I am teaching two workshops this year at the Portland, Oregon Art and Soul Retreat. The first on is on April 11, 2023 and called Watercolor Nature Journaling. I will be teaching techniques for how to paint animals and plants in small format for your journals.
These small, quick sketches of European village scenes are fun and easy to do. I try to make them simple. They are a great way to try out different colors and values. And of course, I can always use drawing practice. Perspective is important in these little sketches so think about the angles of the doors and windows. Make the doors and the windows in the foreground bigger than in the background.
Start with a simple pencil drawing. Add a colorful watercolor wash over the buildings. When this is dry, start adding layers of color to get a variety of values.
I will often add pen and ink to my village sketches.
As I am getting ready for the ART & SOUL ART RETREAT, in Portland, Oregon. I am enjoying painting in my nature journal. Here is an example of one of the pages we will be doing in the Naturalist’s Art Journal workshop on Wednesday, June 23, 2021.
This page in my watercolor journal was inspired by a birding trip that I did with a few friends to a wildlife preserve in eastern Oregon, Summer Lake. At one of the picnic areas, we found a family of Great-Horned Owls. There were two juveniles and two parents. As I took pictures, the mom and the babies would turn their heads and look down at me with those great big eyes. It was fun to try to paint an eye.
We will be following indoor space COVID best practices guidelines.