DRAWING & PAINTING WORKSHOPS 2011

• APRIL 4 - 7: WATERCOLOR TRAVEL JOURNALING

The Alabama Folk School at Camp McDowell, Nauvoo, AL, 1-205-387-1806 /

www.campmcdowell.com/folkschool/index.htm

For the traveler, landscape painter, gardener -- anyone who wants to record what they see and experience in a personal watercolor journal. You’ll learn 6 skills: simplify your subjects, render them quickly in pencil, enhance your drawings with ink, add color with watercolor washes, design your sketchbook pages, and incorporate words into each page’s design. We will work from real life and your photographs. Activities will include demonstrations, in-class exercises and outdoor excursion, circumstances permitting. Some drawing experience helpful; all levels welcome.

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• MAY 6-8: ADVANCED WATERCOLOR JOURNALING

Spruill Center for the Arts, Atlanta, GA 1-770-394-3447 / www.spruillarts.org

This is an advanced class for the traveler, landscape painter, gardener -- anyone

who wants to record what they see and experience in a personal watercolor

journal. Learn to sketch three popular subjects: buildings/city scenes, trees/

landscape, and people. Topics will include perspective and color mixing as well as advanced sketching and watercolor techniques. We will work from real life and your photographs. Activities will include demonstrations, in-class exercises

and outdoor excursions, circumstances permitting. Students must have prior

experience in drawing and watercolor or have taken a class in watercolor

journaling/sketching.

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• JUNE 1-3: ADVANCED WATERCOLOR TRAVEL JOURNALING: LANDSCAPE

The Bascom Art Center, Highlands, NC 1-828-526-4949 / www.thebascom.org

This is an advanced class for travelers and painters who like to record what they

see and experience in a personal watercolor journal. We will focus on landscape, with an emphasis on sketching and painting skies, water and land forms such as fields, woods and gardens. Topics will include color mixing, color harmony and composition. We will work from real life and your photographs. Activites will include demonstrations, in-class exercises and outdoor excursions, circumstances permitting. Students must have prior experience in drawing and watercolor or have taken a class in watercolor journaling/sketching.

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• JUNE 4: SAMPLER: WATERCOLOR FOR BEGINNERS

The Bascom Art Center, Highlands, NC 1-828-526-4949 / www.thebascom.org

Get acquainted with watercolor. Learn about brushes, paints and papers in an introductory class. Learn basic fun techniques to create small paintings of everyday objects in lively colors! Marilyn, whose specialty is watercolor journaling, will also show students possible uses of watercolor beyond the basics learned in this sampler class.

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• JULY 3 - 8: THE ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL IN INK & WATERCOLOR

The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI 877-854-3225 / www.theclearing.org

For the traveler, landscape painter, gardener -- anyone who wants to record what

they see and experience in a personal watercolor journal. Youʼll learn 6 skills:

simplify your subjects, render them quickly in pencil, enhance your drawings with

ink, add color with watercolor washes, design your sketchbook pages, and

incorporate words into each pageʼs design. We will work from real life and your

photographs. Activities will include demonstrations, in-class exercises and

outdoor excursion, circumstances permitting. Some drawing experience helpful;

all levels welcome.

Click here for SUPPLY LIST

• JULY 16 - 17: SKETCHING NATURE IN WATERCOLOR - AT GRATIOT LAKE

Gratiot Lake Conservancy, Mohawk, MI belh@verizon.com / www.mlswa.org/gratiot-lake-1508
For the nature lover, landscape painter, gardener -- anyone who wants to record what they see and experience outdoors in a watercolor sketchbook. You’ll learn how to simplify subjects, render them quickly in pencil, enhance your drawings with ink and watercolor, and add words to your pages. We will work from real life and photographs. Activities will include demonstrations, drawing and watercolor lessons, and outdoor sketching (weather permitting, of course). Some drawing experience helpful; all levels welcome. Bring a sack lunch each day.

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• • OCTOBER 2 - 8: TREES: IDENTIFYING AND SKETCHING THEM IN AN ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL

John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC, 1-800-365-5724 /www.folkschool.org

Haven't you always wanted to know the names of trees? Join a Master Gardener and an artist as we take you around campus to identify, sketch and make notes on some of the more than 50 species of trees in their autumn glory. You'll learn how to recognize trees; how to sketch leaves, seeds, bark, nuts and the trees themselves; how to enhance your sketches with ink and watercolor; and how to make field notes and start your tree "life list," all in a personal journal. Course will include indoor lessons, demonstrations and outdoor excursions involving easy walking on Folk School trails. All levels welcome.

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Article selected for "The Painter's Keys"

I was very pleased to discover today that my article was selected for inclusion in Robert Genn's April 16 online letter to artists on his "The Painter's Keys" website. This was a very nice honor, as Genn has thousands of readers around the world and only includes 10 letters in each post. To any of my readers who aspire to paint, I highly recommend The Painter's Keys.

Here's what I wrote:

"I teach a workshop, "The Illustrated Journal in Ink & Watercolor," that speaks directly to this issue. In it I show students how to make quick watercolor and ink sketches that record moments in their lives. The students think they're learning techniques for travel sketching -- and indeed they are -- but I know what's happening is much more than this; they're learning how to paint. The results are always so much better in these sketching classes than in my more formal painting classes. Why? Because the students are relaxed (after all, it's just a "sketch" not a "painting") and absorbed in filling page after page with small studies, done from direct observation. They're drawing and coloring intuitively, with joy. When they come up for air, they seem surprised they've been having so much fun and that their tiny paintings are so expressive and charming. Apparently that's myelin in action, accompanied by intense, deep learning. I can't say enough about the value of doing lots and lots of small paintings, and I keep trying to pass that on to students. Some years ago, International Artist published a great book, Work Small, Learn Big: Sketching with Pen & Watercolor -- now, sadly, out of print, but still available in librairies -- that makes this same point. And online groups like SketchCrawl (www.sketchcrawl.com) and Urban Sketchers (www.urbansketchers.com), that encourage artists of all levels to get out and sketch, are creating an international community of like-minded folk. So, there's a lot of momentum, for this, Robert, and I'm glad to hear medical science is backing this up."

Upcoming journaling workshops!

Sample page from Marilynn's illustrated journal at Lake Superior

I was delighted to learn that my illustrated journaling workshops are filling up. My workshop at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina is full, with a waiting list, but there are still a few places available in the workshop at The Alabama Folk School. Here's the scoop:

April 5-8: THE ILLUSTRATED DISCOVERY JOURNAL

The Alabama Folk School at Camp McDowell, Nauvoo, AL, 205-387-1806

For the traveler, landscape painter, gardener--anyone who wants to record what they see and experience in a personal watercolor journal. You'll learn 6 skills: simplify your subjects, render them quickly in pencil, enhance your drawings with ink, add color with watercolor washes, design your sketchbook pages, and incorporate words into each page's design. We will work from real life and your photographs. Activities will include demonstrations, in-class exercises, and outdoor excursions circumstances permitting. Basic drawing skills are recommended for this class; however, even students who have very little drawing experience can create very charming journals.

I'm offering a weekend version of this workshop at the Spruill Center for the Arts in Atlanta May 8 & 9, and a 3-day at the Bascom Art Center in North Carolina June 10-12. Details are on my 2010 Workshop Schedule.