I am absolutely delighted to be giving a workshop with Artists Rising Retreats. I’ve always preferred to work en plein air, when every sense is totally engaged. For this workshop, I will be demonstrating how a sketchbook can enhance every travel experience. In my own travels, I sketch all the time, and expect to return home with a sketchbook positively bursting with landscapes, architecture, watercraft, portraits and vignettes. These sketches are not necessarily studies toward a larger work — although sometimes they do turn out to be exactly that. Rather, they are rapid impressions and thoughts that convey the wonder and excitement I feel in each new place.

As part of a small group, you’ll observe plenty of short demos and receive individual attention as we work on value studies, color, composition, vignettes, lettering, simplifying a scene, and keeping our watercolors fresh. We’ll focus on having fun while we sketch, recording as much as we can of the Connecticut River Valley region. Each day will end with a review and a critique.

In this workshop participants will learn how to:

• Capture the visual story of a place

• Become comfortable sketching in public

• Create focal points in their sketches

• Work quickly and confidently in ink and watercolour

• Create vignettes and multi-sketch page layouts enhanced with hand-lettering