Well my “Creative Journaling Spring 2011” class has ended after 4 weeks; it passed very quickly! Some of my students had never drawn anything before and others were used to doing some art or crafts. What I found the most interesting was how certain areas of what I taught really suited different students or ‘caught’ their imaginations. (Please CLICK on pictures to see them enlarged)
Great job Helen!
I’m happy to say Helen, who has never drawn before but is an EXCELLENT quilter, tried drawing and did quite well. I went over comparative measurements and gesture sketching with her and I think she’s getting the hang of it! She said she loved using the watercolor pencils. I can see her love of color in her quilts and could see she loved using color with the watercolor pencils.
Helen used her love of fabric and made a cover for her journal.
This of course, is Helen’s journal…she couldn’t help but get creative with fabric and cover her sketchbook journal that we made. She glued it on with rubber cement.
Linda and Paula working on poems and painting.
These ladies are very involved with their pages. Linda created some beautiful twig letters when we did creative lettering. I showed how to start with a simple outline then embellish your lines. Paula was inspired to write a poem during class after I introduced using poetry in your journal and gave a little talk about how I write a poem. Paula already liked writing poems so it really caught her interest and here is the wonderful poem she penned about our class!
“Challenges”
Painting what I see,
Seeing sky through the tree,
Climbing the incline,
Writing poetry with rhyme.
Enjoying Nature:
Through art and poetry,
With experimentation and camaraderie,
Is easy, fun, natural and free!
by Paula Minklai 2011
Paula followed just what I was encouraging by doing a little painting in her journal and incorporated the poem on the page. Her little painting was of an incline with trees on it and she likened learning to going up the incline, enjoying what we experience as we go. Great job Paula!
I showed the class how to use the twig look for letters, Linda did a great job!
I love the blue color of the twigs Linda used.
Please enjoy the rest of the photos taken over the last few weeks.
Linda working on watercolor pencil landscape in a circle.
Helen used the watercolor pencils so nicely here for the first time ever!
Creative Journaling class 2 - making coffee stained paper
Creative Journaling class 3 - drawing
I hope someday you’ll take a class with me! Sign up your email in the subscribe box to see when I’ll be teaching near you or just follow my posts about my journaling adventures!
Drawing a window and creative borders on my journal page in Alnwick, England
Meeting on Saturday’s – April 2 through 30, no classes on April 23, 10 am – 12 noon
Our adventure continues! This class includes students who took the first Creative Journaling class and we welcome all new comers!
Creative Journaling class 1- Making our journals
Get Creative with Journaling! A class for all ages. We’ll combine sketching, painting and writing with experienced guidance from our instructor to create a journal of experiences and special days. Learn drawing skills, how to add decorative borders, creative designs and lettering to your journal. Learn creative writing tips; dabble in poetry writing and techniques for creating a very personal record. You’ll also be introduced to the use of watercolor pencils, watercolors, permanent ink pens, and water brushes to create images and illustrations to share. We’ll even make our own journal! Creative Journaling or Art Journaling is becoming increasingly popular; it complements internet blogs or conventional diaries and provides a highly visual and descriptive book to treasure for years to come.
Creative Journaling - playing with creative text.
$75 for 4 classes, a $3 materials fee payable to the instructor the first day covers the water brush you keep.
•Following this class (after a lunch break) is “Nature Sketching”, a two-hour class that ties in beautifully with Creative Journaling. Sign up for both and save $5 on both classes!
•A complete materials list will be emailed to you after registering. Contact Mary with any questions.
•Read more on my blog about my sketching adventures in England and New York, just click links in the right hand column. You can sign your email to receive automatic updates when there are new posts.
Creative Journaling class 3 - drawing landscape behind a shape
Four Saturdays in April (2nd, 9th, 16th, 30th, no class on the 23rd) Time: 1 – 3 pm
At the Burchfield Nature and Art Center in West Seneca, NY.
Explore nature as we work indoors and out when the weather is nice, from real subjects and photos. Share my field sketchbooks from England and New York. Learn how to make your own easy field sketch journal! Learn ‘drawing from life’ techniques that will help you next time you are out in nature and want to capture something on paper. Work in your field sketchbook using real nature objects as we learn how to draw and paint them. Learn how to use pencil, watercolor pencil and watercolor in creative ways to embellish your sketchbook pages. Adults and mature young students are welcome. We will sketch and learn in the park if weather permits.
"Springtime Path in the Maze" watercolor crayon + wax crayon
$75 for 4 classes, a $6 materials fee payable to the instructor the first day covers the cost of various papers and a water brush to keep.
•This class follows the Creative Journaling class also offered on Saturdays. Both would compliment each other. If taken together get a $5 discount on each.
•A complete materials list will be emailed to you after registering. Contact me with any questions. For your convenience several varieties of water brushes will be available in class to purchase.
•Read more about my sketching adventures in England and New York here on the blog, click on categories in right column. You can sign your email to receive automatic updates when there are new posts.
Me drawing and writing in my journal along the coast of England
Saturdays in March (5th, 12th, 19th, 26th) Time: 1 – 3 pm
Explore nature as we work indoors from real subjects and photos. Share my field sketchbooks from England and New York. Learn ‘drawing from life’ techniques that will help you next time you are out in nature and want to capture something on paper. Work in your field sketchbook using real nature objects as we learn how to draw and paint them. Learn how to use pencil, color pencil, watercolor pencil and watercolor in creative ways to embellish your sketchbook pages. Adults and mature young students are welcome. We will occasionally sketch and learn in the park if weather permits.
Students drawing near the creek on a nice day
$75 for 4 classes, a $6 materials fee payable to the instructor the first day covers the cost of various papers and a water brush.
•If you sign up for the second Nature Sketching class now there will be a $5 discount for each class, We’ll continue our studies in April, learning more about painting and drawing, spending more time in the park as weather permits.
•This class follows the Creative Journaling class also offered on Saturdays. Both would compliment each other. If taken together get a $5 discount on each.
•A complete materials list will be emailed to you after registering. Contact me with any questions. For your convenience several varieties of water brushes will be available in class to purchase.
•Read more about my sketching adventures in England and New York here on the blog, click on categories in right column. You can sign your email to receive automatic updates when there are new posts.
Me drawing and writing in my journal along the coast of England
Meeting each Saturday in March (5th, 12th, 19th, 26th) 10 am – 12 noon
Get Creative with Journaling! A class for all ages. We’ll combine sketching, painting and writing with experienced guidance from our instructor to create a journal of experiences and special days. Learn drawing skills, how to add decorative borders, creative designs and lettering to your journal. Learn creative writing tips; dabble in poetry writing and techniques for creating a very personal record. You’ll also be introduced to the use of watercolor pencils, watercolors, permanent ink pens, and water brushes to create images and illustrations to share. We’ll even make our own all media journal! Creative Journaling is becoming increasingly popular; it complements internet blogs or conventional diaries and provides a highly visual and descriptive book to treasure for years to come.
$75 for 4 classes, a $6 materials fee payable to the instructor the first day covers the cost of a journal and water brush.
•Following this class (after a lunch break) is “Nature Sketching”, a two-hour class that ties in beautifully with Creative Journaling. Sign up for both and save $5 on both classes!
•Sign up now for a second Creative Journaling class in April with another version of the journal, learn more ways to enhance it and make a feather pen and save $5 on each class!
•A complete materials list will be emailed to you after registering. Contact Mary with any questions.
•Read more on my blog about my sketching adventures in England and New York, just click links in the right hand column. You can sign your email to receive automatic updates when there are new posts.
This coming Saturday April 4, 2009, I’ll be giving a free talk and demonstration about nature sketching in the field. It’ll be held at the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge from 1pm, at the refuge headquarters building, 1101 Casey Road. I’ll be showing my personal sketchbooks, art supplies I use in the field, how I carry things and demonstrating some basic drawing techniques along with how to make a simple field sketchbook for yourself! Please come and meet me and see my sketchbooks and be inspired to go drawing in the field after!
Here’s some links to past entries on my Nature Sketching blog from hikes around the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge.
photo courtesy of John Rusak-Clarence Bee News, teaching at the Burchfield Nature and Art Center Spring 2008, 5th grade class
Indoor and Field Classes
Join Naturalist Artist guide Mary McAndrew in sketching, painting and experiencing nature through art.
Mary McAndrew (716) 741-4544 mary@marymcandrew.com
Mary McAndrew, naturalist artist guide, will be giving a FREE introductory talk and lesson on “Nature Sketching in the Field” at the Iroquis National Wildlife Refuge. Please bring a sketch pad and pencils; the time of the program is 1pm at the refuge visitors center 1101 Casey Road. To read more about the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge visit their website: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/iroquois/mary@marymcandrew.com
My students trying watercolors for the first time, it was so much fun!
Come explore nature with me as we work indoors or out from real nature subjects and photos. Whether it’s a weekly class or one day workshop we’ll learn drawing from life techniques that will improve your artistic skills in the field and how to draw from photos in the studio. We’ll learn how to identify subjects in nature and how to draw them. We’ll learn foundation drawing skills and how to use pencil, color pencil, watercolor pencil and watercolors. I’ll also introduce NEW materials on the market (water soluble graphite and the waterbrush) and how to use them. This is a fun class that will teach you how to capture nature on paper and help bring your skills to a new level.
I can offer my class to your group, whether it’s school children or retirement homes, everyone loves my classes and has a good time learning! Please call me if you’d like to talk about the possibilities of what we can arrange.
What we’ll do in class:
Create your own Nature Journal (mostly for field classes but we can do this for indoor class also).
Create your own Art Kit.
Work with pencil, color pencil, watercolor, watercolor pencil, ink, watersoluble graphite.
Learn how to do studies of plants, flowers, birds, leaves, trees, clouds, bugs…you name it!
Identify local wildflowers, plants, birds, trees and more from our sketches using field guides.
(I’m posting this late because of the car accident) This is the Open House of the Burchfield Nature Center where I’ll be teaching Nature Sketching (for kids and adults), plein air Landscape Painting (oils), and a Fairy class if we can squeeze it in! It’s a gorgeous gallery and many acres of grounds to walk on and discover, located right outside the city of Buffalo, nestled alongside the Buffalo Creek.
Each teacher had an area to display their work, I brought some oil landscapes, watercolor birds, and a few of my Goddess oil paintings to show how I combine my love of nature and mythology. I brought my field bag and actual supplies to show people who were interested. People were very curious and loved being able to look in my sketchbook, like a glimpes into someone’s personal world. Well it ‘IS’ a glimpse into my personal world, parts of it! Every page I’ve shared here on my blog they were able to look at in person, it was great. Three times during the night, new student sign up sheets had to be printed for my Nature Sketching class!! Wow, looks like I’ll be busy! Some guests and friends checking out my display, (me talking with my hands as usual!), Dave, an old friend from college, Ken Morgan and Gene Witkowski, some of my photographer friends. And a picture of me and Cy Alessi , from “Art Voice” magazine. The last photo I’m talking to an interested student, sharing my sketchbook with her. Check out the website for the Burchfield and view the grounds, classes etc. I’ll post pictures as I teach and explore the grounds myself.
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