Illustrated Journaling in the Smokies

The Bascom Art Center in Highlands, North Carolina, was the scene for my first summer session of "The Illustrated Journal in Ink & Watercolor," held June 10-12, 2010.

Students work on their journals in one of the classrooms at The Bascom.

I give a lesson in how to work "wet-in-wet" with watercolor.

Highlands is a lovely little mountain town, with charming shops, nestled in the southern edge of the Smoky Mountains.

We sketched all over the campus, then retreated to RainWater, a mountain-top, parklike setting where a group of homes will eventually be built.

The view from there was awesome!

Student sketches the Smoky Mountains under a sky filled with rain.

But soon those clouds you see in the distance brought thunder, lightning and heavy rain, prompting our retreat.

This was my first time at The Bascom, and I found it to be a delightful place to teach. I'll be going back in October, to teach an advanced class in Illustrated Journaling, "MORE Journaling in Ink & Watercolor."

ILLUSTRATED JOURNALING CLASS, ATLANTA

Eight wonderful students joined me at the Spruill Center for the Arts this past weekend to learn how to create personal illustrated journals. One of the students, Dave Terry, posted a very nice overview of the class, as well as the great sketches he did, on his blog. Check it out here: Thank you Dave! Here they all are at the local nature center, sharing the day's work at the end of class:

It's such a joy to teach these illustrated journaling classes. I'm already looking forward to the next one, at The Bascom, an art center in the lovely mountain town of Highlands, NC.

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."

Alabama Sojourn

Last week I taught an "Illustrated Journaling" class to a wonderful group of students at the Alabama Folk School. An hour northwest of Birmingham, the Folk School is part of Camp McDowell, an Episcopal camp and conference center nestled in 1100 acres of forests, canyons and waterfalls. Our weekend there took place under sunshiny skies of unfolding spring -- everything was in bloom!

As soon as the students had learned the basics of watercolor sketching -- drawing in pencil, ink ing the drawing, adding watercolor -- we headed outdoors, down a nearby trail to the creek. While the students busied themselves with small studies, I crept off to a shady spot to sketch the cliff face above the creek. Just as I finished, a gaggle of middle-schoolers set off in a flotilla of canoes. Here was a challenge! a dozen boats floating quickly past while turning in every direction imaginable as the children worked to get them under control. I had to draw fast to capture just one pair of them.

When the students were ready to paint landscape I presented a sketching lesson using photographs, (the scene above is Wyoming, not Alabama....), so they could learn how to simplify before confronting the real thing.

Once we were outdoors, I demonstrated again, sketching the woods outside our classroom. By summer, when I will return to the Folk School to teach drawing, these woods will be bursting with green. I can't wait to go back there and sketch!

Selected Artist: The Fields Project!

Selection from one of my illustrated journals

I have just learned that I have been selected as a participating artist in "The Fields Project" June 19 - 27. Located in the scenic Rock River hill country near Oregon, Illinois, The Fields Project is a week-long event that "focuses public attention on art, agriculture and our natural resources while creating new relationships between artists, farmers, environmentalists and educators." I'll be staying with a farm family and painting all over the area. At the end of the project I'll be showing what I have done in a Fine Arts & Crafts Festival that brings participating and local artists and the community together for a day of celebration. For a city girl like me who has never spent time in a farming community, this promises to be a great experience. Cows, horses, tractors, corn, grass and wonderful, friendly Mid-westerners -- what fun!

Selection from one of my illustrated journals

Winter out West; Spring down South

"December Evening," acrylic gouache on panel, 18 x 24

One more painting of winter on the Colorado Great Plains before SPRING bursts out here in the Deep South, and I just have to paint it! This is from photos I took while we were in Colorado in December. I like the bold composition of this; it expresses some of the big, free, open feeling I get when I'm out there.

Meanwhile, spring is upon us here in the Deep South. We got a good taste of it last weekend when we spent a couple lazy days at the beach on Cape San Blas, Florida. Here's a quick sketch done on the dock at the Old Saltworks Cabins where we often stay:

This is a view of the bay; the ocean is behind me, across the road that runs the length of Cape San Blas. Here's a sketch from a few years ago:

It's an amazing beach -- startlingly white, clean sand and very few people any time of year! We like going in March when the sun is warm, the air chill, and it's comfortable to walk beach any time of day.

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.