Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary

Working with wet watercolor and aquarelle will help your journal sketching become more lively and spontaneous. Instead of carefully drawing lines and then coloring them in, we’ll invert the process, splashing down loose watercolor and then drawing into it to define shapes. We’ll also explore some special effects you can get with wet-on-wet watercolor. This approach Read More

Special guest lecture with instructor Mark Simmons Perspective allows us to create the illusion of three-dimensional space on the flat page. Though it may seem intimidating, a basic understanding of perspective gives us a bag of tricks that we can use to add a sense of depth and distance to our scenes, and convincing volume Read More

Watercolors are a fast and versatile way to get color into your sketchbook or journal. But many of us have been frustrated with the mechanics of getting our paint to do what we want or watched a sketch drown in a puddle of murky brown paint. Have you been frustrated by your watercolors when field Read More

Learn how to draw and sketch fish and sharks in dynamic poses, breaking the mold of the static scientific illustration. Learn how a living fish looks under water and how this is different than what is drawn in classic fish illustration. This class will prepare you for sketching from live specimens in your fish tank Read More

Learn the basics of illustrating fish including critical morphology for the artist, arranging scales, important proportions or measurements,  and capturing the iridescent shimmer of light. In this workshop we will focus on the lateral (side) view to create a classic scientific illustration. No experience necessary, and no advanced registration required. Bring a sketchbook and pencil to take Read More

Visual note-taking (aka “sketchnoting”) is a powerful and fun way to capture and remember information and share it effectively. With a set of simple techniques, you can visually capture key points of a lecture, video or book, so that you can quickly recall the ideas and put what you’ve learned into action. Visual notetaking techniques Read More

Improve your handwriting with calligrapher and nature journal keeper JP Panter. Learn targeted techniques to improve the problem area that everyone shares. We will learn how to write in italic, a practical and flexible basic handwriting style which can be either printed or cursive. We will explore how different tools change the look and feel of what Read More

Lean how to draw and sketch waterbirds at then enjoy the festivities at the Waterbird Festival (the Crab Feed is not to be missed). Discover how to sketch the most common species of waterbirds and techniques to help you capture the character and identification details of what you see. We will explore techniques with graphite pencil and watercolor. Read More

Learn how to draw broadleaf and evergreen trees both from a distance and up close details (leaves, acorns, seed pods, and fruit). In addition to studying details of structure, we will explore shortcuts to help you get the form on paper and tricks to suggest dimension and volume. Two advantages of drawing in ink are Read More