the grasses coming up. Keeping it loose, keeping it loose, not getting specific yet. Right now, I want to think about how I want to do this this road idea. Let me first just kind of get it in with a more of a purplish color because it is going to be still somewhat shadowy. And I don't like to do roads with anything that's a line or edge, I should say. They kind of go in and out of the other grasses that are surrounding it. So see how it's just a hint and it kind of leads your eye down that way a little bit. All right, again, still playing around with the composition and everything. Now we're going to have some of the warmer greens wherever the light is shining. And so let me get some of these in here. We've got a little bit more light in here. Still it's not, it's kind of a medium value in here because we've still got some shadows. And that's going to be even lighter back in here. Let me get one of these. This is kind of a lighter value, cool green. It's lighter than the ones that we put back here. And still on some of these grasses over here, they're going to be a little cooler, lighter in value, but cooler in temperature. All right, I'm stepping back to think about this. I do a lot of pondering and thinking with these. All right, just going to paint a while and I'll chime in if I think something's important. Okay, so I'm analyzing at this point and I'm liking the value and the color palette that I've got going on here, loving these purples and magintas in the background. The sky I'm having to now step back and hold off on a bit because this being the homemade surface that I make, it doesn't seem to have as much tooth as the already pre-made pastel papers have, such as UART and Ampersand, other varieties of pastel papers. So I have to be careful. There's pros and cons about that. The con or the negative is that you can't put as many layers down. The positive is that it makes you a little bit more meticulous and have what I like to call efficiency of stroke. You're more careful and you sort of have to think it out more than just going crazy and starting to put color down. So that's why I'm being a little careful right now, especially with the sky. I've got a lot of layers down already. And I wanna keep this moved. So I'm being careful, I usually get to this point when I'm painting where I step back, I look, I'll even take a break from it, go get a cup of coffee or watch a movie or something just to get away from it. So, but now I think I'm gonna get back started on this and hopefully keep it in the direction that it's going, which I'm liking. Well, it's coming along, again, trying not to overwork this like sometimes happens. If you're not careful and take your time, like I said, sometimes just step back away from it and analyze. So right now what I'm looking at doing is getting a bit more definition in some of these distant trees. It's a little, I like it loose, but there's a fine line between loose and messy. And so I'm gonna work on that a little bit more. Of course, I don't have all this filled in, this I want to have really loose. And because this is the closest in the foreground, these will be the biggest blades of grasses or whatever else is going on here. And I used to in my work, I would focus on doing detail here as well. And after years of working and looking at other art, I've learned that there are things you want to leave to the imagination and not let the eye get stuck coming into painting by focusing on the detail here.  So that's the goal, that's where I'm trying to head a little more definition and finish this up. And I really love the color palette. It has like a late evening feel to it and just those brilliant oranges that are in it. And the underpainting really helps a lot with that. So let me finish this up. If you hear a tractor in the background, that's my husband working outside. But it just adds to the ambiance. I'm kidding. All right, here I go. Okay, so this is a point where I just step away for a little while and I just let the painting be, take a break and I'll probably do a little bit more to it. So I am so glad you were here with me today. And I hope you learned something. That's the goal of this always. And subscribe if you like my channel and feel free to come back and check for more videos. Okay, thanks guys. Happy painting.