Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference 2019 has ended

Create Your Own Event

Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference 2019

8:30am PDT

Beginner's Nature Journaling: How to Get Started

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Getting started nature journaling can be intimidating. With more than 40 years of experience, Clare can help you get started and get over the fear of the blank page! Even if you've been journaling for a while, this will be a great refresher as well.

Speakers

Clare Walker Leslie

ELI Master Artist and Workshop Leader, ClareWalkerLeslie.com

Clare Walker Leslie grew up outdoors playing in the woods and fields near Philadelphia. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Art History from Carleton College. Since then, her career has evolved by combining the study of nature and drawing / writing / painting / teaching as a means... Read More →

Friday September 13, 2019 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Mott Madrone Classroom - #2 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner, near "Whitehead" on map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #2 on event map

8:30am PDT

Nature Journaling for Educators

Limited Capacity filling up

A journal is a powerful tool for learning about the natural world. Classroom teachers, informal educators, homeschooling families, and outdoor field instructors can all use the practice of nature journaling to deepen children's ability to observe, wonder, and learn. Through model journaling activities, discussion, and lecture, we will learn how to include nature journaling in your classroom or program. The workshop will include key tricks and tips for engaging and managing students in the outdoors, setting students up for successful journaling experiences, and how to use journaling to meet educational standards and frameworks. Emilie is co-author with John Muir Laws of Opening the World Through Nature Journaling.

Speakers

Emilie Lygren

Lawrence Hall of Science

Emilie Lygren is a writer, outdoor educator, and facilitator. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geology-Biology from Brown University and has more than a decade of experience as a writer and as an outdoor science educator. Emilie has developed dozens of publications and curricula... Read More →

Friday September 13, 2019 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Asilomar Triton Classroom (#4 on event map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #4 on event map

8:30am PDT

Pigments, Paint, and Observation

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

At times the pigments in paints seem to make profound and apt analogies and interpretations of what lies in front of us, but at others it seems nearly impossible to capture the vibrancy of colors as seen in nature. In this workshop, come learn a little about the properties and histories of some of our favorite pigments, and learn a lot about how to use them through palette mixing and observation in the field. We will tackle how to work from earthiness on up to structural colors like iridescence, with an emphasis on how to minimize muddiness. While particularly suited for watercolor work, other color media can be integrated as participants wish.

Speakers

Catherine Hamilton

Catherine Hamilton began drawing at age two, and began birding at age seven with her father. She started her first birding sketchbook at that time. Mysteriously, her parents encouraged both art and birding, and today she melds those two pursuits into her career. She has been a professional... Read More →

Friday September 13, 2019 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Mott Whitehead Classroom - #3 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #3 on event map

10:30am PDT

Creative Lettering for Nature Journals

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Rather than focus on fine calligraphy, this class will be an opportunity to cozy up to letters, styles, and techniques and overcome the intimidation of using hand lettering on your journal pages. Explore ways to create cleverly crafted letters and words and see how well they play together with your images and layouts.

Speakers

Deb Brady

Deb Brady is an illustrator, graphic artist, and avid nature enthusiast. Her day job is as a sign artist at Trader Joe’s.

Friday September 13, 2019 10:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Asilomar Triton Classroom (#4 on event map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #4 on event map

10:30am PDT

Fifteen Ways to Hold a Brush (and why you need them all to paint a bird wing)

Limited Capacity filling up

In this technique-driven workshop, Obi will demonstrate and reproduce works from his books, displaying his method of wildlife rendering.

Speakers

Obi Kaufmann

CoyoteThunder.com

Obi Kaufmann grew up in the East San Francisco Bay Area as the son of an astrophysicist and a psychologist, and he spent most of high school studying calculus and breaking away on weekends to scramble around Mount Diablo, mapping its creeks, oak forests, and sage mazes. Kaufmann’s... Read More →

Friday September 13, 2019 10:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Mott Madrone Classroom - #2 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner, near "Whitehead" on map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #2 on event map

10:30am PDT

Sketching Marine Mammals of the Monterey Bay

Limited Capacity filling up

Christine will share her tips for drawing marine mammals from both the land and sea. Students will practice quick field sketching techniques and learn fun facts about such diverse marine mammals as Humpback Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, and California Sea Lions.

Speakers

Christine Elder

SciLuminart Studio

I'm a naturalist, educator, and illustrator from Oregon. I teach nature sketching classes for both youth and adults locally as well as online. After the pandemic subsides, I hope to resume leading sketching retreats to Central American destinations.

Friday September 13, 2019 10:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Mott Whitehead Classroom - #3 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Instructor-recommended supplies: paper and pencil. Your usual sketching gear.
Location Key #3 on event map

1:00pm PDT

Close Looks: Structure and Function with Hannah Hinchman

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

We'll examine small, likely unfamiliar things, approaching them as architects. Asking the questions: why is that shape important? In fact, what is up or down on this thing? Basic curiosity, but looking close, and hypothesizing. Hannah is a freelance artist, writer, and calligrapher who has been keeping journals for more than 35 years. Her work has been published in numerous magazines and she is the author of three books, including A Life in Hand: Creating the Illuminated Journal.

Speakers

Hannah Hinchman

Moab Gear Trader

Hannah Hinchman is a freelance artist, writer, and calligrapher who has been keeping journals for more than 35 years. Her work has been published in numerous magazines and she is the author of three books: A Life in Hand: Creating the Illuminated Journal, A Trail Through Leaves: the... Read More →

Architectural pdf

Friday September 13, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Mott Whitehead Classroom - #3 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner)

Classroom, Skills-building

Location Key #3 on event map

1:00pm PDT

Down the Rabbit Hole: Curiosity and Wonder with John Muir Laws and Fiona Gillogly

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Great for beginners! Join us and learn how to upgrade your curiosity, geek out with scientific wonder, build an inquiry toolkit, and find delight in the littlest things. Learn how to think like a naturalist with wonder, awe, and evidence. Discover how to ask more and richer questions and then how to follow those questions into a place of deep discovery, and how to propose answers from your own observations. These old-school naturalist skills will help you wean yourself off Google and look to nature to help solve the mysteries around you.

Speakers

Elizabeth Gillogly

John Muir Laws

Naturalist, Artist, and Educator, Nature Stewardship through Science, Education, and Art

John Muir Laws (aka Jack) is a principal leader and innovator of the worldwide nature journaling movement. As a scientist, educator, and author, Jack helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding... Read More →

Friday September 13, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Mott Madrone Classroom - #2 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner, near "Whitehead" on map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit and your curiosity
Location Key #2 on event map

1:00pm PDT

Insect Drawing Intensive

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Learn to observe and draw insects, tarantulas, and other terrestrial arthropods using living and dead models. Entomologist Stephanie Dole, PhD, will share her tips and tricks for drawing arthropods and capturing their defining characteristics in your journal. We will use museum displays of mounted arthropods to observe and draw still subjects, focusing on their details and surface textures. Then, we will work with living tarantulas, beetles, vinegaroons, millipedes, and other arthropods to practice observing and drawing living, moving animals.

Speakers

Stephanie Dole

Beetlelady

Stephanie A. Dole, Ph.D. has been educating the public about terrestrial arthropods since 1997. As Beetlelady, she presents original educational programs for all ages throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Her Pop-Up Bug Museum is a traveling exhibit that incorporates... Read More →

Friday September 13, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Asilomar Triton Classroom (#4 on event map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #4 on event map

3:00pm PDT

How to Sketch Birds

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Lay down your bird basics in thirty seconds! Learn to capture the posture, proportions and angles of birds with a few, fast, efficient, strokes. Then relax and in the details from memory and a familiarity with key anatomical details.

Speakers

John Muir Laws

Naturalist, Artist, and Educator, Nature Stewardship through Science, Education, and Art

John Muir Laws (aka Jack) is a principal leader and innovator of the worldwide nature journaling movement. As a scientist, educator, and author, Jack helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding... Read More →

Friday September 13, 2019 3:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Mott Whitehead Classroom - #3 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #3 on event map

3:00pm PDT

Illustrating Geology: Exploring Local Geology through Maps and Cross-sections

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Learn to visualize and draw the rock formations that define our landscapes. Geologists do this by creating maps, cross-sections, and three dimensional diagrams to show the relationships between layers of rocks, faults, and other features. In this class we will look at maps of local geology and study samples of the rock types typical of the Monterey Bay area. Participants will then learn the process of creating cross-sections and stratigraphic columns and draw their own. This class will help you to better understand geologic maps and create your own geologic illustrations, providing you with the tools needed to better engage with geology in the field and record your observations on paper.

Speakers

Emily Underwood

UnderwoodIllustration.com

Emily Underwood is an artist and educator based in Central California. Blending her background in both science and art, she explores landscape histories through the mediums of painting, printmaking, and bookmaking. She has degrees in Earth Sciences and Geology from UC Santa Cruz and... Read More →

cross sections black and white handout pdf

monterey geology pdf

Friday September 13, 2019 3:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Asilomar Triton Classroom (#4 on event map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #4 on event map

3:00pm PDT

Sketchnoting! Fast Notes and Quick Sketching

Limited Capacity filling up

We all appreciate the power of combining written notes, field sketches, and diagrams in beautifully composed page layouts, but it's tough to get all that information down in mere minutes unless you have a hundred hands. In this workshop Mark will share some practical tips and tricks for speedy sketchnoting, laying out attractive and easily comprehensible pages, and capturing quick likenesses of fast-moving targets such as animals and guest humans.

Speakers

Mark Simmons

UltimateMark.com

Mark Simmons is a freelance illustrator and cartoonist, specializing in comics and storyboarding. His past teaching adventures include teaching figure drawing at the Academy of Art University, and classes in cartooning, sketching, and wildlife illustration for SF Bay Area institutions... Read More →

Friday September 13, 2019 3:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Mott Madrone Classroom - #2 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner, near "Whitehead" on map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #2 on event map

8:30am PDT

Close Looks: Structure and Function with Hannah Hinchman

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

We'll examine small, likely unfamiliar things, approaching them as architects. Asking the questions: why is that shape important? In fact, what is up or down on this thing? Basic curiosity, but looking close, and hypothesizing. Hannah is a freelance artist, writer, and calligrapher who has been keeping journals for more than 35 years. Her work has been published in numerous magazines and she is the author of three books, including A Life in Hand: Creating the Illuminated Journal.

Speakers

Hannah Hinchman

Moab Gear Trader

Hannah Hinchman is a freelance artist, writer, and calligrapher who has been keeping journals for more than 35 years. Her work has been published in numerous magazines and she is the author of three books: A Life in Hand: Creating the Illuminated Journal, A Trail Through Leaves: the... Read More →

Architectural pdf

Saturday September 14, 2019 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Mott Madrone Classroom - #2 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner, near "Whitehead" on map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Location Key #2 on event map

8:30am PDT

Drawing Birds, Animals, Plants, and Landscapes

Limited Capacity filling up

Author of Nature Drawing: A Tool for Learning and three other books on specific techniques for drawing nature anywhere, Clare will guide you with demonstrations and your own drawing explaining her long used tips for drawing Birds, Animals, Plants, and Landscapes -- in one short hour and a half! Trained in England and classically experienced, Clare will help you gain confidence in some basic but well established ways for either beginning or developing your drawing (including the always faithful Blind and Modified Contours and Gesture Drawing exercises.). Although pencil and pen will be used, colored pencil and watercolor are encouraged, as is the copying of good field guide illustrations, photographs, and museum mounts (if possible).

Speakers

Clare Walker Leslie

ELI Master Artist and Workshop Leader, ClareWalkerLeslie.com

Clare Walker Leslie grew up outdoors playing in the woods and fields near Philadelphia. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Art History from Carleton College. Since then, her career has evolved by combining the study of nature and drawing / writing / painting / teaching as a means... Read More →

Saturday September 14, 2019 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Mott Whitehead Classroom - #3 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #3 on event map

8:30am PDT

Reflections and Other Tricky Things About Water

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Why is water so difficult to paint? How do you sketch something that’s always moving? Why can you see the bottom of the lake in one spot, but the reflected sky right next to it? We’ll talk a little about the science, look at solutions different artists have developed, figure out some strategies for analyzing what we’re seeing and do some simple exercises.

Speakers

Laurie Wigham

LaurieWigham.com

After nearly three decades doing graphic design and illustration in the tech industry, Laurie Wigham fell out of love with the computer and went back to making art without an undo button and getting ink stains on her fingers. She set up the SF Sketchers Meetup group 7 years ago and... Read More →

ClassNotes LaurieWigham pdf

LaurieWigham Reflections Water 14Sep2019 pdf

Saturday September 14, 2019 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Asilomar Triton Classroom (#4 on event map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #4 on event map

10:30am PDT

Cartooning Natural History

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Have you ever noticed that an animal interaction or landscape process is better represented by a series of images rather than a single drawing? Would you like to be able to present your observations of the natural world in narrative form? Then this class is for you! We will explore the art of natural history cartooning by looking at examples, and discussing techniques for layout, graphic composition, wording and lettering. Come prepared with a nature story you would like to tell or a pages of your sketchbook that show observations over time.

Speakers

Emily Underwood

UnderwoodIllustration.com

Emily Underwood is an artist and educator based in Central California. Blending her background in both science and art, she explores landscape histories through the mediums of painting, printmaking, and bookmaking. She has degrees in Earth Sciences and Geology from UC Santa Cruz and... Read More →

Saturday September 14, 2019 10:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Asilomar Triton Classroom (#4 on event map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Sketching gear.
Location Key #4 on event map

10:30am PDT

Information Presentation and Systems Thinking: Telling a story in a map

Limited Capacity filling up

In this application-based workshop, Obi will discuss and demonstrate the modes of his technique behind his style of both cartography and ecological modeling.

Speakers

Obi Kaufmann

CoyoteThunder.com

Obi Kaufmann grew up in the East San Francisco Bay Area as the son of an astrophysicist and a psychologist, and he spent most of high school studying calculus and breaking away on weekends to scramble around Mount Diablo, mapping its creeks, oak forests, and sage mazes. Kaufmann’s... Read More →

Saturday September 14, 2019 10:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Mott Whitehead Classroom - #3 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Sketching gear.
Location Key #3 on event map

10:30am PDT

Sketchbiologizing

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Sketch biologist Abby McBride leads this workshop focused on wildlife sketching and roles it can play in science and conservation. Abby has a biology degree from Williams College, a science writing degree from MIT, and a tendency to wander around outside with a sketchbook. She recently returned from a year-long Fulbright fellowship in New Zealand, sketching seabirds and writing stories about seabird conservation for National Geographic

Speakers

Abby McBride

Sketch biologist

Abby McBride is a sketch biologist who writes and illustrates stories about science and nature. She has a biology degree from Williams College, a science writing degree from MIT, and a tendency to wander around outside with a sketchbook. After college Abby took the obvious career... Read More →

Saturday September 14, 2019 10:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Mott Madrone Classroom - #2 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner, near "Whitehead" on map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Sketching gear.
Location Key #2 on event map

1:00pm PDT

Composition and Layout For the Journal Format

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

The key to dynamic compositions in nature journal pages may well lie in throwing out all conventional compositional rules and worries about making “finished” pages -- but how does one do that and still end up with interesting page layouts? In this workshop, individually tailored exercises and instruction will be given to participants to help gain control of your pages by letting go of preconceptions and strategies, then honing existing strengths. Bring your field journal and preferred media; scrap paper will be provided.

Speakers

Catherine Hamilton

Catherine Hamilton began drawing at age two, and began birding at age seven with her father. She started her first birding sketchbook at that time. Mysteriously, her parents encouraged both art and birding, and today she melds those two pursuits into her career. She has been a professional... Read More →

Saturday September 14, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Mott Whitehead Classroom - #3 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #3 on event map

1:00pm PDT

Drawing Birds, Animals, Plants, and Landscapes

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Author of Nature Drawing: A Tool for Learning and three other books on specific techniques for drawing nature anywhere, Clare will guide you with demonstrations and your own drawing explaining her long used tips for drawing Birds, Animals, Plants, and Landscapes - in one short hour and a half! Trained in England and classically experienced, Clare will help you gain confidence in some basic but well established ways for either beginning or developing your drawing (including the always faithful Blind and Modified Contours and Gesture Drawing exercises.). Although pencil and pen will be used, colored pencil and watercolor are encouraged, as is the copying of good field guide illustrations, photographs, and museum mounts (if possible).

Speakers

Clare Walker Leslie

ELI Master Artist and Workshop Leader, ClareWalkerLeslie.com

Clare Walker Leslie grew up outdoors playing in the woods and fields near Philadelphia. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Art History from Carleton College. Since then, her career has evolved by combining the study of nature and drawing / writing / painting / teaching as a means... Read More →

Saturday September 14, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Asilomar Triton Classroom (#4 on event map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #4 on event map

1:00pm PDT

Whole-Brain Techniques for Improving Your Drawing Skills at Any Level

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Prepare to be inspired and challenged in this hands-on workshop that includes lots of quick drawing exercises to level up your representational drawing skills. We’ll practice both left and right brain techniques to hone your observational skills, strengthen your hand-eye coordination and bust free of creative blocks.

Speakers

Christine Elder

SciLuminart Studio

I'm a naturalist, educator, and illustrator from Oregon. I teach nature sketching classes for both youth and adults locally as well as online. After the pandemic subsides, I hope to resume leading sketching retreats to Central American destinations.

Saturday September 14, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Mott Madrone Classroom - #2 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner, near "Whitehead" on map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Instructor-recommended supplies: paper and pencil. Your usual sketching gear.
Location Key #2 on event map

3:00pm PDT

Small-scale Perspective

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Unlike urban environments, the irregular landscapes of nature don't require a mastery of linear perspective. But when we're drawing objects within the natural world such as trees, flowers, animals, bones, and shells, the basic principles of perspective can help us capture their scale and three-dimensional volume. In this workshop we'll attempt to make perspective drawing easy and fun, and see how it can be applied to a variety of cool and surprising subjects.

Speakers

Mark Simmons

UltimateMark.com

Mark Simmons is a freelance illustrator and cartoonist, specializing in comics and storyboarding. His past teaching adventures include teaching figure drawing at the Academy of Art University, and classes in cartooning, sketching, and wildlife illustration for SF Bay Area institutions... Read More →

Saturday September 14, 2019 3:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Mott Whitehead Classroom - #3 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #3 on event map

3:00pm PDT

What’s in a Sky?

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

What blue paint colors are in that sky, and how can you mix those cloudy grays? What’s one color you’ll never see in a sky, even in the most lurid sunset? How can you show the sun breaking through the clouds, and what happens where the sky touches the land? Laurie will attempt to answer these and other questions with a grab bag of painting techniques, field observations, solutions from other artists and random tips.

Speakers

Laurie Wigham

LaurieWigham.com

After nearly three decades doing graphic design and illustration in the tech industry, Laurie Wigham fell out of love with the computer and went back to making art without an undo button and getting ink stains on her fingers. She set up the SF Sketchers Meetup group 7 years ago and... Read More →

LaurieSwigham Skies 14Sep2019 pdf

ClassNotes LaurieWigham pdf

Saturday September 14, 2019 3:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Asilomar Triton Classroom (#4 on event map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #4 on event map

3:00pm PDT

You Can Draw It! Intro to Fast Sketching

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Drawing is a skill that anyone can develop with practice. In this workshop we will frame a growth mindset and explore six principles that will accelerate your learning and help you draw faster and better, while having more fun!

Speakers

John Muir Laws

Naturalist, Artist, and Educator, Nature Stewardship through Science, Education, and Art

John Muir Laws (aka Jack) is a principal leader and innovator of the worldwide nature journaling movement. As a scientist, educator, and author, Jack helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding... Read More →

Saturday September 14, 2019 3:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Mott Madrone Classroom - #2 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner, near "Whitehead" on map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #2 on event map

8:30am PDT

Minimalist On-the-Go Sketch Kit: Simplifying Your Gear & Paints

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Do you find yourself struggling to carry a bulging field bag, filled with too many supplies you almost never use? Are you sometimes hamstrung because it takes you so long to set up your sketching gear that you don’t stop and capture small and delightful details? This class will be like a diet for your field sketching kit! Roseann has been keeping nature journals for 40 years, and has refined her gear to a light-and-fast stand-up field sketching kit comprising her easy-to-make (and inexpensive) field journal, a fountain pen, a single brush, and a mini paint kit with cyan, magenta, yellow, burnt sienna, and a dark blue (indigo or indanthrone). She’ll share her ideas and get you started with easy color-mixing with just 3-5 colors. Lighten your load, de-clutter your gear, and focus on what you love: observing, sketching, and painting.

Speakers

Roseann Hanson

Exploring Overland

For more than 30 years, Roseann Hanson has worked around the globe as a guide, journalist, and conservationist. Her work has involved thousands of miles of overlanding on four continents. She is an elected National Fellow of the Explorers Club and the Royal Geographical Society; founder... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Asilomar Triton Classroom (#4 on event map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #4 on event map

8:30am PDT

Nature Journaling Across the Globe

Limited Capacity filling up

Christine will share journal pages from her adventures in such diverse environments as Alaska’s arctic tundra, Guatemala’s central highlands and Borneo’s lowland rainforests. She’ll share tips on tools, techniques and subject matter so that you can benefit from both her triumphs and tragedies in the field.

Speakers

Christine Elder

SciLuminart Studio

I'm a naturalist, educator, and illustrator from Oregon. I teach nature sketching classes for both youth and adults locally as well as online. After the pandemic subsides, I hope to resume leading sketching retreats to Central American destinations.

Sunday September 15, 2019 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Mott Madrone Classroom - #2 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner, near "Whitehead" on map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Instructor-recommended supplies: paper and pencil. Your usual sketching gear.
Location Key #2 on event map

8:30am PDT

Nature Journaling Mindset: Tip, Tricks, Techniques for Growth, Learning, and Motivation

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Do you think you can’t draw? Is your perfectionism a problem? Do you want to spend more time actually nature journaling? Do you struggle with self-judgement or compare yourself harshly to all the “better” nature journalers? If any of these sound familiar you will benefit from this workshop. Over several years Marley has been developing and testing psychological strategies to help you achieve your nature journaling goals, learn faster, and feel better about your awesome self.

Speakers

Marley Peifer

The Nature Journal Show / MarleyPeifer.com

Marley Peifer has nature journaled in Baja, the Amazon, the Serengeti, the Galapagos, and the rainforests of Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador among other places. Marley believes that nature journaling has an important role to play in helping illuminate and protect the world's vanishing... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 8:30am - 10:00am PDT
Mott Whitehead Classroom - #3 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #3 on event map

10:30am PDT

Creative Lettering for Nature Journals

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Rather than focus on fine calligraphy, this class will be an opportunity to cozy up to letters, styles and techniques and overcome the intimidation of using hand lettering on your journal pages. Explore ways to create cleverly crafted letters and words and see how well they play together with your images and layouts.

Speakers

Deb Brady

Deb Brady is an illustrator, graphic artist, and avid nature enthusiast. Her day job is as a sign artist at Trader Joe’s.

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Asilomar Triton Classroom (#4 on event map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #4 on event map

10:30am PDT

Drawing Birds, Animals, Plants, and Landscapes

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Author of Nature Drawing: A Tool for Learning and three other books on specific techniques for drawing nature anywhere, Clare will guide you with demonstrations and your own drawing explaining her long used tips for drawing Birds, Animals, Plants, and Landscapes -- in one short hour and a half! Trained in England and classically experienced, Clare will help you gain confidence in some basic but well established ways for either beginning or developing your drawing (including the always faithful Blind and Modified Contours and Gesture Drawing exercises.). Although pencil and pen will be used, colored pencil and watercolor are encouraged, as is the copying of good field guide illustrations, photographs, and museum mounts (if possible).

Speakers

Clare Walker Leslie

ELI Master Artist and Workshop Leader, ClareWalkerLeslie.com

Clare Walker Leslie grew up outdoors playing in the woods and fields near Philadelphia. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Art History from Carleton College. Since then, her career has evolved by combining the study of nature and drawing / writing / painting / teaching as a means... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Mott Madrone Classroom - #2 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner, near "Whitehead" on map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #2 on event map

10:30am PDT

Reflections and Other Tricky Things About Water

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Why is water so difficult to paint? How do you sketch something that’s always moving? Why can you see the bottom of the lake in one spot, but the reflected sky right next to it? We’ll talk a little about the science, look at solutions different artists have developed, figure out some strategies for analyzing what we’re seeing and do some simple exercises.

Speakers

Laurie Wigham

LaurieWigham.com

After nearly three decades doing graphic design and illustration in the tech industry, Laurie Wigham fell out of love with the computer and went back to making art without an undo button and getting ink stains on her fingers. She set up the SF Sketchers Meetup group 7 years ago and... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 10:30am - 12:00pm PDT
Mott Whitehead Classroom - #3 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #3 on event map

1:00pm PDT

Cartooning Natural History

Limited Capacity filling up

Have you ever noticed that an animal interaction or landscape process is better represented by a series of images rather than a single drawing? Would you like to be able to present your observations of the natural world in narrative form? Then this class is for you! We will explore the art of natural history cartooning by looking at examples, and discussing techniques for layout, graphic composition, wording and lettering. Come prepared with a nature story you would like to tell or pages of your sketchbook that show observations over time.

Speakers

Emily Underwood

UnderwoodIllustration.com

Emily Underwood is an artist and educator based in Central California. Blending her background in both science and art, she explores landscape histories through the mediums of painting, printmaking, and bookmaking. She has degrees in Earth Sciences and Geology from UC Santa Cruz and... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Asilomar Triton Classroom (#4 on event map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #4 on event map

1:00pm PDT

Orange is a Green’s Best Friend (or Orange is the New Green)

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

In this workshop, we will assess greens in landscapes and plants and explore the use of greens and their complementary and neighboring colors with the aim of developing palette fluency and familiarity. In the field, whether approaching landscape or botanical painting, understanding how to layer or contrast greens with other colors leads to less muddiness and more color sophistication. Come practice! Plant specimens and source materials will be provided, or bring your own.

Speakers

Catherine Hamilton

Catherine Hamilton began drawing at age two, and began birding at age seven with her father. She started her first birding sketchbook at that time. Mysteriously, her parents encouraged both art and birding, and today she melds those two pursuits into her career. She has been a professional... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Mott Whitehead Classroom - #3 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #3 on event map

1:00pm PDT

Sketchnoting! Fast Notes and Quick Sketching

Limited Capacity filling up

We all appreciate the power of combining written notes, field sketches, and diagrams in beautifully composed page layouts, but it's tough to get all that information down in mere minutes unless you have a hundred hands. In this workshop Mark will share some practical tips and tricks for speedy sketchnoting, laying out attractive and easily comprehensible pages, and capturing quick likenesses of fast-moving targets such as animals and guest humans.

Speakers

Mark Simmons

UltimateMark.com

Mark Simmons is a freelance illustrator and cartoonist, specializing in comics and storyboarding. His past teaching adventures include teaching figure drawing at the Academy of Art University, and classes in cartooning, sketching, and wildlife illustration for SF Bay Area institutions... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Mott Madrone Classroom - #2 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner, near "Whitehead" on map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #2 on event map

3:00pm PDT

Insect Drawing Intensive

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Learn to observe and draw insects, tarantulas, and other terrestrial arthropods using living and dead models. Entomologist Stephanie Dole, PhD, will share her tips and tricks for drawing arthropods and capturing their defining characteristics in your journal. We will use museum displays of mounted arthropods to observe and draw still subjects, focusing on their details and surface textures. Then, we will work with living tarantulas, beetles, vinegaroons, millipedes, and other arthropods to practice observing and drawing living, moving animals.

Speakers

Stephanie Dole

Beetlelady

Stephanie A. Dole, Ph.D. has been educating the public about terrestrial arthropods since 1997. As Beetlelady, she presents original educational programs for all ages throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Her Pop-Up Bug Museum is a traveling exhibit that incorporates... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 3:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Mott Madrone Classroom - #2 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner, near "Whitehead" on map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #2 on event map

3:00pm PDT

Sketchbiologizing

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Sketch biologist Abby McBride leads this workshop focused on wildlife sketching and roles it can play in science and conservation. Abby has a biology degree from Williams College, a science writing degree from MIT, and a tendency to wander around outside with a sketchbook. She recently returned from a year-long Fulbright fellowship in New Zealand, sketching seabirds and writing stories about seabird conservation for National Geographic.

Speakers

Abby McBride

Sketch biologist

Abby McBride is a sketch biologist who writes and illustrates stories about science and nature. She has a biology degree from Williams College, a science writing degree from MIT, and a tendency to wander around outside with a sketchbook. After college Abby took the obvious career... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 3:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Asilomar Triton Classroom (#4 on event map)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit.
Location Key #4 on event map

3:00pm PDT

Waterbrush Watercolor for Everyone

Limited Capacity filling up

Have you wanted to add watercolor to your journal? Here is a watercolor class that makes no assumptions and no judgments. The waterbrush is a wonderful and unassuming little tool that has revolutionized the way I paint. Learn how this little brush simplifies all your basic watercolor techniques. Bring your paints, journal, and if you have them, a large, fine point, Pentel Aquash water brush and a Flat Kuretake Fude Water Brush Pen.

Speakers

John Muir Laws

Naturalist, Artist, and Educator, Nature Stewardship through Science, Education, and Art

John Muir Laws (aka Jack) is a principal leader and innovator of the worldwide nature journaling movement. As a scientist, educator, and author, Jack helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding... Read More →

Sunday September 15, 2019 3:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
Mott Whitehead Classroom - #3 on event map (enter bldg. SE corner)

Classroom, Skills-building

Requirements Your sketching kit, and if you have them: a large, fine point Pentel Aquash water brush and a Flat Kuretake Fude Water Brush Pen
Location Key #3 on event map