The Second Day of the Nature Sketching Workshop

The second day of the workshop is always fun ~ the air is charged with expectation, but now people know each other so there is good interchange between arriving students (usually missing on the first day). In my experience, students learn a great deal from each other, so I encourage students to notice and try useful things that other students are doing (or not doing!).

Day 2 is our Landscape Sketching Techniques class, so a workbook by that name is at each place when the students arrive, along with pencil, kneaded eraser, and click-eraser (no tortillon). I begin with some helpful hints for finding proportion, and advice on using light/dark and atmospheric phenomena to indicate distance and perspective. In a one-day landscape techniques class there really isn't enough time to get very detailed about perspective, so I only touch on the most prominent aspects they're likely to encounter.

The students warmed up with first a contour drawing of a lizard, then a modified contour drawing, then finally a freehand rendering (Aha! Now they have a lizard template to go with the pigeon template from yesterday!). I was seeing some excellent lizards ready to flit off the pages to disappear under nearby drawing kits or sweaters.

The next step was to learn how to transfer a viewed landscape onto the page, so I introduced some ways to do this, then we examined a landscape drawing I had made for this exercise, utilizing a goodly number of textures suitable for wooded mountains from far distant to fairly close. We discussed how to make water look like water with horizontal lines, and how NOT to make amateurish-looking conifers. They worked diligently to replicate the demonstration drawing on a blank part of the page and to duplicate as many of the textures as time allowed.

The next step was to examine what makes a landscape interesting: rock and foliage textures, gnarly sticks, grass clumps, rock formations and clusters, and other such goodies. As a hands-on exercise, the students tried some grass and leaf textures, then selected and drew a gnarly stick, working on "seeing" the stick shape, using good line weight for various parts of the stick, adding texture and 3-dimensionality to the shape, and discussing things that might be left out or added to improve a picture. As always, I was roaming around the tables stopping to encourage, praise, and suggest different approaches if someone appeared to need assistance.

After a useful critique of the stick drawings, the students were asked to do something that surprised them, and I'm not going to tell you what that was because I teach this workshop regularly and if I blab, it won't surprise future students. The element of surprise is important to that exercise.

Throughout this workshop I stress working quickly and not concentrating on a small area of the drawing until the entire outline is on the paper. This "hurry up" directive is disconcerting to some students at first ~ they're trying for accuracy, but here is the instructor urging them to work quickly!

But a quick first sketch is extremely important in nature drawing. After all, you're not illustrating a vase of flowers on your kitchen table, and whatever you are sketching is likely to move away or disappear entirely; you may not have a comfortable or safe place to work for more than a few minutes; if you are sketching with a group, they may choose to go on to the next spot; it may begin to rain or the light may change or fade, or mosquitoes may come out for a feast . . . all kinds of things make it essential to learn how to get a first sketch down quickly.

As I tell my students, after creating the initial outline, always begin working on the most important part ~ a drawing of a chimpmunk's head without the body (it ran away before you finished) is a "portrait." A drawing of the body without the head is, well, "a corpse." So, on we forged, practicing some typical foliage for trees, shrubs and grasses.

Lunch was fun ~ most of us stayed in the classroom to eat and we got into an interesting discussion about art in the schools and a lot of other off-the-wall stuff. After lunch, we began our final landscape project: to draw a landscape scene from a photograph, laying out the forms with confidence, inventing or adapting textures to show foliage, rocks, earth, water, sky, etc., and applying enough contrast to make the final rendering interesting. I provided a large selection of landscape photos from which each student chose one that suited his or her tastes.

We broke for a critique with about fifteen minutes of class left, then worked on the suggestions that came up in the critique for the rest of the class period. I also demonstrated and had students make a large tortillon out of tissue and tape to use in applying large areas of sky and water.

The homework assignment is to finish the landscape and bring it to class next Saturday for the final day of the workshop. I like running this workshop on two successive weekends for this reason ~ there are several days available for the students to really get into their drawings if they wish, and sometimes the results are spectacular. We'll see what comes of this group!

I had demonstrated some techniques for drawing symmetrical objects previously, so I also sent a sequoia cone home with each of them, so that they could try out the technique if they had time. Sometimes students return without having done the homework. That is always too bad, because you get more out of the classes if you apply the techniques just learned to the homework project. But if you can't find the time, I don't scold ~ circumstances sometimes make full application impossible. I just hope for the best.

I've been sorting out my workshop materials from the Costa Rica Journaling Workshop to reassemble for the final day of this sketching workshop. I also need to punch and comb-bind the workbooks. But I'll be ready by Saturday ~ if I don't play too much hooky in this gorgeous weather. It's a lovely sunny day out, about 50 degrees and no breeze. Yesterday was even warmer. Ahhhh, spring! I can hardly wait!

The First Day of the Nature Sketching Workshop

Off to a good start! I suspected I would be too tired to write about the latest workshop (Nature and Landscape Sketching Techniques) on the workshop days, and I was right. Those workshops take a lot of energy. I'm on my feet the entire time, either imparting information to the whole class or going around to help or check the progess of individual students. I did sit down a couple of times to work on a demo, I guess. Still, it takes a lot of energy.

So here it is Monday, and I'll take the workshop days in order, Saturday first. Work shown here is by permission of the artists. Be sure to click for a larger view!

I arrived half an hour early at my classroom, and since this workshop is sponsored jointly by the local North Mountain Park Nature Center and Ashland Parks and Recreation, the classroom is a nicely appointed room in a city building, with carpet, sink and microwave, blackboards, chairs and tables.

Actually, it's more accurate to say it would have been, but when I arrived that room was filling with another group ~ it had gotten double-booked! Oops! Well, it was quickstep with help from a capable man named Don from the other workshop. We both were entitled to use the room, but they'd gotten there first, so they helped me set up in another room.

By 9am, right on schedule, my students arrived to find their workshop (surprise!) set up in the gym next to the classroom. All things considered, it was okay except for a bit of an echo, and the lighting was excellent.

I watched them come in with great interest, and when the last one appeared (seven students in all ~ nine signed up, but two didn't show and one woman started to feel ill by noon and had to leave) I was delighted with the variety: one man, five women, and a teenage girl. And when they got settled in and introduced themselves, I discovered that I had mostly people who were interested in being able to draw accurately, but only a couple of them had any previous experience, and that was apparently some time ago, from what I understand. Perfect.

At each seat I had placed the workbook Nature Sketching Techniques , a mechanical pencil with 2B lead, a kneaded eraser, a click-eraser, and a tortillon. The workbook has several extra pages in the back, heavy paper suitable for lots of drawing and erasing action.

We began with the right-brain exercises, then progressed to drawing oak leaves. They were doing quite nicely, although a couple of the students were pretty hard on themselves. So I compared art-creating skills to violin-playing skills. Would you expect to play a violin concerto perfectly the first time you picked up a violin? Of course not, and you'd not only NOT produce a recognizable melody, but the sound would most likely resemble the squawks of an angry chicken. So there's no reason to expect you should be an accomplished artist if you haven't been drawing lately (or ever).

I was very pleased with their leaf drawings. Oak leaves aren't an easy subject. But if I were to give the students an easy subject they wouldn't realize they can do much, much more difficult subjects from the beginning once they understand how the right brain works.

There are some typical problem areas when learning to sketch accurately ~ you must draw lightly (this can be difficult!), with few "try" lines (sketchy lines) ~some are okay, but will need erasing if you want the drawing to look good. And of course the whole process is challenging because you are using a multitude of techniques you have just learned to get the lines in the right place. It's not a snap, but it is definitely doable! Sometimes people with "some art experience" have a harder time than newbies because they may have to unlearn some techniques that are more appropriate to non-realistic art.

When the students had gotten good likeness of their oak leaves (much to their surprise), we developed some dove templates ~ if you want to know what that's about, you'd best take the class. It requires explaining plus a bit of guidance for best results.

With a nice chunk of time left before lunch, I let each student select an object to sketch from a box of treasures I had brought, and they began to apply all they had learned during the morning.

I'm showing their results here, and keep in mind that these are not people who sketch or draw on a regular basis. I think they did a terrific job, and all of them can be pleased with their results.

After lunch, we worked on shading techniques, how to make eyes, and a few other special techniques I show my students which I invented and which aren't in the workbooks. Then they practiced some smudging and erasing techniques in preparation for the final sketching subject for the day, a turkey feather.

A turkey feather is a perfect model for ending this class since it really stretches the students, but they can, at the same time, produce an end result which seems impossible in the beginning but which looks really good when they're finished.

I wish I could run the classes a half hour longer, because the students seldom finish their feathers in the hour alotted for that project. But running an extra half hour has proved to be a real drain on students, especially ones past middle age (like myself), because this is an intense class with the brain working at full speed learning myriad new things, and the body trying to keep up with the new techniques, as mentioned above.

Still, I made sure they had done at least part of each area of the feather, and the end results, although not quite finished, were extraordinarily good. We critiqued, admired the artwork, and they were justly proud of their efforts. Everyone left tired but exhiliarated, pleased with their prowess, and I cleaned up the room and went home happy. Great class.

This morning, I was delighted to welcome a student from my Costa Rica Sketch/Journaling Workshop to my studio! Jocelyn Curry was in the area visiting friends, and she came by with her Costa Rica journal which she had worked on during the workshop.

She has given me permission to show you the entire journal, on which she had done a great deal of work since February. While she was here, I photographed it for the blog. Here's the cover, which I'll run again with the rest of the journal, when I put it up AFTER I finish reporting on the first two days of this workshop.

More later

Nature Sketching Workshop ~ What it's like

Tomorrow is the first of three days of my Nature Sketching Workshop. It's described like this on the Ashland Parks and Recreation website:

Tap into your artistic right brain as you draw shells, pinecones,

feathers, leaves, landscapes and other items.

Discover how to shade your drawings for depth and realism.

Learn how to use watercolor pencils to add color and vibrancy to drawings.

Instructor Irene Brady is the author and illustrator of

many award-winning nature books and is

an experienced right brain drawing workshop presenter.

She has worked as scientific illustrator for the

National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Lab

and illustrated for Audubon, Ranger Rick and other nature magazines.

She teaches drawing and journaling workshops in the US and Costa Rica.

Irene's encouraging, gentle guidance will

show ways to improve your skills.

At the end of each class, take home your art

and your workbook of step-by-step technique guides.

Beginning and intermediate artists

will find this nature and landscape drawing class invaluable.

All you need to bring is lunch.

AGES 12 & up DAYS Saturday, Sunday & the following Saturday

DATES March 8, 9 & 15 TIME 9am~ 2:30pm

COST $95 (includes all materials)

PLACE The Grove, 1195 E Main St, Ashland

There are 3 open spaces left, and you can still get into the workshop by contacting me, so if that interests you and you live in the Ashland, Medford vicinity, come join us!

I've been getting my materials together for the workshop, and I'm really looking forward to meeting my new students tomorrow morning. I'm hoping I can get down to the store today to buy an electric teakettle to make tea with, because I'll be taking a big assortment of teabags (we can make tea in the classroom microwave, but it seems to taste better if you do it with a teakettle ~ go figure!). A cuppa makes a workshop more warm and comfortable, somehow, especially when you have a whole group of strangers meeting for the first time.

My workshops draw an extremely varied group of artists and artist "wannabes." It's fun working with the already-artists, and I really enjoy and respect the "wannabes" for their courageous foray into the world of sketching and drawing ~ it takes a certain amount of guts to get from the "I can't draw a straight line" to the "...but I want to learn how."

Actually, I don't teach straight line drawing [grin]. That's what rulers are for. I teach how to translate what you see in front of you into a line on the paper that really LOOKS like what you are trying to draw. And then how to put shading and shadows on it that give it shape and 3-dimensionality ~ then how to give it pizzazz with color. And with the techniques I've developed over the years, I can almost always find a way to transmit that information to even the least developed artist (sometimes it takes more than one try to find the right words or techniques to transmit the idea to an individual, but I'll keep trying as long as the student is willing).

Interestingly, my workshops usually draw highly accomplished artists as well as beginners. You'd think the two wouldn't mix, but I've noticed that artists at all levels can benefit from discovering just WHAT they are doing when they apply their pencil/pen/brush to the paper, and WHY it works or doesn't work. And HOW to make it work if it doesn't. And that's what we cover in the first class with some right-brain applications to drawing natural items, and tips and tricks to shading. In the second and third classes, we enlarge the scope and capabilities with landscapes and later with watercolor pencils. Everyone proceeds at their own level of expertise, and the workshops end with satisfied artists, still at all levels, but each ready to take the next step up. I've learned SOMETHING from every workshop or art class I've ever taught, so we all benefit.

So, like I said, I'm rarin' to go, eager to meet my new friends. And I'm almost packed up to go (yeah, yeah, I know my classroom's only 10 miles down the road, but I've got lots of goodies to take for the class, so it does require a bit of packing).

And that's today's blog. I'll report on the first class within a couple of days. If I'm not too pooped to pop tomorrow evening, I'll try to put something up.

Actually, I just called The Daniel, and he says I may borrow his camera for the class (if you recall, mine went missing at the airport on my return from my last Costa Rica Sketching/Journaling Workshop). I like to take pictures of what happens during my workshops.

So if it all works out, if I can figure out the camera, if my students will give me permission to put their pictures on the blog, you shall see some results soon.

Any one for a workshop in Costa Rica or Hawaii?

I'm toying with two ideas for my next journal/sketching workshop (similar to the one I just did), and I may go for one or both. Let's hear it for a workshop in Hawaii, on the Big Island, in Kona, Hilo, Volcano Village area, or at Kalana Retreat Center. Not sure where or when, but within the year.

OR

July at El Remanso, on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica.

Do I hear anyone really interested in either/both? Let me know. It's not binding, of course ~ I'm just trolling for interest. If either of these appeals to you, either comment here or drop me a line. If you comment here, you'll encourage others to comment. If you write to me, it's private.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Irene

Costa Rica Nature Journal/Sketching Workshop ~ 11

My last day in the cloud forest started out a bit rough. When I was ready to get some breakfast, I trotted over to the concierge's building to telephone for a taxi. Uh oh. Nobody there, and no directions for how to look for anyone, either. Not wanting to bother the people at the gas station again, I decided to walk up the road to Santa Elena. It was only 6:30am, but in the tropics life generally starts really early and ends early, so there were occasional people and vehicles on the highway.


After about a half-mile walk (without my morning coffee, gritch-gritch) I arrived in town and ate breakfast then arranged, at a nearby booking agency, for a visit to Selvatura, a nearby cloud forest park with eight hiking suspension bridges and a whole slew of canopy ziplines. After a few misadventures (read the journal page) the first suspension bridge stretched invitingly before me and for the next several hours I was entranced.

It was misting lightly, but that only made the jungle, with its epiphytes, drooping-draping lianas, orchids, mosses, and huge gnarly trees more mysterious. From the railings,which spanned deep forested ravines, I was looking down into the tops of shorter trees, admiring the endless leaf growth patterns, taking in the shades of green, and looking out, and sometimes up, into giant trees adjacent to the bridges. From most of the bridges it was impossible to see the ground, but from two or three there was a stream partially visible way, WAY down (see journal picture).

Occasionally I heard, from a couple of the bridges or the trail, a faint ecstatic shout as a tiny human whizzed by far overhead on a zipline. The ziplines range in length from 219' to 1660' and I think if I get to Selvatura Park again I'm going to go for some zipline thrills in addition to walking the bridges again. I don't think there would be much time for rumination on a zipline tour, but just imagine the ride!

As I meandered slowly down the trail, I listened for (and heard) howler monkeys and invisible birds making all sorts of beautiful calls. I saw another slaty-backed nightingale-thrush, and numerous birds I didn't have time to identify. But mostly, I was just soaking up jungle. I could have stayed for days. And oh, yeah, I took scads of photos. Sigh.... However, Mai-Liis has offered this photo from HER trip to the cloud forest so you can see its eerie beauty. She says she didn't take more photos because she didn't want to get her camera wet.

I can certainly relate to that ~ as I was crossing the sixth suspension bridge, it started to rain. Foolish me. No umbrella, although you can borrow one at the park lodge (but when I had started out, it was only misting). Now, for the remaining distance of the hike, I got pretty soppy (but not cold), and by the time I returned to the park lodge, I could have used a towel. Actually, since it's rain that makes the cloud forest so lush and beautiful, I didn't feel I had any right to complain, so I went to the restaurant for a soothing cup of delicious Costa Rican coffee while I dried out a bit.


The turismo vans leave for town on the hour, and you can catch whichever one you want, so since my bus to San José was to leave Santa Elena at 2:30 I caught the noon van back to town (I had checked out of my hotel-cabina earlier and had put my pack in a locker at the park while out on the trail), had lunch, bought my ticket, and caught the bus back to San José right on schedule.


The rest of the story is on the journal pages, which you can read or not, as you please. Over all, I was quite happy with my little trekking adventure, and although a bit more Spanish would have made things easier, I got along quite decently with my few words and a bit of help from strangers. Costa Ricans appreciate their tourists, in general, since we bring a modicum of prosperity to the country. Tourism is one of the Tico's mainstays.

The main trouble with vacations is that they end. My whole trip was, in essence, quite smooth, and it was pretty contented, too, since I didn't know my camera had been pilfered until the day after I got home and I tried to find it in my pack.


Fortunately, in an effort to remain inconspicuous, the thief didn't take my camera case with the lovely Guatemalan-belt strap, so I still have something to put the next camera in. I'll be filling out the claim form later today, and I hope I can get its value back with which to buy a new camera.


But I don't want to end on a sour note, not at all. Because since I lost all my pictures, I have had a lot of rewarding post-class communications with my workshop students, and with Mai-Liis, too, as I've requested photos from them, and I've enjoyed the comaraderie as well as their generosity.

So there you have it. My February 2008 Nature Journal/Sketching Workshop in Costa Rica. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed creating it.


I wish to say muchas gracias to Joel and Belen for looking after me in San José, and to Adriana, Dani, Gerardo, Elyer, and all the staff at El Remanso for making my/our stay there so perfect.


And to you all, buenas tardes, mi amigos y amigas y estudientes!


p.s. well, that uses up a whole slew of my Español!

Costa Rica Nature Journal/Sketching Workshop ~ 10

Belen met Joel and me at the airport and we went out to a delicious lunch in a little Italian restaurant. Later, after settling in for a good chat, dinner was goodies from the local mall in Escazu (that mall looked just like any mall you'd see here), and I got to bed by tennish, ready for my upcoming adventure.

Joel had offered to drive me to the bus depot early the next morning for my journey up-country to the Monteverde Cloud Forest, which is near the tiny town of Santa Elena. When he delivered me to the depot and bought me the ticket, I was on my own.

After settling down on the bus (and parking my pack in an overhead bin ~ with the strap hanging down over the edge so I could keep an eye on it) I worked out the currency conversion, which turned out to be pretty easy. For instance, if something cost 2100 colones, you drop the last zero and pretend the 210 is pennies. Then, multiply the 210 pennies x 2, and the conversion is $4.20. And that was the price of my bus ticket from San Jose to Sta. Elena, about four hours away. What a deal!

By the way, I fastened the colones into my journal only along a thin strip of edge (next to the spiral) so that you can flip them up to see the back side. But to keep them from flipping up at other times, I taped a piece of acetate along the outer edge of the page, which flaps back over the ends of the bills to hold them down.

The bus was comfortable, although well-used, but unfortunately the windows were kind of scuzzy (like most airplane windows) so the viewing wasn't what it might be. I did a bit of journaling, then pulled out the evaluations I had asked my students to fill after the workshop. I hadn't had time to look them over yet. The evaluation sheet started out: "Please fill out with positive or negative feedback so that I can improve or change the workshop as needed." I always ask students to fill out evaluations in order to constantly improve my workshops.

Question: Did this workshop fulfill your expectations and was it worth the fee you paid?

• Kathy: "I enjoyed the people, the class, the locale, the food, Irene is a terrific instructor."
• Jocelyn: "Yes. There was actually much more content than I expected. The price for the package was excellent and worth every penny! Thank you, thank you."
• Marilyn: " Yes. I thought the fee was quite reasonable. All my "expectations" were fulfilled."

Question: Why did you enroll in this class?

• Kathy: "For the exotic locale. I wanted to travel and was alone so thought a group workshop was a safe way to do so. Plus I was interested in the information of the workshop."
• Jocelyn: "Loved the blog from last year's class ~ wanted to be in this place with a skilled and knowledgeable teacher."
• Marilyn: "I have a great love of nature so the description of the class appealed to me. Your background was also a deciding factor in choosing this workshop. I also wanted to experiment with colored pencils. I wanted to have an adventure!"

Question: What would you like to say about your experience in the class?

• Kathy: "Irene is very knowledgeable about drawing, composing and setting up a treasure of a journal experience. Irene is patient and kind, but will lead you to your best performance."
• Jocelyn: "I feel that any beginner would be very well equipped to create journal pages. I learned a LOT of things that already help me in my sketchbook/journal work. Some specific tips have helped solve recurring "problems" I've had. In the future, I will also use other creative elements that were introduced to me."
• Marilyn: "Your class was really great ~ fun, informative and well thought out. The time spent outside the class with you was a bonus. You are quite knowledgeable about the flora and fauna of the Osa Peninsula. All of the people at El Remanso were so kind and helpful, it really added to the whole experience. You are a really fun person and your upbeat personality is contagious."

By now I was blushing pretty red from all the praise. I had thought they were having a good time and enjoying the workshop, but now I was sure; additionally, there were some comments about how I could improve the class:

• more pleine air (sketching outside) activities
• less class time to allow more exploring
• drop the calligraphy but keep the initial caps session
• introduce the fun script I was using in my own journal

[Since I had asked the students if I could quote them on my blog, it's okay that I am using their names and comments here. In fact, Jocelyn Curry's art may be seen here ~ you'll be properly impressed, I think!] I tucked the evaluation sheets away for later rumination, and got back to my adventures.

The first 2½ hours going west and north on the bus went pretty fast, first on Interstate 3, then on a good paved highway. Soon we were practically to the cloud forest, according to the map I had glued into the back of my journal, and I couldn't figure out why it was scheduled to take so long to finish getting there.

But when the bus turned off onto a dirt road, it all became clear. The last thirty miles were on a steep, winding dirt road, rutted and rocky in places, so narrow in other places there was truly not room for two buses to meet and pass. I was on the side of the bus next to the outer edge of the road much of the time, with some interesting views down. But the driver was obviously a pro, who treated his bus well, and I never felt endangered at any time despite the drop-off. Still, we went very s.l.o.w.l.y.....

As an antidote, off to the west we got occasional lingering glimpses of Golfo de Nicoya (the Gulf of Nicoya) and to the north and east the forested mountains, wreathed in clouds, were rising majestically. The bus windows opened, so sometimes I was hanging out to admire the view. I DO wish I could show you my photos of the countryside! (for those of you who have just joined the blog, see the first entry on Feb 20 for what happened to all my gorgeous pictures).

Finally, Santa Elena, where I had (online) rented a cabina for the night, appeared around the bend. It was quite amazing to see this small, bustling town at the end of such a dreadful, dusty road. Every second vehicle (and there were LOTS of vehicles) seemed to be either a taxi or a turismo van. I engaged a taxi (for 900 colones ~ quick now, how much is that?) to my lodging.

But there was no one at the reception office to meet me. Not a soul. I waited around for a few minutes, then went across the way to a service station (La Bomba) and asked around until I found a mechanic who could speak enough English to understand me. He got on his cell phone and called the concierge, who belatedly met me at the reception and took me to my cabina. I really liked that cabina, with comfortable bed, shower, bath, microwave, and even a TV, with a view out the window at Golfo de Nicoya. But after that first time, I never saw anyone from the hotel again ~ and no other guests, either. Weird. I had the whole place to myself.

Stowing some of my gear in my room, I walked down to the road below the cabina and waited, as instructed by the taxi driver, for the "jello bus" (sometimes the Tico "y" is pronounced like a "j") which took me the few miles up to the Reserva Biologica Bosque Nubroso Monteverde. And for $15 I spent the rest of the day wandering the beautiful cloud forest trails, seeing unbelievably beautiful vegetation, an inquisitive slaty-backed nightingale thrush, and listening to the roars of howler monkeys. This wonderful howler monkey picture was offered by Mai-Liis.

I've written about my first day of cloud forest adventures on the journal page here. I was having the time of my life, a real-life adventure, all on my own. This was an important challenge to me, because I tend to be fairly cautious. I had assigned myself this experience (traveling alone in a foreign country with limited expertise in the language ~ I don't think I know more than about fifty words, and almost NO grammar) to get me to spread my wings a bit more. And I was flapping along with reasonable success. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for more fun in the cloud forest and some nice journal sketches.

Costa Rica Nature Journal/Sketching Workshop ~ 9

With the workshop officially finished, we had some time to explore. Jocelyn and Marilyn headed down to the waterfall and beach (where they discovered this lovely little poison dart frog) while I decided on the Ridge Trail because it has the best wildlife.

I wasn't disappointed. Barely half an hour into my hike I froze at a rustle in the underbrush, sidling close to a tree to conceal my silhouette. Soon, about twenty feet away, a black shape appeared (about the size of a bulldog, I'd say) browsing its way through the forest on a path parallel to mine. I could see, in small glimpses, that it was a peccary, which usually travels in groups, or "sounders," so I held still for awhile after it passed, and sure enough, one by one, five more passed me by without noticing me. The breeze was coming my way, and did they ever s.t.i.n.k! I would have taken that odor for a skunk or a civet cat if I hadn't actually seen them.

Later, to my delight, I was menaced by scowling, screaming spider monkeys in the top of some walking palms, and remembering Gerardo's caveat that they would 1. shake branches, 2. throw things, 3. pee on me, then 4. pee and poop on me .....I left shortly after the curtain rose on the "throwing things" scene.

The Ridge Trail is El Remanso's longest trail, ending on the beach if you take it all the way, but I had scheduled a sketching class with Gerardo (the naturalist) and Elyer (the head waiter) at the lodge after noon, so I only went halfway before I sat down for awhile for some pleine air sketching and journaling. Then I headed back to set up for class.

The class with Gerardo and Elyer was great. Both of them want to be able to draw what they see; Elyer is particularly interested in insects and takes great photos of them. So when Elyer expressed interest last year in learning to draw, I promised a session this year. Gerardo was delighted to join us, and Adri, who took the sketching workshop last year joined us for a brush-up because she seldom finds time to draw.

With Adri and Gerardo both interpreting for Elyer, the class went swiftly, and we got in a couple of hours of class before their duties called them back to work. I'll be interested to see if either of them is able to carve out time to practice and improve their skills. It's not easy to find time when you have a full-time job.

I took a lot of photos of their progress, and I wish I could share them with you. But, of course, they were in the camera I lost to pilfering in one of the airports I passed through on the way home. Adri took the photos you see here, and I am so grateful that she passed them along for you to see. Although they don't show Gerardo's and Elyer's excellent results. Ah well......

We were just finishing up when someone spotted a sloth in a tree near the cabinas. Gera grabbed the scope and set it up on the hillside, and several of the guests trekked down to see. Gera was taking close-up pictures for the guests through the scope, one camera after another (he shot me a great one {sob}) and I think he took this photo for Marilyn, although maybe she took it herself. The sloth is looking toward the left in this photo, with its rear toward us and its head pointing out at upper left.

This was Jocelyn and Marilyn's last day, too, and they had been down to the waterfall and the beach again, and were now, in the waning day, working on their journals industriously, Jocelyn at her little table, Marilyn cross-legged on her bed. It was truly gratifying to think that I have given them some new tools for their sketching and journaling! I spent some companionable time with them, and photographed all their gorgeous journal pages for posterity.

But since I don't have those pictures, here are a few Marilyn and Jocelyn provided, with more from Kathy, in that order:


Marilyn's

Jocelyn's

Kathy's






The next morning, Jocelyn and Marilyn caught the early van to Puerto Jimenez, but my plane didn't leave until later, and Joel, who owns the lodge was also leaving then, so we caught a later van to PJ. But before we left, I took my journal down the trail for one last session.

Now, leaving El Remanso, I was starting off on the second adventure of my journey ~ to culminate in a visit to the Monteverde Cloud Forest ~ my own personal foray into the Costa Rican wilds ~ alone and con solimente un poquito Espanol.