My Sketch-Journaling Workshop for Kids ~ Day 1

Hoo Boy! That was too much FUN!
Let me introduce 20 of the neatest kids you can imagine. Their ages range from ten to thirteen, and they applied themselves with great intensity to their journaling workshop. I was blown away by the drawings they produced, as well as their journal entries, poetry and haiku.

Here they are, the whole bunch except for their teacher Tim, who was taking the picture. At left is Joyce, who teaches art, and I'm in the back row (look for the crone). I'm going to go through this one day at a time, showing you what we did, so this blog doesn't turn into a big blob you wouldn't want to read. As I was telling the kids, if you want people to read your journal, you can't feed it to them in big chunks. If you try to eat a whole carrot at once, you'll choke on it. But if you bite it into small chunks, it's easily chomped. So, the plan is: use lots of short paragraphs, and as many pictures as you can squeeze in to hold your reader's attention.

On the last day I sent home evaluation sheets with both kids and their teachers, offering (a carrot, for sure) a free autographed copy of my book Beaver Year in return for a completed evaluation. I picked up the first six filled out evaluations today, plus Tim's, and I think some of his answers make a good introduction to the makeup of the class and their expectations.

He wrote, in response to several questions:

• "These students have class outdoors once a week where they journal. Participants were selected randomly out of a pool of interested students. I hoped they would develop skills and be inspired to make beautiful, scientific outdoor journal entries.


• In the class I learned how much drawing is merely a gateway into biological investigations. Before the pencil touches the paper, we learned to look at the object, consider a starting point and find droplines [this is one of the visualizing tools I teach]. Such looking keeps [us] from 'left brain' iconization of objects."

• In addition, Irene taught us to consider our descriptive text as part of the art on the page. Neatness is no longer enough. Visual pleasure mixes with succinct information recording. The formation of letters and shape of the text area enhance the beauty of the page."

One thing you can pick up from those comments is the fact that Tim (as well as Joyce, the art teacher) TOOK the class, right alongside the kids. They both sat right at the tables with them, doing the homework, everything. They seemed to enjoy it as much as the youngsters.

So here's how it went -- I got pictures of some of it, but sometimes I was so busy teaching I forgot to take photos.

We started out with some right-brain warmups, faces & vases (see the photo), then each student did contour drawings of his/her hand without lifting the pencil from the paper. The first drawing was done while staring at the hand and not looking at the paper; during the second drawing they were allowed to look back and forth between hand and drawing as they drew. This introduces what using the right brain feels like, and we went on from there.

When I felt the kids were comfortable with that concept, we went on to drawing leaves. Using their new skills, with some coaching from yours truly, those guys pulled some wonderful drawings out of the hat! Here're several, but there were lots more great ones

After lunch, they went on to sketching seashells and bones. To tie the sketching to their journaling process, I had each one trace around a heavy paper shape onto the sketch page, to create a design element into which they would journal about their subject: e.g. what it looked like, its color, texture, comments about its shape, their drawing experience, etc.

By this time, we'd pretty much used up the day (and just about used up me, too -- it's not easy keeping on top of what's happening in a workshop!). And with twenty participants, it's not easy to get around to each one for personal instruction, but I did my best. Of course, the ones to get the most attention were ones who asked for it, but I made a point of going to kids who were too shy to ask for help, too.

The main difference between this class of young people and my usual adult classes is the attention span and the need to wiggle frequently (and the giggle and play reflex). If I tried to focus too long on one thing, the noise level would begin to rise and I'd have to work to reestablish some sort of order so we could continue. Still, I was amazed at the focus and determination of these kids to learn what I had to teach. I never felt, at any time, that they wished they were elsewhere (except, maybe, out running off some of that excess energy!). Great kids!

It was a very satisfying day. One down, two to go. But I was still a little apprehensive ~ the second workshop day is totally unlike the first, with an emphasis on writing. I decided to make sure there was some art involved, in case writing wasn't someone's strong point. Still, this IS a journaling class, and their writing is just as important as their art. I was determined to make it interesting and fruitful for them.

Day II tomorrow.

The editing begins

Oh, Rats. I just heard back from The Artist's Magazine that they are working on their June issue now, which comes out in mid-May, which is only 6 weeks before my Costa Rica Sketch/Journaling Workshop July 7-10. For $340 I can get my little 1"x2.5" ad (see the previous blog) placed, or I can get a listing, with no formatting or picture, for $150 or thereabouts. I didn't even write the amounts down. That's prohibitive for a listing appearing that late and for such a short time. Too bad I didn't schedule the workshop for a month or two later, but that would take it into the wet season in Costa Rica, which might not be ideal for such a workshop (even though it is remarkably lovely there then). Hmmmm.....

Well, I do have the list of people who requested information about last February's workshop, and I can mail them the flyer, so all is not lost. And I can keep writing about my workshop preparations on my blog, which gets picked up by the web crawlers. I might also look into promoting my workshop using Google's AdSense. More about that later.....

Because right now I'm busy with something else ~ I'm sitting here at my computer surrounded by an arc of manuscripts, all combbound and each turned to the same page and propped up on a stand of some sort. This is the final proof-editing for my upcoming book The Southern Swamp Explorer.

The manuscripts are freckled and slashed with red lines and scribbles, arrows and saucy comments, critical observations and puzzled questions. I would take a picture of this imposing arc of criticism to show you, but Dan "borrowed" back his camera to take a picture of a tree for a customer down at the nursery, so I can't. It's time to buy a new camera, obviously!

ButI CAN scan in one of the pages. This is page 14, upon which I'm working at the moment. There are also eight other red comments for this page scattered amongst the other five manuscripts, and it could take me up to twenty minutes to do a single page. More if I have to readjust spacing or content to fit new text. This is my sister, Laura's copy. At least she thinks the poem is cute. I don't get a LOT of praise on these critique pages, although my proofers seem to think it's a good book. They're concentrating on what's NOT right.

Here's the poem Laura likes, just in case you can't pull up the page at left, or can't read it when you do:

Frogs 'n Toads (a poem)

Frogs can jump, a toad just hops.

Toads taste bad, but frogs are tops.

Frog-egg jelly sticks to things.

Toads release their eggs in strings.

Frogs eat other frogs a lot.

Toads are bumpy, frogs are not.

Frogs are slippery, toads are dry.

Both of them are very shy.

Each sings loudly as it courts,

But neither one will give you warts.

(Actually, some frogs are bumpy. Bullfrogs may be.).

My critiquers comment on the illustrations, too, but I won't be improving illustrations until the next round (right now I'm sticking to text changes, or I'd get hopelessly bogged down in minutiae (is that spelled right?).

My proofers are master critiquers. They know I can take their comments, so they don't pull any punches. Being the author, illustrator, editor, publisher, promoter and distributer takes a certain amount of toughness which I have developed considerably over the years ~ I used to be a real criticism wimp. Now I can just grin, shrug, or even make a suggested improvement without a single change of expression as I type. My goodness, gracious!!!! {grin}

So anyway, along with preparing and promoting the workshops (and giving them, of course) over the course of this spring and summer, I will be sprucing up The Southern Swamp Explorer, painting a cover for it, and sending it off to press, hopefully before fall. I'll keep blogging about the process as I go ~ the interesting parts, anyway.

A couple of days ago I received a very nice Foreword from Dr. Bob (that's Dr. Robert Thomas), who chairs Loyola's Center for Environmental Communications at Loyola University in New Orleans. You may wonder "How'd she snag him?" and the answer is "The internet is a wonderful thing."

Bob used to have an internet column called "Ask Dr. Bob" and I found it online and sent him a number of swamp-type questions, which he courteously answered. Our communications bloomed into a friendship and eventually a boat trip out into the marshes on one of my swings through the southern swamps. I took along my rough draft of the book to show him (I think I was on draft #5 or so by then ~ it's on #9 or #10 now) and he liked it enough that when I asked if he'd write a foreword, he agreed. He even did a final ms. proofing for me, invaluable when one is writing about such a diverse and detailed roster of subjects.

At any rate, the Foreword is glowing, which makes all these pesky red squiggles not quite so annoying. And hey, while I don't utilize every single red comment, I'd guess that at least 90% of them are taken and used. As far as critics go, my best critics are those who don't know the subject I'm talking about very well, and will ask about it or tell me I forgot an important point or phrased something badly, or missed the boat entirely. And I've got a fine bunch helping me.

"They" say to NEVER rely on your family and friends to proof your manuscript. I think that depends on just who your family and friends are. With their various talents and backgrounds, I don't think I could have picked a better bunch. And with that, I'd better quit procrastinating and get back to work. There are 124 pages in this book, and I've barely begun!

See you in due time!

Nature Journaling/Sketching Workshop in Costa Rica

Mom always said if you make a booboo it's best to 'fess up and get it off your chest right away, then you can get on with life.

Even if it's really embarrassing? Particularly if it is.

So here we go with the embarrassing booboo, and it's a hummer. But before I do that, I want to report that the workshop was terrific. The weather was perfect, the workshop attendees were A-one super people, our rooms and the surroundings at El Remanso Wildlife Lodge were awe-inspiring, we were looked after by a great staff with superabundant grace and good humor, and we all had a wonderful time. After the workshop, I gave a mini-workshop for two of the Costa Rican staff (Gerardo and Elyer). Then I took a trip to the Monte Verde Cloud Forest (more later), which went even better than expected. I'd estimate that I took 500-600 absolutely terrific photos. My best ever. It was a great trip.

So what's the problem?

In my defense, (weak, but it's all I have) let's say that the day before catching my plane I traveled five hours in a local bus across Costa Rica (3 of those hours on a dusty, bumpy dirt road), then stayed up later that night than usual. Then I got up at 5:15, still sleepy. I packed up my little carrybag with my sketchbook and pen and watercolor pencils, a couple of things to nibble on, and not much else, then Joel left me, my suitcase, and my pack off at the airport in San José, Costa Rica, for the trip home. I checked both my bags through, so I wouldn't have to carry so much. I was a little concerned that airport security won't let us lock or seal bags. But hey, what's the choice.

And I put my camera, containing the memory card with all those wonderful photos, in my little travel pack, zipped it up and checked it. Duh. Do I really have to finish this, mom????

If I had been smart, or even present inside my skull, I would have at least removed the teensy memory card and tucked it into my wallet. Or I could have transferred the contents of the memory card to a light-weight CD the day before and carried THAT with me -- I had an opportunity to do it.

That way, whoever pilfered the camera (a nice little Canon PowerShot A540 worth about $225 when I bought it a couple of years ago) would have gotten only the camera, not the pictures, too. [Hey, can I get a do-over?]

But still, it really was a perfect trip, and I have a journal full of sketches, poems, notes and ephemera to prove it, but the photos you see in this these workshop blog entries will be those of Marilyn, Jocelyn and Kathy, my generous students, who have given me permission to use them.

And PLEASE, learn from my stupendously addlepated mistake [she sighs and wipes her hands briskly, glad to be finished with the nasty task of confessing her blunder].

[brightening, with a sheepish grin] So now, tomorrow, come back and I will show-and-tell you what transpired during our four-day Nature Sketching/Journaling Workshop (and other related adventures).
See you then!

My Hawaii Nature Journal ~ Watercolor Pencil Orchid

Vacations are BUMMERS! Well actually, the bummer is when you get home from Hawaii in your sunglasses and safari shorts and tanned knees and turn into an instant icicle with snow globbing up on your cold blue knees!

I'm exaggerating just the tiniest bit....I was glad to see Daniel again, and to have a chance to share with him some of my best adventures as he took time off from work to drive me to my house. But that stinker was chuckling as he took this picture of me in front of my house (if I cut him a little slack I have to admit I probably would have been chuckling wickedly, too, if I were him).....

But it ain't FAIR! I've experienced a blizzard with 3" of snow, 60mph winds, downed trees, a 36 hour power outage and about 3½" of rain in the paltry thirteen days I've been back, and it has me vowing to retire early, move to Hawaii and live a life of ease, doing a painting every few days to sell at a nearby gallery to pay for my coconuts and margaritas....... ah, such are my dreams.....

Actually, today I wanted to show you how my photo of the orchid turned into a watercolor pencil painting in my journal. I'm going to show you how I did it, step-by-step, so you can see if this is something you might want to try yourself (if you aren't already an accomplished watercolor pencillist). Be sure to click on the pictures to see them close-up. (Does anyone happen to know what kind of orchid this is? Even just the genus, or maybe a common name?)

The orchid of which I took the original photo in the Hawai'i Tropical Botanical Park wasn't perfect and it showed raindrops and some wear. I decided to not show blemishes or water drops on my finished painting.

Since my main aim was to play/practice with the watercolor pencils, I didn't make any effort to draw a freehand outline. I brought up the photo in Photoshop, made a new layer, and traced the orchid to create an outline drawing (#1).

Then I printed out just the outline drawing (#2). Since I wanted the painting to be on the same paper as the rest of my journal, i.e. heavy paper that would take water without buckling or pilling, I pulled a sheet from the back of my journal and ran that through my printer to print the outline on.

Using just the pencils in the 12-color Staedtler set (I'm not promoting this brand particularly ~ it's just one I got cheap because the metal box was bent. But these pencils do a fine job, as do many other brands), I chose a lime green to start out the color (#3). You'll notice that there's not a lot of color there, because when it is wet, the color will spread and intensify. I tested out what it would do by making some trial swatches at the bottom of the sheet.

Next I wet the green, and when that was dry I put in the yellow center then started adding spots (#4) . Always start with muted background colors then put bright colors over them. If you forget and start with the bright colors (a pinkish red, or cerise, in this case), you'll have to be extra careful not to let them bleed as you try to mop in a subtle background around them.

Let wet areas dry before putting on more pencil if you want to control the colors even a little. If you pencil into a wet areas, it will make a really sharp mark that won't blend in very well with the brush. Experiment in your trial swatch area.

Next it was time to finish the cerise markings (#5), but on looking at the photo I decided to use a more orangish red to tone down the pink. I also added in some blue to give shadows, then wet it again.

It was looking rather pale against the white background, so I decided to make it pop out of the page with a contrasty black/blue/green background (#6). I blended this in really dark with all three pencils at once before adding color. Only part of it was added here (in #6), and I wet it to see how far out it would extend. Actually, I didn't have to add any more in the darkened background areas since I found I could pull the dark color sufficiently far away from the center with the watered brush.

I finished up with the remaining background areas (#8)(oops, there never was a #7!), and painted in a bluer contrast in the center areas. For these areas, I've just wet my brush and dabbed some color off the pencil point and painted that on.

I didn't try to copy all the ferns and leaves in the background of the original photo, since they would have drawn attention away from the orchid. And I didn't add the storm damage on the lower flower lip, either. Here's the photo again, to check it against.

If you'd like to try this as a tutorial, you can click on drawing #2 and copy and paste it to any program that will print it out. MSWord would work. Print on very heavy paper with some tooth or roughness to make it work best with water. Then color your own version!

In fact, you can sit at your computer, click on the link to get the big picture, and see right in front of you exactly how this orchid was done, step-by-step (and try your own flourishes if you prefer ;^)

When I was finished, I wanted to put the orchid painting into my journal in the correct spot, right after the page with the ti leaf, so using a pair of fancy-edge (scrapbooking) scissors that make a really classy torn-looking edge (check it out on the enlargement!), I cut out the orchid with about a 3/4" margin, watered down some Elmer's glue with water, used a big brush to paint the glue on the back of the painting, pressed it onto a fresh journal page from the back of the journal along with a printed-out photo of the orchid, and pressed them flat under several books for an hour or so.

Then I removed the journal page from the journal with a sharp scissor snip behind every coil in the binding. If you just tear out the page, it creates a rough edge that won't press back into the coils and stay properly ~ but if you snip it out and press it very gently into its new spot, no one will even notice it was added later, and it will stay in place. Using this method, the orchid appears in the journal across from the Botanical Garden entry as it should.

So there's your art tip for the day! I hope you enjoyed looking through it as much as I did making it. This is the sort of hands-on artwork we do in my workshops, and in fact, we'll be painting this very orchid (or one much like it) in my Nature Journaling/Sketching Workshop in Costa Rica next month. Hope you can join us ~ there are still a few openings.